The Farmer’s Bride
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What happens?
A farmer describes his young wife’s withdrawal while revealing his own frustration.
The main idea
The farmer’s account exposes how sympathy can coexist with a failure to respect another person’s freedom.
1. “Three Summers since I chose a maid,”
Method: Agency
The opening centres the farmer’s decision, not a mutual agreement.
2. “We chased her, flying like a hare”
Method: Simile
The pursuit makes the bride seem hunted.
3. “And turned the key upon her, fast.”
Method: Action
The practical detail exposes confinement beneath claims of concern.
4. “her eyes, her hair, her hair!”
Method: Repetition
The fractured ending reveals intensifying fixation rather than understanding.
Form and structure
A dramatic monologue in six unequal stanzas; rural speech and shifting line lengths develop an uneasy personal voice.
Development, voice and tone
Marriage and flight — Baffled. The farmer recalls the bride’s fear while presenting the marriage as his own choice.
Capture and domestic life — Uneasily descriptive. Images of vulnerable animals reveal a woman who seeks safety away from men.
Attic and final outburst — Frustrated and desirous. The speaker’s attention narrows to her body, leaving the threat unresolved.
Context
Mew gives the husband the speaking role while making the young bride’s fear visible through the limitations of his account.
Comparison links
Porphyria’s Lover: possessive narrators. Follower: a contrasting rural relationship.
Recall question
What can the reader infer beyond the farmer’s explanation?