Understanding the poem "The Farmer's Bride." Hello, and welcome to today's lesson.

My name is Mr. Young, and I'm so glad that you could join me again on another lesson in this Love and Relationships poetry sequence.

So in today's lesson, we are going to be understanding the poem "The Farmer's Bride." So let's get started.

So today's lesson has a very clear learning outcome, totally related to the poem "The Farmer's Bride." So by the end of today's lesson, everybody should be able to understand how Mew, who is the poet, presents a dysfunctional relationship in "The Farmer's Bride." Just as in any lesson, we have some very important words, our keywords.

So I do always encourage you just to pause the video, jot these words down and their definitions, particularly if they are new to you, because we are going to be using them quite a bit.

So let's take a look at what they are.

Autonomy, independence over one's thoughts and actions.

So we would say, potentially, "The Farmer's Bride" doesn't have much autonomy.

Suffrage, so suffrage is the right to vote.

So particularly in the early 20th century women's suffrage, so women getting the right to vote, was an important political issue.

Dramatic monologue, a poem written in the form of a speech from an individual character.

And finally dysfunctional, so if something is dysfunctional, then it is not operating properly, it is broken.

So in the context of this poem, we will be saying the relationship is dysfunctional.

So today's lesson has two very clear learning cycles.

Our first one is going to be about understanding the poem.

We're gonna read through the poem together, hopefully enjoy it, hopefully take something from that poem, and then begin to understand it in a bit more detail.

And then we're gonna move on to learning cycle two.

And I'm really excited for this one.

We're gonna look at the poet's life.

We're gonna look at the contextually relevant things that led to the creation of this poem.

So without further ado, let's get started on learning cycle one.

So "The Farmer's Bride" is a classic dramatic monologue.

So quick discussion question, straight over to you then please.

What do I mean when I say a dramatic monologue? So hit that pause button, have a quick discussion, drop down some ideas if you are working independently, and then do push play when you like to proceed.

Okay, fantastic discussions to kickstart this lesson.

Let's keep that energy going throughout today's learning.

So I'm really, really impressed by everybody who was able to identify what a dramatic monologue is and maybe lean on their existing knowledge of it as a form.

Maybe talking about some dramatic monologues you have potentially read already.

But a dramatic monologue is a poem written as a speech from an individual character.

So in this case, the poem is written from the perspective of a farmer recounting his unhappy marriage to his young wife.

So next question then, knowing the poem is written from the perspective of the farmer, how might this affect our response to the poem? So once again, hit that pause button, have a quick discussion, do push play when you'd like to proceed.

Okay, once again, great discussions taking place there, and really well done if you are able to pick up on the idea of perspective, maybe even bias.

You know, if we are reading of some person's account told from their perspective, it is probably going to unnecessarily bias their position and their interest.

So that's definitely something we can be thinking about before we even read the poem.

So let's read the poem together.

So before we do, in the right hand side, we're gonna have these words in purple that are maybe slightly challenging vocabulary.

So it's really important that we understand what those words mean.

So we've got maid in this context, which means a young girl, usually a virgin.

We've got bide, which means to wait for something.

So people usually bide their time.

We've got this twadn't, which is a kind of colloquial version of there wasn't.

So it's written in a certain kind of regional dialect, this poem.

And finally a fay.

So a fay in this context is a fairy.

So let's read the beginning.

"Three summers since I chose a maid, Too young maybe - but more's to do At harvest-time than bide and woo." When us was wed she turned afraid Of love and me and all things human; Like the shut of a winter's day Her smile went out, and twadn't a woman - More like a frightened fay.

One night, in the Fall, she runned away." So really interesting start to the poem, isn't it? Let's continue.

Let's have a little look at some of these vocabulary points though.

So we've got, 'mong here, which means among.

It's just, again, the regional dialect of among.

We've got abed.

So if someone is a bed, they're in bed.

And we've got down, referring to the down here refers to the general countryside.

So let's see what happens after the bride runs away.

