The Queen of Hearts
A speaker asks why Flora always holds the queen of hearts when they play cards. Repeated shuffling and attempts to cheat leave the speaker baffled, wondering whether skill, craft, luck, or natural affinity explains her advantage.
By Christina Georgina Rossetti · Genre: Poetry, Humor · 291 words
First lines
How comes it, Flora, that, whenever we / Play cards together, you invariably, / However the pack parts, / Still hold the Queen of Hearts?
I've scanned you with a scrutinizing gaze, / Resolved to fathom these your secret ways: / But, sift them as I will, / Your ways are secret still.
I cut and shuffle; shuffle, cut, again; / But all my cutting, shuffling, proves in vain: / Vain hope, vain forethought, too; / That Queen still falls to you.
I dropped her once, prepense; but, ere the deal / Was dealt, your instinct seemed her loss to feel: / "There should be one card more," / You said, and searched the floor.
Genres
- Poetry — Seven four-line stanzas use paired rhymes to address Flora about her repeated possession of one card.
- Humor — The speaker admits cheating, is misled by a notch on the wrong queen, and ends by proposing natural affinity as an explanation.
Tags
card games · cheating · luck · light verse
What this Textopian page supports
The Queen of Hearts is listed on Textopian as a poem by Christina Georgina Rossetti, dated Date unknown.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Poem
- Author: Christina Georgina Rossetti
- Date: Date unknown
- Language: English
- Genres: Poetry, Humor
- Length: 291 words
- Structure: 1 section, 7 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Standard (8th-9th Grade)
Good citation fit
- Work identity for The Queen of Hearts by Christina Georgina Rossetti
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
- Readability and classroom-planning context
- Passage-specific claims should cite the exact /read/ URL for the relevant chapter or paragraph