Analysis of The Farmer's Bride
Three summers since I chose a maid,
Too young maybe-but more's to do
At harvest-time that a bide and woo.
When us was wed she turned afraid
Of love and me and all things human;
Like the shut of winter's day
Her smile went out, and `twadn't a woman-
More like a little frightened fay.
One night, in the Fall, she runned away.
"Out 'mong the sheep, her be," they said,
Should properly have been abed;
But sureenough she wadn'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 out lanterns. To Church-Town
All in a shiver and a scare
We caught her, fetched her home at last
And turned the key upon her, fast.
She does the work about the hosue
As well as most, but like a mouse:
Happy enough to cheat and play
With birds and rabbits and 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 woman say that beasts in stall
Look round like children at her call.
I've hardly heard her speak at all.
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 falls slowly down,
A magpie's spotted feathers lie
An 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!
Scheme | ABBACDCDD EEFFGFGFHH IIDDDJJKKKLLLL GMGMNNLL FFGGF |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11011101 11101111 110110101 11111101 110101110 1011101 011101010 11010101 110011101 11010111 11001101 11111 100110111 1101010101010101 11010101 01110111 10010001 11010111 01010101 11010101 11111101 10011101 110100111 11111101 11110101 11111011 01011101 11110101 11010111 1101111 10110111 110111001 10111111 0111000111 0111010111 1100111101 0110101 10111111 0101011101 11010111 11000111 11100101 01111101 01111101 01111001 0110010101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,670 |
Words | 331 |
Sentences | 20 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 9, 10, 14, 8, 5 |
Lines Amount | 46 |
Letters per line (avg) | 28 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 262 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 65 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:40 min read
- 106 Views
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"The Farmer's Bride" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 30 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/5556/the-farmer%27s-bride>.
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