Missing so much and so much

[marnanel]

Something I'm a bit curious about now: in Frances Cornford's triolet

O why do you walk through the fields in gloves,
Missing so much and so much?
O fat white woman whom nobody loves,
Why do you walk through the fields in gloves,
When the grass is soft as the breast of doves
And shivering sweet to the touch?
O why do you walk through the fields in gloves,
Missing so much and so much?

…does "fat white woman" mean "fat Caucasian woman", or "fat woman dressed in white", or something else? How do you know? And can you find anyone who has discussed this question elsewhere?

Edit: here's someone in 1912 who seems to have thought it meant "dressed in white".

Comments

[reddragdiva]

It took me years to realise that in a world of white English people, "dark" always meant their hair and never anything else whatsoever.