The Farmer's Bride By Charlotte Mew

Charlotte Mew was born in London in 1869 (Poetry). The eldest daughter among family that consisted of seven children, however illness would take the lives of three of her brothers and later another brother and sister would be committed to mental hospitals leaving only Mew and her sister Anne (Poetry). Mew is primarily known for her poetry although she did publish several short stories. Her poem and collection of poem both titled “The Farmers Bride” would solidify Mew’s literary reputation earning praise from Siegfried Sassoon, Ezra Pound, Thomas Hardy, and Virginia Woolf who called Mew “the greatest living poetess” (Poetry). In 1927 Mew’s sister Anne would pass away after a battle with cancer and the despair from the loss would eventually lead to Mew’s suicide in …show more content…
Mew’s life was a constant struggle her dealings with death, mental illness, loneliness, and disillusionment would be reflected in her works (Poetry). Mew was not strictly a WWI poet but did publish poems regarding the war, which would highlight the toll the war had on the country and the questions that would arise in the transition to Modernistic ideals.

One of Mew’s poems regarding WWI is “May 1915.” The year of 1915 marked the first full year of The Great War during the month the May the British liner the Lusitania was sunk by a German U-boat. The tone of “May 1915” is somber boarding on the hope of returning to life before the war but recognizing that the possibility to avoid change is unlikely. The poem begins with words of hope and encouragement “Let us remember Spring will come again” (1) to the description of a decimated woodland