POEM- The Clothesline by Charlotte Druitt Cole
1st Stanza:
Hand in hand they dance in a row, ALLITERATION
Hither and thither, and to and fro,
Flip! Flap! Flop! and away they go —ALLITERATION
Flutt’ring creatures as white as snow, SIMILE
The poetess Charlotte Druitt Cole is talking about the clothes hanging on the
clothesline. To her, they look as if they are holding hands, standing in a row
and dancing merrily in sync. She compares them to the white birds that fly in
the sky.
2nd Stanza:
Like restive horses they caper and prance; SIMILE
Like fairy-tale witches they wildly dance; SIMILE
Rounded in front, but hollow behind,
They shiver and skip in the merry March wind.
Here the poetess peaks the poetess’ imagination. She compares the clothes
hanging on the clothesline to restless horses who lack calm and are leaping
and galloping with happiness and joy. Like witches, they appear to wildly
dance. As the clothes flutter on the clothesline, they form a bowl like shape
that is round at the edges and hollow in the centre. The poetess also feels that
the clothes are shivering and skipping in the wind that is very happy during the
month of March.
3rd Stanza:
One I saw dancing excitedly,
Struggling so wildly till she was free,
Then, leaving pegs and clothesline behind her,
She flew like a bird, and no one can find her. SIMILE
Without specifically stating, the poetess says that once she saw someone( a
piece of fabric) dancing excitedly and wildly struggling to be free. With great
struggle, she freed herself. Then leaving the pegs and the clothesline, she
flew like a bird so far that no one was able to follow her and now no one can
find her.
4th Stanza:
I saw her gleam, like a sail, in the sun, SIMILE
Flipping and flapping and flopping for fun. ALLITERATION
Nobody knows where she now can be,
Hid in a ditch, or drowned in the sea.
Continuing with the suspense, the poetess compares ‘that someone’ to a
ship’s sail gleaming in the sun. The poetess tells us that she was flipping,
flapping and flopping away with happiness. She flew away so fast leaving no
traces. Nobody knows where she went and where she could be. Thinking of
the worst that could happen, the poetess wonders whether she is hiding in a
ditch or may have drowned in the sea.
5th Stanza:
She was my handkerchief not long ago,
But she’ll never come back to my pocket, I know.
It’s only in the last two lines of the poem that the poetess reveals that she was
talking about her handkerchief that flew away not very long ago. She is sure
that it will not come back to her and it is lost forever.
The poetess begins the poem with a happy note of clothes dancing on the
clothes line but she ends it with a sad note of her handkerchief flying away
and never coming back.
QUESTION-ANSWERS
Q1. What has the poetess described in the poem?
Ans. The poetess has described the fluttering and dancing clothes hanging on
the clothesline. She has also described the struggle of a handkerchief to free
itself from the clothesline.
Q2. Describe the place, the time and the weather conditions in the poem.
Ans: It seems that the clothes have been put on a clothes line after washing.
The events in the poem seem to take place in the backyard of a house. March
is the time of year mentioned in the poem. The sun is shining bright but its
very windy. The wind is moving the clothes hither and thither.
Q3. What did one of the fluttering creatures do?
Ans. One of the fluttering creatures danced excitedly and struggled wildly till it
was free. Then it left all the pegs and clothesline behind and flew like a bird.
Q4. Why has the poetess compared clothes to living things? (HOTS)
Ans. The clothes are compared to living things because they seem to enjoy -
and have fun just like living things have fun when the weather is good. Also,
the clothes want to dance , flutter and fly. Just like humans struggle to get free
from the things that hold them back, the handkerchief too struggles wildly till it
was free.
Q5. What could have happened to the one who flew away? Who was
she?
Ans. The one who flew away could have hid in a ditch or drowned in the sea.
Nobody knows where she is now but is sure that she would never come back
to the pocket. ‘She’ here refers to the poetess’ handkerchief.
Reference to Context (RTC)
Read the extract given below and answer the given questions.
“ Like restive horses they caper and prance
Like fairytale witches they wildly dance”
a) ‘They’ refers to whom?
‘They’ refers to the clothes.
b) What are ‘they’ being compared to restive horses and witches?
Like horses they lack calm and are leaping and galloping with joy. Like
witches, they appear to wildly dance.
c) Which poetic device is used in the above lines?
Simile
