Robert Pinsky's "Shirt" traces the history of a shirt through its manufacturing processes, noting the hands that touched it at each stage of its production. In narrating the shirt's story, the speaker draws attention to the realities of labor and the many human tragedies that underpin the creation of what may seem like a simple, everyday object. The poem first appeared in the New Yorker in 1989 and was later published in the poet's 1990 collection The Want Bone.

• Read the full text of “Shirt”

• “Shirt” Summary

• “Shirt” Themes

  • 

    Exploitation and Consumerism

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-48

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Shirt”

  • Lines 1-3

    The back, the ...
    ... Koreans or Malaysians

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 4-7

    Gossiping over tea ...
    ... at my wrist.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 7-12

    The presser, the ...
    ... no fire escapes—

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 13-18

    The witness in ...
    ... and not eternity.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 19-24

    A third before ...
    ... his gray trousers—

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 25-30

    Like Hart Crane’s ...
    ... Houndstooth, Tattersall, Madras.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 30-35

    The clan tartans ...
    ... dusty clattering looms.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 36-42

    Weavers, carders, spinners. ...
    ... inspected my shirt.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 42-48

    Its color and ...
    ... shade. The shirt.

    

    

    

    

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• “Shirt” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

  • Allusion

    

    

    

    

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    Where allusion appears in the poem:

    • Lines 9-12: “The infamous blaze / At the Triangle Factory in nineteen-eleven. / One hundred and forty-six died in the flames / On the ninth floor, no hydrants, no fire escapes—”
    • Line 25: “Like Hart Crane’s Bedlamite, “shrill shirt ballooning.””
    • Line 31: “Invented by mill-owners inspired by the hoax of Ossian,”
    • Lines 40-42: “George Herbert, your descendant is a Black / Lady in South Carolina, her name is Irma / And she inspected my shirt.”

  • Simile

    

    

    

    

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    Where simile appears in the poem:

    • Lines 17-18: “As if he were helping them up / To enter a streetcar, and not eternity.”
    • Line 25: “Like Hart Crane’s Bedlamite, “shrill shirt ballooning.””

  • Enjambment

    

    

    

    

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    Where enjambment appears in the poem:

    • Lines 2-3: “collar / Turned”
    • Lines 3-4: “Malaysians / Gossiping”
    • Lines 4-5: “break / Or”
    • Lines 5-6: “fitted / This”
    • Lines 6-7: “band / Of”
    • Lines 9-10: “blaze / At”
    • Lines 11-12: “flames / On”
    • Lines 13-14: “street / Who”
    • Lines 14-15: “step / Up”
    • Lines 15-16: “out / Away”
    • Lines 17-18: “up / To”
    • Lines 19-20: “arms    / Around”
    • Lines 20-21: “held / Her”
    • Lines 21-22: “once / He”
    • Lines 22-23: “flared / And”
    • Lines 26-27: “perfectly / Across”
    • Lines 27-28: “bar-tacked / Corners”
    • Lines 28-29: “rhyme / Or”
    • Lines 30-31: “tartans / Invented”
    • Lines 32-33: “tamed / By”
    • Lines 34-35: “workers / To”
    • Lines 37-38: “sorter / Sweatin”
    • Lines 38-39: “cotton / As”
    • Lines 40-41: “Black / Lady”
    • Lines 41-42: “Irma / And”
    • Lines 42-43: “fit / And”
    • Lines 43-44: “satisfied / Both”
    • Lines 44-45: “quality / Down”
    • Lines 46-47: “characters / Printed”

  • Asyndeton

    

    

    

    

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    Where asyndeton appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-2: “The back, the yoke, the yardage. Lapped seams, / The nearly invisible stitches along the collar”
    • Lines 7-9: “The presser, the cutter, / The wringer, the mangle. The needle, the union, / The treadle, the bobbin. The code. The infamous blaze”
    • Line 12: “On the ninth floor, no hydrants, no fire escapes—”
    • Lines 29-30: “Prints, plaids, checks, / Houndstooth, Tattersall, Madras.”
    • Lines 33-34: “MacGregor, / Bailey, MacMartin.”
    • Lines 36-37: “Weavers, carders, spinners. The loader, / The docker, the navvy. The planter, the picker, the sorter”
    • Lines 40-41: “your descendant is a Black / Lady in South Carolina, her name is Irma”
    • Lines 45-48: “the buttons of simulated bone, / The buttonholes, the sizing, the facing, the characters / Printed in black on neckband and tail. The shape, / The label, the labor, the color, the shade. The shirt.”

  • Parallelism

    

    

    

    

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    Where parallelism appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “The back, the yoke, the yardage.”
    • Line 2: “The nearly invisible stitches along the collar”
    • Lines 7-9: “The presser, the cutter, / The wringer, the mangle. The needle, the union, / The treadle, the bobbin. The code. The infamous blaze”
    • Line 12: “no hydrants, no fire escapes”
    • Line 13: “The witness in a building across the street”
    • Lines 30-32: “The clan tartans / Invented by mill-owners inspired by the hoax of Ossian, / To control their savage Scottish workers,”
    • Lines 34-35: “The kilt, devised for workers / To wear among the dusty clattering looms.”
    • Lines 36-37: “The loader, / The docker, the navvy. The planter, the picker, the sorter”
    • Line 46: “The buttonholes, the sizing, the facing, the characters”
    • Lines 47-48: “The shape, / The label, the labor, the color, the shade. The shirt.”

