Analysis Of The Ruined Maid

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The Ruined Maid was written in 1866 by Thomas Hardy. This poem is a quatrain, meaning that it has four lines in every stanza. The Ruined Maid has six stanzas and it is structured as a dialogue between two ladies, who used to work together on a farm. In the first five stanzas, the lady who is still working on the farm speaks the first three lines and 'Melia, the “ruined” lady, replies in the fourth line. In the sixth stanza, the farm lady speaks in the first two lines and 'Melia replies in the last two lines. In the first stanza, the farm lady happened to meet ‘Melia in town (2). The farm lady was surprised to find how different 'Melia looked and she asked her where she got the “fair garments” (3), which symbolized wealth. 'Melia explains she has “been ruined” (4), meaning that has become a prostitute. In the second stanza, the farm lady remembers ‘Melia’s look while she left the farm and her reasons for leaving. She says that 'Melia left the farm “in tatters” (5) and she left because she was tired of digging potatoes and docks (6).The farm lady then contrasts 'Melia’s previous appearance to the “ruined” one. She says that 'Melia has “gay bracelets and bright feathers three!” (7).The exclamation mark shows that the farm girl was surprised and admired the accessories that 'Melia had. 'Melia then explains that she has to dress that way for her profession. In the third stanza, the farm lady says that 'Melia used to speak like a country girl when she was at the farm. The farm lady gives examples of words such as ‘thee,’ which were used in rural areas as an alternative for ‘you’ (9). 'Melia had already used the word ‘you’ in the previous stanza and the farm lady says she now speaks like someone of a “high company” (11). This indicates ... ... middle of paper ... ...ses a regular “aabb” rhyme scheme in every stanza. The poet also heavily uses anapestic sounds whereby two stressed syllables are followed by a stressed syllable such as “You left us in tatters”. This gives the poem a song like rhythm. In addition, Hardy uses alliteration by repeating speech and consonants in a sequence such as 'you'd sign, and you'd sock;” (18), and “megrims or melancholy” (19). Also, the rhymes of the third and fourth lines are similar and at the end the third line in some stanzas, the poet hyphenates the last word such as prosperi-ty (3), compa-ny (11), la-dy (15) and melancho-ly) (19), in order to separate the final syllable that rhymes with the fourth line. The fourth sentence of every stanza ends with the word “she.” Finally, the poet matches the rhymes of the first and the last stanza as a way of creating balance or uniformity in the poem.

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