the farmer's bride

• "three summers since i chose a maid"

  • first line is straight to the point, highlighting the lack of guilt from speaker
  • "maid" implies virgin; highlights her vulnerability and youth
  • "maid" rather than wife shows emptiness and futility of relationship
  • "chose" is an active verb, showing that the farmer was the one in charge; highlights how men had ultimate power in patriarchal society
• "too young maybe"

  • implies that the "maid's" age was why this marriage doesn't work out
• "but more's to do at harvest-time than bide and woo"

  • implies there was no relationship or affection between them prior to wedding
  • countryside can be seen as a metaphor for fertility
• "when us was wed"

  • inclusive pronoun "us" shows the farmer still sees them as a couple despite her hostility; could also been seen as him desiring a partnership
  • reference to time shows the marriage directly affected the bride & was turning point in the way she viewed men
  • alliteration of "w"; many question words start with - highlights his confusion; sounds like quivering highlighting his sadness at her behaviour
• "she turned afraid of love and me and all things human"

  • rule of three emphasises fears and anxieties the wife develops of ordinary things; evokes sympathy for her
  • polysyndeton adds to impression of her feeling overwhelmed
• "like the shut of a winter's day"

  • simile emphasises how quickly she withdraws
  • also shows how prematurely she withdraws as "a winter's day" ends earlier than a summer's day
  • the fact it's compared to "winter's day" reflects her coldness towards husband
• "her smile went out, and t'wasn't a woman"

  • bride's smile is compared to candle that goes out - objectification; reflects how the fire and happiness inside her vanishes
• "more like a little frightened fay"

  • a "fay" is a fairy; bride is depicted as an outsider who is very different to other women and other brides - ethereal, non-human creature
  • farmer perceives her as other-worldly
  • "fay" implies fragile, childlike and sensitive; farmer realises she needs to be treated with care; she is not old enough for an adult relationship
  • "little" emphasises vulnerability
  • fricatives of "frightened fay" emphasise harshness of wife's treatment
  • transformation suggests a profound disconnection and estrangement between the bride and the human world"
• "one night, in the fall, she runned away"

  • change of season shows that despite passing of time, she is unable to settle
  • her overwhelming fear causes her to run away
• "'out 'mong the sheep, her be' they said"

  • dialogue creates notion of community support
  • the fact everyone is looking for her shows the community is all on the farmer's side
  • highlights how she prefers company of animals over people; she feels safer amongst natural world
• "should properly have been abed, but sure enough she wasn't there"
• "lying awake with her wide brown stare"

  • likens her to a vulnerable animal
• "so over seven-acre field and up-along across the down / we chased her, flying like a hare / before our lanterns"

  • harsh, hunting-like connotations
  • farmer doesn't question why she's run away, just jumps straight into solving issue; he is more functional than emotional, making a point about men marrying to fulfil expectations
  • enjambment creates fast pace, reflecting the speed, intensity, distance of chase
• "to church-town all in a shiver and a scare"

  • sibilance creates ominous tone surrounding her return to farmhouse
• "we caught her, fetched her home at last and turned the key upon her, fast"

  • pronoun "we" indicates frightening nature of capture; there are lots of them but only one "little" her
  • "fetched" connotes the way a dog would fetch a ball; she is then locked up like an animal
  • could be argued the speaker has her best interest at heart and "[turns] the key" to protect her from danger
  • her imprisonment shows her lack of control and freedom in this relationship and her life
• "she does the work about the house as well as most, but like a mouse"

  • simile makes her seem quiet and timid; she is never described as a human being, only another animal he can own
  • she is presented as obedient
• "happy enough to chat and play with birds and rabbits and such as they, so long as men-folk keep away"

  • shows how she feels safe and "happy" within nature
• "'not near, not near!' her eyes beseech / when one of us comes within reach"

  • "beseech" means to plead; implies her desperation - bride seems like she is almost paralysed by fear of men, hinting at undisclosed trauma
• "the women say that beasts in stall / look round like children at her call. / i've hardly heard her speak at all."

