GCSE (9-1): Literature: Poetry: AQA Love and Relationships: The Farmer's Bride: Language

Mew's choice of the word 'bride' in the title

a bride is a woman on her wedding day or just before and after the event; it suggests that their marriage has not moved past the wedding day, even though the poem begins 'Three summers (years) since I chose a maid'

overarching feature of the poem's language

written in dialectical non-standard English

dialect definition

a particular form of a language which is peculiar to a specific region or social group

standard English definition

Standard English is a controversial term, often referring to the idealised norm of English or the commonly accepted, ie, 'proper', 'educated' or 'correct' use of English

non-standard English definition

any dialect of English other than Standard English; the term Nonstandard English is sometimes used disapprovingly to describe "bad" or "incorrect" English

2 effects of writing in dialectical non-standard English

makes the farmer sound uneducated and so, to a certain extent, we can understand why he is not able to think critically about his treatment of his bride; the dialect also seems to portray him clearly as a farmer, not a professional city dweller

diction

the choice and use of words in speech or writing

diction in 'The Farmer's Bride'

simple diction, expressing ownership, convention, natural and animalistic imagery, as well as love and sadness

tone definition

the speaker or author's attitude towards the subject

the speaker's tone

matter-of-fact in the beginning but ends in a confused tone

modal verb grammar definition

Modal verbs express possibility, ability, permission, or obligation, eg, must, should, might, can, would, shall, etc

effect of the modal verb 'should' in 'Should properly have been abed;'

a reference to convention; 'should' expresses obligation, therefore, according to the farmer who is following social conventions, she has an obligation to go to bed

effect of the adverb 'properly' in 'Should properly have been abed;'

the adverb 'properly' supports the modal verb 'should' by emphasising that the proper behaviour, in his view is for her to be in bed

Verse

a line of poetry

foot

a measuring unit in poetry, which is made up of stressed and unstressed syllables; a specific combination of feet creates meter in poetry

Syllable

the pronunciation of a vowel sound within a word

Meter

a stressed and unstressed syllabic pattern in a verse

iamb

a metrical structure of 1 unstressed syllable followed by 1 stressed syllable (2 feet - da-DUM)

tetrameter

repetition of a metrical pattern 4 times; in the case of iambic tetrameter it makes 8 syllables all together - da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM

typical function of iambic tetrameter

iambic tetrameter is fairly unusual; we are much more used to iambic pentameter (5 iambs per line) which is often used to discuss important topics or to portray a dignified tone

how the iambic tetrameter characterises the farmer

creates a tight sense of control and rigidness but also perhaps suggests that the farmer is trying to live up to an ideal or convention (iambic pentameter) that he does not understand, especially because it often breaks down further into 7 beats, rather than 8