The narrator of the poem is a lady who has been left by her lover, with whom they have been together since she was very young. From her narration, we get to know that she got married to her lover who was also young when she the age of fourteen years. She says, "Two small people, without dislike or suspicion. At fourteen I married My Lord you". This confirms that she got married to her boyfriend when they were still small.
Throughout the poem, we learn the different characteristics of the narrator. For instance, before she met the boy, she says that she was playing around the front gate pulling flowers. She says, "I played about the front gate, pulling flowers." This indicates that the narrator was a playful child. When she got married at the age of fourteen, she says that she never laughed, always frowning, which may have been an indication of naivety in the marriage between two children. She says, "I never laughed, being bashful. Lowering my head, I looked at the wall". Her behavior was an indication that she was timid that she couldn't even face people when called upon. However, at the age of fifteen, she stopped scowling and gained her confidence in the marriage, and that's when she felt that she loved her partner very much.
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To demonstrate her state of mind, the poem highlights her behavior from the time she got married. For instance, immediately after marriage, she was unhappy and always frowning, never laughed. This statement indicated that she wasn't comfortable with the situation in her mind. She says, "I never laughed, being bashful." Her state of mind however changed at the age of fifteen and regained her confidence. She says, "At fifteen I stopped scowling." Her current mind state indicates that she is a lonely mood after the departure of her lover, whereby she is anxiously waiting for his return. She says "If you are coming …' Please let me know beforehand".
Personification has been used in the poem to demonstrate how butterflies are happy about the long flowery grass that has grown on the passage since no one passes through it. She says, "The paired butterflies are already yellow with August, Over the grass in the West garden."
The narrative, in this case, is about a love relationship which has gone sour after the husband left the wife to live in another town, while she's left in loneliness waiting for the day he will return.
Work cited
Pound, E. (1998). The River Merchant's Wife: A Letter. An Introduction to Poetry.
