The Farmer's Bride Flashcards
“Three Summers since I chose a maid”
Technique: noun
“maid” - doesn’t refer to her as his wife or by her name.
-Has domestic expectations from his wife, no other purpose.
“Three Summers” - a long time span and he still doesn’t refer to her with a tone of endearment.
Readers will see that already there are problems and distances in the relationship.
“Too young maybe - but more’s to do
At harvest-time than bide and woo.”
Technique: enjambment
-Enjambment shows the many things he has to prioritise.
“harvest-time” - time to pick crops and make money.
“bide” - means to stay somewhere.
“woo” - to gain the love of someone.
-More important to make money than focus on strengthening his marital relationship.
Readers understand that the farmer made the mistake of prioritising his occupation, and that his might lead to distances in the future.
“When us was wed she turned afraid
Of love and me and all things human.”
Technique: enjambment, conjunction
- Conjunction effectively portrays the extent to which she became afraid of things.
- Enjambment also reinforces this.
Readers see that she is traumatised after her marriage. Negative impact on relationship.
“Like the shut of a winter’s day”
Technique: simile
-Compares her to winter: cold, reserved, quiet.
Reader sees the continuous effect of the trauma.
“More like a frightened little fay.”
Technique: simile
-Compares her to a fairy: timid, quiet, little.
-Doesn’t seem to make her his equal.
Reader sees the imbalance, and that he views her more as a child than as a wife, which impacts relationship.
“One night, in the Fall, she runned away.”
Technique: verb
-Shows that she is scared and isn’t happy.
Reader sees that she is actively trying to get away from the speaker and the farm.
“We chased her, flying like a hare”
Technique: simile, verb, animal imagery
-Compares her to a little animal, belittles her.
-Chasing her like she is prey, not human.
Readers see that she isn’t treated as a human, but as an asset or animal; problems in relationship.
“We caught her, fetched her home at last
And turned the key upon her, fast.”
Technique: verbs, rhyming couplet (together)
-“caught”, “fetch” and “turned the key” connote captivity.
-“fetch” is a term used for a dog; she is animal-like.
Reader understands that she is being contained like an animal and isn’t free to leave - forced to stay. This suggests an unhealthy relationship.
“like a mouse”
Technique: simile
-Does domestic duties quietly.
-Small, insignificant, animal.
Made evident to reader that he sees her as insignificant and inhumane; animal imagery.
“So long as men-folk keep away.
‘Not near, not near!’ her eyes beseech
When one of us comes within reach.”
Technique: repetition
-Scared of people/the farmer; feels controlled by them.
-Repetition signifies her desire to be away from them.
-“beseech” is to beg.
-“reach” suggests they can just take her; inhumane.
Readers feel a sense of anger towards the farmer for treating her like an animal with no rights. Relationship is unhealthy as she doesn’t like being with him.
“I’ve hardly heard her speak at all”
Technique: adverb
-Little/no communication
Readers see that this has affected relationship.
“Sweet as the first wild violets, she,
To her wild self. But what to me?”
Technique: simile, rhetoric question
-Compares her to a flower; he finds her pretty.
-“self” and “me” emphasises the disunity of the couple.
-Doesn’t think she has feelings for him.
The reader sees the farmer grow to feel more affectionate towards her as he realises their relationship. Now the wife isn’t cooperating with him (shift).
“What’s Christmas-time without there be
Some other in the house than we!”
Technique: rhetoric question
-No children suggests no progress in the relationship.
The reader starts to feel pity for the speaker as he can’t seem to make his wife feel love for him.
“She sleeps up in the attic there
Alone, poor maid. ‘Tis but a stair
Betwixt us.”
Technique: caesura
- Sleeps in the attic; away from farmer.
- “Alone” could reference her loneliness or the speaker’s loneliness.
- “maid” - still no tone of endearment.
- Stairs are significant of both the physical distance between them and the emotional barriers they have to overcome in order to be together as a couple.
