With Georgiana and Dolores.”
FOOTNOTES BY JAMES ULSWATER.
First Stanza: As the Ancient Mariner began his marvellous tale, “There was a ship,” so Susannah begins, “There was a cat”—boldly, ruggedly, a leap in médias res. The first stanza is a condensed and yet accurate analysis of Dolores, ending with a striking bit of realism.
Second Stanza: A wild burst of grief subsiding sadly into tender reminiscence. Note how the proportions of black and yellow on the tail of Dolores are delicately discriminated, the “black” being, in point of fact, predominant.
Third Stanza: We are introduced to Georgiana. Here arises a difficulty. What was there in the condition of being “a hen” to warrant the exclamation, “Oh, Shame!” Surely none! I interpret the passage thus: the exclamation “Oh, Shame!” is simply the poetess' passion bursting through, as it were, the reserve of the narrative, and in this way it prophetically forecasts the fatal issue. It is not, I think, a reflection or invective against hens, as such.
Fourth Stanza: Observe how just and truthful are the details, how Georgiana's right to a certain pride of manner, which indeed was hers, is critically based upon the brightness of her eyes, upon the approximate completeness of her toes. And yet it is honourably admitted that there was a deficiency of tail feathers.
Fifth Stanza: As the ballads of folklore are ever distinguished by a certain abruptness of climax, so here Susannah. Note the present tense, used only in this stanza. In the last line, how remarkable in effect is the passionate interjection which follows the simple statement of Georgiana's catastrophe!