The Song of the Shirt

“The Song of the Shirt” has a complex structure. It is comprised of 11, eight-line stanzas—with the exception of the final, nine-lined stanza—and many of those stanzas do not follow a consistent rhyme scheme. Further, none of the lines or stanzas maintain a regular meter. Lines vary from three (Line 5) to ten (Line 3) syllables, with no discernable pattern or consistency. As such, Hood’s poem is not constrained by any a rhyme scheme or meter, but the flow of its structure creates a song-like, shifting rhythm.

Even though the rhyme scheme is inconsistent and changes throughout the poem, Hood never entirely abandons rhyming, either. The fourth, sixth, ninth, and tenth stanzas possess an abcbdefe rhyme scheme, while the third, seventh, and eighth stanzas have an ababcded rhyme scheme. The first, second, and eleventh stanzas each have their own unique rhyme schemes. Additionally, Hood employs sporadic internal rhyme. When complaining about her home, the seamstress describes “a wall so blank, my shadow I thank / For sometimes falling there” (Lines 47-48), rhyming “blank” with “thank” in the same line. Later, when tempted to grieve her situation, the seamstress asserts, “My tears must stop, for every drop / Hinders needle and thread!” (Line 80), internally rhyming “stop” and “drop.