Kind hearts are more than coronets
The Secret of Chimneys“Kind hearts are more than coronets” is a line Anthony Cade quotes without understanding it, turning a potentially solemn poetic sentiment into a moment of comic social improvisation. The phrase briefly supplies the appearance of literary feeling; Anthony’s own distraction and the conversation that follows expose the gap between the line’s moral weight and his casual use of it.
The Quotation in Conversation
Anthony offers the line vaguely and has no notion of what he means by it. His attention is elsewhere: he is fervently wishing that lunchtime would come. The contrast makes the quotation less a considered declaration of principle than an instinctive conversational flourish.
The person speaking with him calls the poem beautiful and asks whether he knows much poetry. That response treats the line as evidence of poetic taste, while Anthony’s private lack of understanding makes the exchange gently ironic. The moment rests on the difference between what the words seem to promise and what their speaker actually intends.
A Comic Turn
Asked about poetry, Anthony admits to knowing little beyond “The boy stood on the burning deck.” He offers to recite the passage with actions, explaining that he can perform the flames with whooshing noises and run to and fro like a dog for the line about the others having fled. Miss Taylor screams with laughter.
The movement from a lofty moral-sounding quotation to an absurdly physical recitation gives the exchange its shape. Anthony’s limited repertoire does not become a solemn embarrassment; he turns it into a comic performance, and Miss Taylor’s laughter confirms that the conversation has shifted from poetic admiration to shared amusement.
Meaning and Use
The phrase’s significance here lies in its mismatch with Anthony’s state of mind. Its words elevate kindness above rank, but the scene does not present him as deliberately articulating that ideal: he speaks vaguely, does not understand his own remark, and is thinking about lunch. The line therefore works as a small comic emblem of language detached from solemn intention, even as the response it receives shows how readily a listener can supply meaning the speaker has not consciously formed.