  • Alliteration

    

    

    

    

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    Where alliteration appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “yoke,” “yardage”
    • Line 6: “band”
    • Line 7: “button”
    • Line 11: “forty,” “flames”
    • Line 22: “stepped,” “sill,” “himself,” “flared”
    • Line 23: “fluttered,” “from”
    • Line 24: “filling”
    • Line 25: “Bedlamite,” “shrill shirt,” “ballooning”
    • Line 26: “pattern,” “perfectly”
    • Line 27: “placket,” “twin,” “tacked”
    • Line 28: “pockets”
    • Line 29: “Prints, plaids”
    • Line 32: “savage Scottish”
    • Line 33: “MacGregor”
    • Line 34: “MacMartin,” “workers”
    • Line 35: “wear,” “clattering looms”
    • Line 36: “carders”
    • Line 37: “planter,” “picker”
    • Lines 37-38: “sorter / Sweating”
    • Line 38: “cotton”
    • Line 39: “slaves,” “calico,” “sweated”
    • Line 42: “fit”
    • Line 43: “feel,” “smell,” “satisfied”
    • Line 44: “culled,” “cost,” “quality”
    • Line 45: “buttons,” “bone”
    • Line 46: “buttonholes”
    • Line 47: “shape”
    • Line 48: “label,” “labor,” “shade,” “shirt”

  • Assonance

    

    

    

    

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    Where assonance appears in the poem:

    • Line 2: “invisible stitches”
    • Line 7: “cuff,” “button”
    • Line 8: “needle”
    • Line 9: “treadle”
    • Line 13: “witness in,” “building”
    • Line 26: “pattern matches”
    • Line 27: “placket,” “tacked”
    • Line 43: “feel,” “clean”
    • Line 44: “me,” “quality”
    • Line 47: “shape”
    • Line 48: “label,” “labor,” “shade”

  • Consonance

    

    

    

    

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    Where consonance appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “back,” “yoke,” “yardage”
    • Line 2: “stitches”
    • Line 3: “Turned,” “sweatshop”
    • Line 5: “talking,” “politics”
    • Line 6: “band”
    • Line 7: “button,” “wrist,” “presser,” “cutter”
    • Line 8: “wringer,” “needle,” “union”
    • Line 9: “treadle,” “bobbin”
    • Line 11: “forty,” “flames”
    • Line 12: “floor,” “fire”
    • Line 21: “Almost,” “once”
    • Line 22: “stepped,” “sill himself,” “flared”
    • Line 23: “fluttered”
    • Line 24: “filling”
    • Line 25: “Bedlamite,” “shrill shirt ballooning”
    • Line 26: “pattern,” “perfectly”
    • Line 27: “Across,” “placket,” “twin bar-tacked”
    • Line 28: “Corners,” “pockets,” “like,” “strict”
    • Line 29: “chord,” “Prints, plaids,” “checks”
    • Line 30: “Houndstooth,” “Tattersall,” “clan,” “tartans”
    • Line 31: “hoax”
    • Line 32: “control,” “savage Scottish workers”
    • Line 33: “MacGregor”
    • Line 34: “MacMartin,” “workers”
    • Line 35: “wear”
    • Line 37: “planter,” “picker”
    • Lines 37-38: “sorter / Sweating”
    • Line 38: “litter,” “cotton”
    • Line 39: “slaves,” “calico,” “sweated”
    • Line 42: “fit”
    • Line 43: “feel,” “clean smell,” “satisfied”
    • Line 44: “culled its cost,” “quality”
    • Line 45: “buttons,” “simulated bone”
    • Line 46: “buttonholes,” “sizing,” “facing,” “characters”
    • Line 47: “black,” “neckband,” “shape”
    • Line 48: “label,” “labor,” “color,” “shade,” “shirt”

• “Shirt” Vocabulary

  Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

  • Yoke
  • Yardage
  • Lapped seams
  • Wringer
  • Mangle
  • Triangle Factory
  • Hart Crane's Bedlamite
  • Placket
  • Bar-tacked
  • Houndstooth
  • Tattersall
  • Madras
  • Hoax of Ossian
  • Fabricated heraldry
  • Spinners
  • Carders
  • Loader
  • Docker
  • Navvy
  • Calico
  • George Herbert
  • Culled
  • (Location in poem: Line 1: “the yoke”)

• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Shirt”

  • Form

  • Meter

  • Rhyme Scheme

• “Shirt” Speaker

• “Shirt” Setting

• Literary and Historical Context of “Shirt”

• More “Shirt” Resources

  • External Resources

    • Robert Pinsky's Life and Work — A biography of Robert Pinsky from the Poetry Foundation covering his life, work, and literary development.

    • "Shirt" at New York Fashion Week — Listen to a conversation between designers at New York Fashion Week describing the production process in relation to Pinsky's poem, followed by an analysis by the poet himself.

    • Want List: A Review of The Want Bone — A review of Pinsky's collection The Want Bone, the book in which "Shirt" first appeared. 

    • The Art of Poetry: Robert Pinsky — Read a Paris Review interview with Robert Pinsky in which the poet discusses his artistic process and relationship to language.

    • Poetry on Film: Robert Pinsky's Shirt — A discussion of "Shirt" as well as the a visualization of the poem produced by the Nantucket Project.

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