The Farmer's Story Begins
This poem hits you straight away with its uncomfortable truth - the farmer chose his bride, but she never had a say in the matter. Written from the farmer's perspective, it's a narrative poem that tells the story of a marriage of convenience rather than love.
The bride's reaction is immediate and heartbreaking. She becomes "afraid of love and me and all things human," which Mew cleverly shows through a simile comparing her to "the shut of a winter's day" - cold, closed off, and lifeless. Notice how the woman has no name or identity throughout the entire poem, highlighting just how powerless women were during this period.
Things get even more disturbing when she tries to escape. The language Mew uses - "chased her, flying like a hare" and "caught her, fetched her home at last" - makes it sound like they're hunting a wild animal rather than dealing with a terrified woman. The farmer then literally locks her up to prevent another escape attempt.
Key Point: The alternating rhyme scheme breaks down at crucial moments, mirroring how the bride's life has been completely disrupted and fragmented by this forced marriage.