"'Out 'mong the sheep, her be,' they said, 'Should properly have been abed; But sure enough she wasn't there Lying awake with her wide brown stare.

So over seven-acre field and up along across the down We chased her, flying like a hare Before our lanterns.

To Church-Town All in the shiver and a scare We caught her, fetched her home at last And turned the key upon her, fast." Let's continue.

So two more words here.

Beseech to beg for something.

And stall a small room where animals are kept.

So we've got this really kind of exciting story so far.

We've got this wife who's run away, and she's been caught by the farmer and some of his friends.

Let's see what happens next.

"She does the work about the house As well as most, but like a mouse: Happy enough to chat and play With birds and rabbits such as they, So long as men-folk keep away.

'Not near, not near!' her eyes beseech When one of us comes within reach.

The women say that beasts in stall Look round like children at her call.

I've hardly heard her speak at all." So check for understanding for me then please, we've read the first half of the poem.

So choose the missing word to complete this quote, "All in a shiver and a scare, we blank her, fetched her home at last." Is it found, is it caught, is it saved, or is it saw? Hit that pause button, complete the task, and then push play when you'd like to proceed.

Okay, great job to everybody who identified B, caught, "All in a shiver and a scare, we caught her, fetched her home at last." You know, that's not a particularly nice way is it to describe how you approach another human being.

It almost makes her sound like someone who has been hunted, which she has here.

Okay, true or force for me then.

Next check for understanding.

The farmer married his bride a long time ago.

Is that true or is that false? Hit that pause button, complete the task, and then push play when you'd like to proceed.

Okay, great job if you identified it as true the farmer did marry his bride a long time ago, but how can we justify that? Is he now an old man looking back on his life and his marriage to his bride? Or has it been three summers since he married his bride? So once again, hit that pause button, complete the task, and then do push play when you'd like to see which is correct.

Okay, once again, great job if you identified B.

It has been three summers since he married his bride.

So he is kind of reflecting on it after three years effectively since he has married his bride.

Let's continue reading the poem.

So we've got two other complex words here.

We've got a leveret, which is a hare, a kind of a mammal, a bit like a rabbit.

And we've also got a larch, which is a type of tree widespread across the UK.

So the poem continues.

"Shy as a leveret, swift as he, Straight and slight as a young larch tree, Sweet as the first wild violets, she, To her wild self.

But what to me? The short days shorten and the oaks are brown, The blue smoke rises to the low grey sky, One leaf in the still air force slowly down, A magpie' spotted feathers lie." Again, some key words here.

Rime a small frost formed on something when it's cold.

And betwixt, which means between.

If you are betwixt something, you are between.

So let's read a bit more about this farmer's bride.

"On the black earth spread white with rime, The berries redden up to Christmas-time.

What's Christmas-time without there be Some other in the house than we! She sleeps up in the attic there Alone, poor maid.

'Tis but a stair Betwixt us.

Oh! my God! the down, The soft young down of her, the brown, The brown of her - her eyes, her hair, her hair!" It's a really interesting end to this poem.

So I would like you to develop your understanding of that poem.

I'm not gonna give too much away at this stage because I want you to personally respond to it.

So I would like you to answer the following questions and support your answers with evidence from the text, so quotations to support your points.

So your questions are, number one, how does the speaker initially perceive his wife in "The Farmer's Bride?" Number two, give an example of where the bride is likened to an animal.

What effect does this comparison have? Number three, how does the poem convey the relationship between the two as dysfunctional? Four, how does the bride's emotional state change as the poem progresses? And five, how does the poem end? Who do you feel most sympathetic towards and why? So really excited to see how you got on with these questions.

They'll really, really develop your understanding of the poem.

So hit that pause button and then push play when you'd like to see how you could have approached it.

Okay, excellent work on that task.

It is really, really important that we kind of really understand.

We really comprehend the key ideas in a poem.

So let's see how we could have approached this task.

So number one, how does the speaker initially perceive his wife? Well, we could say at the beginning of the poem, the speaker's attitude towards his wife appears distant or indifferent as he struggles to understand or connect with her.

