The Farmer's Bride

Overall idea

-A farmer has been married for 3 years but his bride is frightened of him and other men

-The poem tells the story of how their relationship went wrong

-The narrator doesn't think he has any responsibility for his wife's fear

-He finds his wife's rejection of him almost unbearable

-He presents his thoughts in a matter of fact way

-He desires his wife and by the end of the play is tempted to be forceful with her

About

-Written in 1912 by Charlotte Mew

-Two of her siblings spent their lives in mental asylums and this influenced many of Mew's poems

-As in this poem, she often wrote from a male's perspective

-At the time of writing it was common for girls aged 12 upwards to be married, mainly as the life expectancy was much shorter 

-Once married, the woman become the man's property and he could beat her if she defied him

Themes

• Failed relationships
• Physical attraction
• Separation

Structure

Change from past to present and winter to spring- despite 3 years of their marriage passing they are still unconnected and haven't consummated the marriage

First person monologue- suggests his wife has no voice in the relationship

"I've"- because "I've" is in italics, it emphasises the farmer's frustration at her lack of love towards him and the fact she shows more compassion and care towards the animals on his farm

Oh! my God!- the use exclamation marks suggest he is losing control and beginning to break down as his desire for her is so overwhelming

5th Stanza (lines 30-34)- irregular short stanza reflects the farmer's growing agitation due to his unfulfilled desire for her

Language

"On the black earth spread white with rime"- Black and white relate to Yin Yang suggesting she is pure and he is darkness/evil in her life

"She runned away"- shows he is uneducated and traditional as it is use of country dialect

"We chased her"- The whole village seems to be involved in chasing her adding to the impression she is being hunted

"Wild brown stare" - Links to nature, her fear is expressed physically as if she is an animals being hunted. "Stare" rhymes with "hare" which emphasises the pase of her hear when she sees humans and her fear

Language

"Happy enough to chat and play /With birds and rabbits and such as they"-suggestion she is childlike and immature in her mind (possibly due to mental illness) She is linked with prey animals suggesting she is vulnerable

"Shy as a leveret" "Straight and slight as a young larch tree" "Sweet as the first wild violets"- list of similes makes his admiration of her personality and figure clear, it is as if she is showing off her like a possession. Sibilance is also created linking her with nature as it creates a sound like the wind.

[Beasts in stall] "Look around like children at her call"- Simile shows that farm animals trust her and look to her for care and comfort. Indicates that the narrator is jealous of the animals as his wife loves them more than him

Overall idea

-Written by Lord Byron

-Byron is discussing his breakup with Lady Frances

-Although it was a mutual decision to save Lady Frances from scandal, he was more upset by it

-He is angry and frustrated that she had another affair and that is shown throughout the poem

Overall idea

-Written by Thomas Hardy

-2 unknown people have split up

-The narrator (male) contantly remembers and relives the moment of their breakup

-He feels the world has lost all of its colour and warmth 

-Towards the end of the poem there is a sense of anger and frustration

Overall idea

-Written by Robert Browning

-It is a dramatic monologue meaning throughout the poem nasty aspects of the narrotor's (male) character are revealed

-The narrator is in a relationship with a woman of a higher class (as she attended a "feast" which he was not at indicating he is of low-middle class)

-He is frustrated and angry as Porphyria says she loves him and flirts with him yet he knows she wouldn't leave her upper class luxuries to be with him

-He is angry when she arrives as is being passive in the relationship

-He decides to strangle her with her own hair so that she can stay with him forever

About

-Porphyria was a well known disease in Victorian Britain that caused madness and, inevitably, a long, painful death

-It was known as the "Royal disease' as it generally effected the upper class. This further indicates that Porphyria is of a higher class than the narrator

-The fact Browning named the narrator's lover Porphyria suggests she has infected the narrator and caused him to go mad with his desire for her. It also implies that, in their situation at the beginning of the poem, he will live a long and painful life with the knowledge that she will never marry him

Themes

• Failed relationships
• Physical attraction

Structure

Repetition of "And" at the start of lines 14,15,17,18,19 and 20- Creates a listing effect showing how calmly he recounts the events leading to the murder, as if he is doing nothing more than creating a shopping list

Iambic tetrameter- causes a pace which mimics the rhythm of a calm human voice. Creates an ominous feeling and emphasises the madness of the narrator as his serenity completely opposes to the pace at which most people would recount a murder

Irregular line length- highlights his mental instability and inability to control his thoughts

"And strangled her . No pain felt she"- Caesura, shows the finality of life and the end of her existence

Language

"Rain" "Wind" -Pathetic fallacy creates an ominous and threatening atmosphere. Foreshadows that something bad will happen.

"She shut the cold out" "Kneeled" "Made"- Porphyria is a powerful, positive force and appears to be the active one in the relationship and in control. This would be very unusual in the VIctorian era as the woman would normally be passive.

"Withdrew the dripping cloak and shawl" "Laid her soiled gloves by" "Untied her hat" "Smooth white shoulder bare"- She is showing her intimate parts such as her wrists and is flirting with him. At the time this would be sinful and shows she is a fallen woman. 

"Yellow hair"- repetition draws your attention to it highlighting his obsession with her hair. Foreshadows that it will be the murder weapon. 

"From pride and vainer ties dissever"- critical of her lack of commitment. "Vain" implies she loves her life adn upper class luxuries and won't leave them to be with him. He is aware that the relationship won't be long term

"Restrain"- link to prisoners, indicates that she feels trapped by her lifestyle and the lack of choices she is allowed to make and he feels trapped by being in a low class and being unable to rise into a higher one

"Mine, mine"- repetition creates a disturbing and possesive feeliing instead of the passive naature he had earlier in the poem

"No pain felt she; /I'm quite sure she felt no pain."- repeatition to reassure himself as he didn't want to cause Porphyria any pain. First time we see his hard, emotionless exterior drop a little

Language

"Droops" "Rosy"- flower imagery created. Reflects her beauty but also that the perfect moment will not last forever and her body will begin to wilt

"It" "Its"- shows she has become an object and is now the ulitmate object, almosot doll like

"God has not said a word!"-Believes he hasn't commited a sin as if he had someone would have come to find him. Exclamation mark makes him sound gleeful and happy that he has commited the murder yet also suggests some surprise that he hasn't been caught.

Overall idea

-A couple have had an arguement or fallen out in some way

-They are not talking or engaging in any way yet the want to maintain their relationship

-They have gone on a walk by a lake where there are some swans

-The swans and their movements cause them to talk and their relationship begins to fix

-By the end of the poem the couple are holding hands and they are no longer to separate things but of one whole which is emphasised by their being two lines in the final stanza as opposed to three in the rest of the poem