The Ruined Maid

The poem consists of six quatrains (four-line stanzas) and is written in tetrameters, which means that each line has four stresses or beats. However, the meter is unusual, since the majority of lines begin with an iambic foot, consisting of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable, followed by three anapestic feet. 

An anapest comprises two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed syllable: “And whence such fair garments, such prosperi-ty?” (Line 3); “You left us in tatters, without shoes or socks” (Line 5); “And now you’ve gay bracelets and bright feathers three!” (Line 7); “‘Some polish is gained with one’s ruin,’ said she” (Line 12). A few lines are made up entirely of anapests, making an anapestic tetrameter: “And you’d sigh, and you’d sock; but at present you seem” (Line 18), and “And a delicate face, and could strut about Town!” (Line 22). Anapestic meter is often used for comic verse, as in this poem. It trips along in a quick and lively fashion.

The rhyme scheme is the same in each stanza. Line 1 rhymes with Line 2, and Line 3 rhymes with Line 4, which can be represented as AABB.