  • rhyming creates a longing in husband's voice
  • juxtaposition of comfort with animals and fear of husband; he wishes he had the same closeness with her
  • shocking indication of the depth of the divide between them
  • suggests complete absence of communication and connection; silence which goes beyond mere shyness or reserve
  • lack of speech symbolises fundamental mystery and unknowability of bride, as well as impossibility of farmer ever truly understanding or connecting with her
• "shy as a leveret, swift as he, / straight and slight as a young larch tree"

  • simile comparison to "leveret" reinforces wife's introverted nature and vulnerability
  • zoomorphism displays her complete lack of understanding of societal expectations
  • simile to "young larch tree"; describes slender, unfeminine body implying she is very young, timid, fragile, innocent and inexperienced
  • comparisons suggest incompatibility between the bride's nature and the expectations of married life
• "sweet as the first wild violets, she, / to her wild self. but what to me?"

  • simile "first wild violets" demonstrates attraction; reference to senses ("sweet") shows his desire for physical relationship
  • farmer keeps objectifying wife (potential effect of patriarchy)
  • repetition "wild"; still thinks she is capable of being passionate; could show he's mourning fact she doesn't conform to traditional expectations
  • rhetorical question suggests sense of loss; her beauty is futile - she doesn't let him near her
  • pronoun "me" shows desire to be seen; two lives have been destroyed through this marriage
• "the short days shorten and the oaks are brown"

  • winter arrives; "short days"
  • continuous passing of time emphasises farmer's loneliness and controls the lack of change in their relationship
• "the blue smoke rises to the low grey sky"
• "one leaf in the still air falls slowly down"

  • highlights speaker's narrowed vision as he becomes increasingly obsessive
  • farmer is frustrated as he hasn't had a child
• "a magpie's spotted feathers lie on the black earth spread white with rime"
• "the berries redden up to christmas-time"

  • lead up to christmas emphasises loneliness
• "what's christmas-time without there be some other in the house than we"

  • patronising sarcasm increases listener's dislike for farmer
  • he is upset that despite there being little physical distance between them, she is not close to him
• "she sleeps up in the attic there alone, poor maid"

  • physical distance is emphasised as she "sleeps up in the attic"
  • "alone" and "poor" reveals sympathy for his bride; mournful tone created due to lack of intimacy with wife
  • "she sleeps" creates sibilance; conveys helplessness he feels as well as lack of communication due to quietness
  • "attic" is symbol for furthest point in house that she can sleep away from her husband; over time, distance between them has increased
  • power shift as farmer is now below wife and she must descend to be with him
• "'tis but a stair / betwixt us"

  • stairs are symbolic of obstacles between them and their differing opinions of each other
  • despite there only being " stair" between them, their emotional distance is insurmountable
  • enjambment splits the line in two, reinforcing separation; could also symbolise his broken heart
  • inclusive pronoun "us" shows that despite everything, he still hopes and longs for reconciliation
• "oh! my god" the down, the soft young down of her, the brown, the brown of her - her eyes, her hair, her hair!"

  • repeated exclamatives; imagines her body parts
  • caesura shows his pain and helplessness
  • exclamation marks show his passion and desire; he even calls to "god" to help him because he doesn't know how to overcome the obstacles in his marriage
• structure and form:

  • written in form of dramatic monologue & told from farmer's perspective
  • irregular in stanza length; reflects how relationship doesn't conform to traditional expectations
  • long length of poem reflects the long period of time the husband and wife are suffering; also reflects the passing of time in poem
• context:

  • charlotte mew was a victorian poet from difficult background
  • her parents had lots of children but three died young and two suffered from mental health issues; she was terrified of experiencing same difficulties
  • many of her poems explore theme of outcasts and mental health issues
  • apparently mew made a pact with one of her sister's to never get married out of fear of becoming mentally ill or passing mental illness onto children
  • poem written at time where issues were beginning to arise about the way in which men possessed women
  • feminist movement was beginning to gain prominence
• poet's message:

  • mew is expressing her view that women should not have their identities tied to their husband
• themes:

  • longing
  • loss
  • distance
  • desire
  • nature
  • silence
  • youth
  • disconnection
• comparisons:

  • porphyria's lover
  • love's philosophy
  • sonnet 29