Living

Countrywomen

by Katherine Mansfield 1888–1923

From Poems (1923): 1911–1913

Living

These be two
Country women.
What a size!
Grand big arms
And round red faces;
Big substantial
Sit down places;
Great big bosoms firm as cheese
Bursting through their country jackets;
Wide big laps
And sturdy knees;
Hands outspread,
Round and rosy,
Hands to hold
A country posy
Or a baby or a lamb--
And such eyes!
Stupid, shifty, small and sly
Peeping through a slit of sty,
Squinting through their neighbours’ plackets.

MLA

Mansfield, Katherine. “Countrywomen.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/mansfield_k/27/.

Chicago

Mansfield, Katherine. “Countrywomen.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/mansfield_k/27/.

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