Still to be neat, still to be dressed

The lyric form allows Jonson’s speaker to express his emotions in the first person and to explain what he “presumed” (Line 4) about a woman’s appearance and preparatory routine. In addition, the poem’s two sestets—a six-line stanza—allow Jonson to first define the problem before proposing a solution to this problem. The iambic tetrameter—poetic lines consisting of four iambic feet—and rhyming couplets work to create a songlike quality to support its lyric form. The stressing of the meter places emphasis on the tasks in the speaker’s repetitive listing of what still has to be accomplished. As a result, the speaker emphasizes the questionable tasks he also criticizes. The rhyming couplets help create a more playful and lighter tone in contrast with the speaker’s harsh criticism. In addition, the inconsistencies in the meter and rhyme—like the trochees (a metrical foot of a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed one and essentially the opposite of an iamb) in Lines 2 and 8—and the lack of rhyme in the first couplet, reinforce the message of the poem. By allowing “flaws” in his meter and rhyme, Jonson models the imperfect and natural beauty for which his speaker advocates.