A Merry Jest of a Modern Maid by Helen Gray Cone
“A Merry Jest of a Modern Maid” comically portrays Miss Pallas Eudora Van Blurky, a highly educated woman whose learning ranges across languages, history, literature, geology, astronomy, politics, and social questions. She speaks High-Spanish and Greek, knows obscure historical and scholarly facts, criticizes Shakspere’s grammar, interprets Emerson’s “Brahma,” studies rocks with geological tools, and holds opinions on co-education and the nation’s needs. She also paints tiles, writes in a clerky hand, speaks with jerky emphasis, and wears blue glasses. Yet, despite all her intellectual accomplishments, she repeatedly fails at the simplest practical distinction: she does not know chicken from turkey.
By Helen Gray Cone · First published 1885 · Genre: Humorous Poetry, Satirical Verse, Light Verse · 215 words
First lines
PUCK
Miss Pallas Eudora Van Blurky, / She didn't know chicken from turkey; / High-Spanish and Greek she could fluently speak, / But her knowledge of poultry was murky!
She could tell the great-uncle of Moses, / And the dates of the Wars of the Roses, / And the reasons of things-why the Indians wore rings / In their red aboriginal noses;
Why Shakspere was wrong in his grammar, / And the meaning of Emerson's BRAHMA, / And she went chipping rocks with a little black box / And a small geological hammer.
What this Textopian page supports
A Merry Jest of a Modern Maid is listed on Textopian as a poem by Helen Gray Cone, dated 1885 CE.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Poem
- Author: Helen Gray Cone
- Date: 1885 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Humorous Poetry, Satirical Verse, Light Verse, Comic Character Sketch, Social Satire
- Length: 215 words
- Structure: 1 section, 6 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Difficult (10th-12th Grade)
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- Work identity for A Merry Jest of a Modern Maid by Helen Gray Cone
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Genres
- Humorous Poetry — The poem derives its effect from comic exaggeration: Miss Van Blurky possesses formidable academic knowledge yet cannot distinguish ordinary poultry.
- Satirical Verse — It gently satirizes pedantry, fashionable intellectualism, and the imbalance between abstract learning and practical knowledge.
- Light Verse — Its brisk rhythm, conspicuous end rhymes, playful diction, and compact comic premise are characteristic of light verse.
- Comic Character Sketch — The poem builds a vivid, exaggerated portrait of a single learned, eccentric woman through a catalog of habits, accomplishments, and opinions.
Tags
poetry · narrative verse · humorous · satirical · romantic comedy · courtship · gender roles · independent woman · social conventions · late nineteenth century · American literature · light verse