The Farmer's Bride

• Who wrote The Farmer's Bride?

  Charlotte Mew
• What is unusual about the voice and poet in The Farmer's Bride?

  The poet is a woman who is writing in the voice of a man
• In which era was The Farmer's Bride written?

  Victorian
• What type of poem is The Farmer's Bride?

  Dramatic monologue
• Three Summers since I chose a maid, /

  Too young maybe - but more's to do /

  At harvest-time than bide and woo.
• When us was wed she turned afraid /

  Of love and me and all things human; /

  Like the shut of a winter's day
• Her smile went out, and 'twasn't a woman - /

  More like a little frighted fay. /

  One night, in the Fall, she runned away.
• 'Out 'mong the sheep, her be,' they said, /

  Should properly have been abed; /

  But sure enough she wasn't there
• Lying awake with her wide brown stare. /

  So over seven-acre field and up-along across the down /

  We chased her, flying like a hare
• Before our lanterns. To Church-Town /

  All in a shiver and a scare /
• We caught her, fetched her home at last /

  And turned the key upon her, fast.
• She does the work about the house /

  As well as most, but like a mouse:
• Happy enough to chat and play /

  With birds and rabbits and such as they, /

  So long as men-folk keep away.
• 'Not near, not near!' her eyes beseech /

  When one of us comes within reach.
• The women say that beasts in stall /

  Look round like children at her call. /

  𝘐'𝘷𝘦 hardly heard her speak at all.
• Shy as a leveret, swift as he, /

  Straight and slight as a young larch tree,
• Sweet as the first wild violets, she /

  To her wild self. But what to me?
• The short days shorten and the oaks are brown, /

  The blue smoke rises to the low grey sky, /

  One leaf in the still air falls slowly down, /

  A magpie's spotted feathers lie
• On the black earth spread white with rime, /

  The berries redden up to Christmas-time. /

  What's Christmas-time without there be /

  Some other in the house than we!
• She sleeps up in the attic there /

  Alone, poor maid. 'Tis but a stair /

  Betwixt us. Oh! my God! the down, /

  The soft young down of her, the brown, /

  The brown of her - her eyes, her hair, her hair!
• What type of relationship is presented in The Farmer's Bride?

  A marriage of unequal power
• What is the tone of The Farmer's Bride?

  Frustration which turns to a more threatening and unsettling tone near the end
• Why is the fact The Farmer's Bride a monologue relevant?

  It means the bride has no voice
• Where does the poem become more sinister?

  Near the end when the farmer decides he wants children
• What does the irregular end-rhyme in The Farmer's Bride represent?

  Their inconsistent relationship and how fear is unpredictable
• What is significant about the word 'maid'?

  It emphasises the bride's innocence and purity
• Where is dialect shown in The Farmer's Bride?


  'When us was wed', 'she runned away', and 'Out 'mong the sheep, her be,'
• What line suggests the bride has lost touch with herself?

  'Of love and me and all things human;'
• What technique is used on the following line and what is its effect: 'Like the shut of a winter's day / Her smile went out,'?

  Simile - compares bride's change in mood to the end of a winter's day, in winter it gets dark very fast so this emphasises how quickly her 'smile went out'
• What technique is used on the following line and what is its effect: 'More like a little frightened fay.'?

  Simile - compares the bride to a fairy, fairies are often depicted as small and delicate, this technique suggests she is also small and delicate
• Why did the bride run away in 'the Fall'?

  Because 'more's to do / At harvest time' so she was able to sneak away when everyone else was busy
• What line shows that the farmer wants to control his bride?

  'Should properly have been abed;'
• What does the line: 'wide brown stare' tell us about the bride?

  She is too scared to sleep
• What is significant about the way the following line is written: 'So over seven-acre field and up-along across the down'?

  The line runs on quite a bit which emphasises how far the bride had run
• What technique is used on the following line and what is its effect: '...the down / We chased her...'?

  Enjambment - reflects the downs that the bride ran across
• What technique is used in the following phrase and what is its effect: 'flying like a hare'?

  Simile - compares the bride to a prey animal to show she felt scared and vulnerable, presents the farmer as a predator
• What is significant about the punctuation in the following phrase: '...turned the key upon her, fast.'?

  The comma and full stop surround the word fast, the word fast represents the bride being trapped
• What is significant about the verbs 'caught' and 'fetched'?

  These are words often used in relation to animals, suggests the bride is like a prey animal
• What technique is used in the following line and what is the effect: 'As well as most, but like a mouse:'?

  Simile - compares the bride to a small, delicate animal which suggests she is weak
• What is significant about the following phrase: '"Not near. Not near!" her eyes beseech'?

  The speech is not direct speech, shows she doesn't need words to show how afraid she is