The Skipping Rope
The Skipping Rope - meaning Summary
Play Turns to Bitter Command
A speaker begins with playful, teasing imagery—comparing a beloved to an antelope and a skipping-rope’s lightness—then abruptly shifts to anger and despair. What starts as flirtation becomes contempt and a violent, sarcastic invitation to self-destruction. The poem condenses a sudden emotional reversal, mixing mockery, wounded affection, and bitter resignation in a few short lines.
Read Complete AnalysesSure never yet was Antelope Could skip so lightly by, Stand off, or else my skipping-rope Will hit you in the eye. How lightly whirls the skipping-rope! How fairy-like you fly! Go, get you gone, you muse and mope— I hate that silly sigh. Nay, dearest, teach me how to hope, Or tell me how to die. There, take it, take my skipping-rope, And hang yourself thereby.
This silly poem was first published in the edition of 1842, and was retained unaltered till 1851, when it was finally suppressed.
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