Vocabulary in Cousin Kate

A young woman of low social rank who lives and works in a rural cottage, as opposed to a lady of wealth or noble birth.

Worked hard and continuously at exhausting physical labour, especially in the fields.

A decorative tie made of silk, worn as an ornament; here used as a metaphor for how the lord treated the narrator as a pretty accessory rather than a person.

Written in sand, meaning temporary and easily erased; used here to say that Kate's love is not genuine or lasting, unlike the narrator's.

A woman who has a sexual relationship with a man who is not her husband and to whom she is not married, typically kept in a position of social inferiority.

Thrown away or abandoned as if worthless, the way one tosses aside an object that is no longer useful.

Recognised and approved by law; here it describes Kate's marriage as legally and socially legitimate, in contrast to the narrator's unofficial relationship.

To worry or feel anxious and discontented about something; here it suggests Kate is secretly troubled despite her respectable position.

Born to parents who are not married to each other; in this period such a child had no legal rights and carried social stigma.

Proof that someone was right or justified after being blamed or shamed; the narrator sees her son as evidence that her love had real, lasting consequences.

Here used figuratively to mean the lord's highest possessions, rank, and authority — everything he values most — which he would surrender to claim the narrator's son.

An archaic past participle of 'write,' meaning written; used in the poem in place of the modern form 'written.'