'The Farmer's Bride', by Charlotte Mew (1869-1928)

1. The wife’s viewpoint

The poem works by describing the young wife’s psychological pain from the point of view of her husband in such a way that we see how both partners in the marriage are affected by it.

Ÿ  What is it like from the wife’s side?

Ÿ  What happens to cause the breakdown?

Ÿ  Is there some hidden incident that triggers it all?

Ÿ  Has the farmer caused the problem in some way with his behaviour?

Ÿ  Why does she run away?

Ÿ  What is it like to be chased by the villagers?

Ÿ  Why won’t she speak to her husband any more?

2. Monologue

Mew writes this piece as a monologue – which makes it comparable to monologues written by other poets in the anthology (for example, Browning, a poet she was compared with in her day).

·         What language features of the poem mark it as a monologue?

·         Is the speaker speaking to someone, or speaking to himself?

·         Is this a dramatic monologue, an internal monologue or both?

·         The poem speaks with the voice of the farmer – do we learn much about him?

·         Prepare two columns: information about the bride; information about the farmer. This should enable you to see more clearly whom we learn the most about.

3. The bride’s ballad

 One way of thinking about the bride’s story is for you to put together a bride’s ballad.

 Firstly, consider the extent to which the farmer is a reliable source. How far would he be putting a particular slant on things to show himself in a good light? People do this even when ‘talking to themselves’.

With regard to the ballad form itself, here is a possible start, which can, of course, be changed.

My name is ______________

And I come from Dorsetshire*

I lived among the woods and farms

And I loved the open air.

I loved to walk across the downs

And see the birds fly free

I loved to watch the hares at play

That was heaven to me.

But then a farmer courted me

Or that’s the word they used

I hardly knew what I should say

But I did not dare refuse.                                                                                                   

(* or any place or ‘shire’ which rhymes)

Ÿ  Now come up with your own ideas of the form of her response. Perhaps she keeps a diary secretly up in the attic. Perhaps she talks to the birds who come and sit on the window sill or writes a letter to a friend or relative?

4. Seasonal perspectives

The seasons play a strong part in the poem – the farmer uses them to measure time and to fix events. Focus on the fifth stanza that begins ‘The short days shorten and the oaks are brown’. Analyse the contents of the stanza, looking at the use of colours, etc. Then write a variation of this stanza, using it as a model, to describe spring or the onset of summer. Rhyme is optional.

5. Dialect

Look at Charlotte Mew’s use of language. She wants to give the farmer a realistic ‘voice’ of his own, so she makes him use words she thinks a farmer might use. In her other writings she frequently notes snatches of real speech that she’s heard on the streets. In this case she may have picked up the language on her visits to the Isle of Wight, where her grandfather had had a farm.

·         Read the poem carefully, marking all the parts where dialect or the farmer’s idiolect is used, looking for examples of special vocabulary and non-standard grammar.

·         Does the effect run all the way through the poem?  How consistent is it?

6. Repetition

Read some passages from Edgar Alan Poe’s writing (for instance ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’) where he uses repetition to carry the sense of psychological dissolution – and then compare it with the ending of the poem. Is the farmer going out of his mind?

D.H. Lawrence also uses repetition at moments of emotional intensity, and may have influenced this writing. This may be worth exploring …

 7. More about Charlotte Mew

Research – who was Charlotte Mew?  Did she know anything of farming life? Was this a story she heard somewhere? If not, how and why might she have decided to write such a poem?

Charlotte Mew had rather a sad life. Have a look at this Guardian article, especially as it focuses on the poem in question:

www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2008/sep/01/poemoftheweekthefarmersb

Extension activity: Look up other examples of Mew’s work to see whether there are echoes of the themes of ‘The Farmer’s Bride’ in other poems.

This will lead on to a discussion, a debate (e.g. ‘Charlotte Mew: should be better known or is best forgotten?’). Prepare by presenting different points of view as a PowerPoint, a spidergram or items pasted on an A3 sheet.