For instance, he describes her as shut as a winter's day, perhaps indicating her closed off demeanour.

Number two, give an example of where the bride is likened to an animal, and what effect does this comparison have? I think, you know, there are lots of different ways, isn't there, throughout the poem that she's compared to an animal.

One that really sticks out to me is the idea of being compared to like a hare or like a mouse.

And these comparisons evoke a sense of vulnerability and captivity, highlighting her lack of agency and confinement within the marriage.

Three, how does the poem convey the relationship between the two as dysfunctional? Well, the poem suggests their incompatibility through contrasts in temperament and behaviour.

So the farmer is portrayed as pragmatic and persistent, while the bride is depicted as withdrawn and elusive, emphasising their inability to connect on an emotional level.

Four, how does the bride's emotional state change as the poem progresses? Well, the farmer's bride's feelings fluctuate between unease, fear, and a longing for freedom.

Her emotional turmoil is conveyed through her avoidance of the farmer and her attempts to escape, indicating her unhappiness and desire for autonomy.

I think that comes across again and again in the poem, doesn't it? And our last question, how does the poem end? Who do you feel most sympathetic for? Well, the poem concludes with the farmer's realisation of his wife's continued resistance.

Despite this, he still appears to fantasise about her, further emphasising his sense of resignation or defeat.

While some may sympathise with the farmer's loneliness, most will feel empathy towards the bride's plight, prompting reflection on themes of love, marriage, and individual agency.

And great job if you identified anything similar in your own work.

Okay, well done for all of your hard work in learning cycle one.

It was great to read the poem with you and to really kind of explore some of its key ideas and key themes.

So a really key skill in English is to look at the context or the background of any text that we read, and they can really help us understand it even better.

So that's what today's learning cycle or learning cycle two is all about.

So we are going to look at the background to "The Farmer's Bride." So "The Farmer's Bride" was written in 1916, so quite a long time ago now.

And in particular the poem is written by Charlotte Mew.

And a few interesting things about Charlotte Mew are that she is from an upper middle class background.

She has several siblings who died in childhood.

And she wrote at a time when women's suffrage, that is the women getting the right to vote, was an important issue.

So my task for you, a quick discussion task to kick us off with learning cycle two, what key themes might you expect in Mew's work after knowing this contextual information? So hit that pause button, have a discussion, jot down some ideas if you're working independently, and then do push play when you'd like to continue.

Okay, once again, some fantastic discussions taking place.

What under all of those groups who are linking these kind of key contextual elements of Charlotte Mew's life to their thematic points.

So we may speak about the idea of, you know, the power of women or the role of women might be important given how important suffrage was at the time, and also this idea of perhaps tragedy or trauma given Charlotte Mew's own tragic upbringing.

Well done for picking up on those things.

Okay, so let's look at the title to see if we can develop our understanding even further.

So the title is "The Farmer's Bride." So titles can be really, really helpful when we're looking at poetry, particularly because poems are usually quite short, they're not very long.

So the title sometimes does a lot of heavy lifting in the context of the poem.

So my question for you is, what predictions can we make about the poem's themes based on its title? So that simple title of "The Farmer's Bride." So hit that pause button, complete the task, and then do push play when you'd like to see some feedback.

Okay, great work on that task.

I totally agree, even though there are only three words here and one of them is the very simple the, we can actually learn quite a lot from this poem, or certainly predict quite a lot from this poem, can't we? Some things that really stick out to me are as follows.

So firstly the title seems to suggest the bride is a possession of the farmer or something owned by him.

She doesn't seem to have much autonomy or agency, does she? And that's certainly a prediction I might make about the the poem.

Again, we've also got the word bride and not wife.

This kind of is really important because it suggests early marriage or perhaps it could suggest that their relationship hasn't progressed potentially.

Again, just an idea.

We're not saying that's definitely the case.

It's just a prediction that we might have.

And finally the farmer suggests it may be a rural story, perhaps reflecting the social values of this area.

Again, it might be be set in a rural kind of countryside environment.

