The Rose Did Caper on Her Cheek
poem 208
The Rose Did Caper on Her Cheek - meaning Summary
Blushes Become Shared Rhythm
The poem depicts a sudden, mutual stirring between two young women expressed through bodily signs: a capering rose, faltering speech, fumbling needlework. The speaker observes one maid’s blush and then notices the same blush mirrored opposite her, suggesting reciprocal attraction. Physical details—rising bodices, matching vest movements, and two clocks ticking "softly into one"—compress emotion into a brief scene of sympathetic connection and the reaching toward unity.
Read Complete AnalysesThe Rose did caper on her cheek Her Bodice rose and fell Her pretty speech like drunken men Did stagger pitiful Her fingers fumbled at her work Her needle would not go What ailed so smart a little Maid It puzzled me to know Till opposite I spied a cheek That bore another Rose Just opposite Another speech That like the Drunkard goes A Vest that like her Bodice, danced To the immortal tune Till those two troubled little Clocks Ticked softly into one.
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