That's certainly where you'd find a farmer, isn't it? So really, really kind of reasonable predictions I think we can make about the poem's key themes.

So in 1916, women had significantly less equality than men.

And in particular they were unable to vote in elections.

So women's suffrage was a big issue at the time.

They were not allowed into certain professions and mainly focused on their role at home, and they lacked autonomy and usually had decisions made for them by a husband or father.

So these societal norms contributed to a pervasive lack of agency and independence for women during this period, which is explored by Mew in "The Farmer's Bride." So all of these things were going on at the time Charlotte Mew was writing, and they certainly kind of influenced the character of "The Farmer's Bride." So quick check for understanding for me then please.

In 1916 it could be argued women lacked autonomy.

What does this mean? Is it, A, they had little control over their lives and were often under the authority of others? Is it, B, they were free to act and think as they wished within certain social boundaries? Or is it, C, they had power and control over some decisions, for example, marriage, but were restricted in others, for example, jobs? So hit that pause button, complete this task, to show your understanding and then push play when you'd like to see the correct answer.

Okay, what on to all of those individuals and groups that selected A.

It is, of course, they had little control over their lives, and were often under the authority of others.

Something that really comes across in the poem, doesn't it? The bride is absolutely kind of controlled or under the authority of the farmer, for example.

Okay, so we have reached our final practise task of today's lesson, so let's have a look at what it is.

So after reading the poem's opening stanza again, Alex said the following, he said, "You can really see how Mew explores the idea of sexism and how women were seen as simply a male possession at this time." Really, really intelligent comment there from Alex.

So your task is as follows, I would like you to annotate this stanza, the opening stanza with any ideas and references that support Alex's statement.

And remember, Alex's statement is all about the idea that it shows the sexism and that women were possessions at the time.

So annotate anything you think kind of supports that idea, be it a word, a phrase, an idea, anything that could be relevant to Alex's point.

So super excited to see how you approach this one.

So hit that pause button, complete the task, and then do push play when you'd like to continue.

Okay, fantastic work on that.

It is a really key skill in English, isn't it? It's fantastic to be able to link our kind of big contextual ideas about the poem with the kind of nuts and bolts, words and phrases and devices that are happening in the poem.

So here's how you could have approached this task.

So things that really stuck out to me and really linked to Alex's point are as follows.

So firstly, "I chose a maid." This I chose suggests the bride had little say in the matter.

It seems like the farmer is the only one here who has any say in it.

Absolutely showing the kind of sexism of the day perhaps, and the lack of any autonomy for the bride.

We've also got the idea of maid.

So she is referred to as a maid here, which highlights her young age and vulnerability.

Maybe we could even go one step further and argue that she's not even ready for marriage yet.

That could definitely link to Alex's point, couldn't it? And, again, we've also got this idea that it is implied that the farm work was more important and the marriage was an afterthought.

There is lots of focus here on what the farmer does, his job and his kind of romantic relationship with his bride is really a bit of an afterthought.

Again, I would show that shows she doesn't have much importance, certainly not to the farmer.

And, again, this idea here, this very last line, "One night, in the Fall, she runned away." So the bride is unhappy, and there are no options available to her.

The only thing she can do is run away.

That absolutely shows a lack of inequality, doesn't it? If somebody is running away from a relationship, it probably isn't a very good one.

Okay, fantastic work on all of your tasks today in today's lesson.

It's been an absolute pleasure to teach you on another lesson, another poem in the Love and Relationships anthology.

So before we finish today's lesson, let's just recap those fantastic things that we have focused on.

So firstly, the bride is forced to marry the farmer at a young age and is scared of her husband.

The bride attempts to run away and is then chased and captured by a group of men.

When the bride returns, she is locked up by her husband and becomes reclusive.

Despite her refusal to speak, the farmer still fantasises about his wife.

And finally, Mew was writing at a time when women's position in society was often restricted.

It's been great to teach you in today's lesson, and I really look forward to teaching you on another lesson in this sequence.

So thank you very much and goodbye.