A Quoi Bon Dire by Charlotte Mew (AQA A-Level English Literature A): Revision Notes
A Quoi Bon Dire by Charlotte Mew
Overview and context
A Quoi Bon Dire is a powerful exploration of enduring love, memory, and the passage of time. Written by Charlotte Mew and published in her first poetry collection The Farmer's Bride (1916), this poem reflects on how love persists beyond death and physical separation. The title is French and translates to What's the good or What's the point, suggesting a questioning tone about the futility of trying to explain or understand the speaker's experience of loss and remembrance.
The poem was printed in chapbook format by the Poetry Bookshop, making it accessible to a wider audience. Mew's work explores deeply personal themes of loss and mortality, drawing from her own traumatic experiences with mental illness, death, and loneliness throughout her life.
Central message: Memory preserves love beyond death's illusion. The poem demonstrates how the speaker's internal emotional reality differs from external perceptions of death and aging.
Key poem information
Understanding the technical aspects of this poem helps us appreciate how Mew constructs meaning through form:
Form: Quatrain - the poem consists of three four-line stanzas that create a sense of progression through time.
Rhyme scheme: The first two stanzas follow an ABAB pattern, whilst the third stanza shifts to EFEFF (or ABABB). This change mirrors the poem's movement from personal reflection to a more universal consideration of love.
Meter: Iambic tetrameter creates a steady, rhythmic pace that reflects the relentless passage of time. Variations in the meter, such as the inclusion of trochee feet, introduce a conversational quality that makes the poem feel intimate and personal.
Time period: 20th century (early modernist period)
The poem's technical elements work together to create meaning. The regular rhyme scheme in the first two stanzas establishes stability and certainty, whilst the shift in the final stanza introduces a sense of timelessness that matches the poem's thematic movement toward eternal love.
Key themes:
- Aging and the physical changes it brings
- Death and its impact on relationships
- Love that transcends physical separation
- Relationships and human connection
- Memory as a means of preservation
Emotions evoked:
- Pain from loss
- Regret for what cannot be changed
- Sadness at separation and aging
Structure and form
The poem's structure carefully supports its emotional journey through time. Mew uses a regular rhyme scheme for the first two stanzas (ABAB for stanza one, CDCD for stanza two) to emphasise the speaker's certainty about their feelings and memories. This consistent pattern suggests stability and conviction in the face of others' disbelief.
The shift in the final stanza to an EFEFF pattern introduces a sense of timelessness and continuity in love. This structural change reflects the transition in the poem's content from personal reflection on past and present to a more universal consideration of love's enduring power.
The use of iambic tetrameter creates a steady, rhythmic pace throughout the poem. This regular beat mirrors the passage of time whilst also reflecting the enduring nature of the speaker's emotions. However, variations in the meter introduce a conversational quality that makes the poem feel more personal and intimate, as though the speaker is confiding in us directly.
The sibilance in the stanzas (repetition of 's' sounds) creates a slow and calm rhythm. Despite addressing themes of death and aging, this technique introduces a sense of positive remembrance rather than despair. This sonic quality is crucial to understanding the poem's contemplative rather than bitter tone.
Analysis: stanza by stanza
First stanza
Seventeen years ago you said
Something that sounded like Good-bye:
And everybody thinks you are dead
But I.
The opening stanza establishes an event from the past. The speaker addresses someone directly using you, creating an intimate tone from the outset. We learn that seventeen years earlier, this person said something that resembled a goodbye - significantly, it only sounded like farewell, suggesting ambiguity or the speaker's refusal to accept it as final.
The stanza reveals a stark contrast between public perception and the speaker's private reality. Whilst everybody thinks this person has died, the speaker emphatically disagrees (But I). This sharp, two-word final line emphasises the speaker's isolation in their belief and the strength of their conviction. The abrupt ending can also represent the sudden nature of death itself.
The stable pace of the stanza provides a solid foundation for the speaker to express their feelings about time and love. The use of Good-bye with a capital G elevates it to something more significant - not just a casual farewell but a final, ultimate goodbye (death). Yet the speaker maintains the person's presence through memory, keeping them alive in a way that transcends physical death.
Second stanza
So I, as I grow stiff and cold
To this and that say Good-bye too;
And everybody sees that I am old
But you.
The second stanza shifts to the present moment, focusing on the speaker's own aging process. The phrase stiff and cold reveals the physical deterioration the speaker experiences - losing tenderness and warmth as they approach their own death. There is alliteration in this and that which expresses how mundane things in life have become meaningless now that the loved one is gone.
Like the loved one in the first stanza, the speaker is now saying goodbye to things, preparing for death. The parallel structure between the two stanzas is striking: where everybody thought the loved one was dead (but the speaker didn't), now everybody sees the speaker is old (but the loved one doesn't). This creates a powerful symmetry that unites the speaker and their loved one across the boundary of death.
The capitalisation of Good-bye appears again, maintaining the sense of final farewell (death). The stanza constructs a mirror image of the first, with syntax and meaning reflecting each other. This structural parallelism emphasises the powerful bond that unites the speaker and loved one even after death. Both have abrupt endings that emphasise meaning and suggest the strength of the lover's love.
Third stanza
And one fine morning in a sunny lane
Some boy and girl will meet and kiss and swear
That nobody can love their way again
While over there
You will have smiled, I shall have tossed your hair.
The final stanza moves into the future tense, imagining a scene of young lovers meeting in an idyllic setting (one fine morning in a sunny lane). These lovers meet, kiss, and swear that their love is unique - that nobody can love their way again. This image has universal relevance, representing the timeless nature of romantic love and the belief that each love is special and unprecedented.
However, the stanza then shifts dramatically with While over there. This phrase transports us to a different realm where the speaker and their loved one are reunited. The future tense (You will have smiled, I shall have tossed your hair) projects their love beyond death, suggesting a meeting in the afterlife or in the eternal space of memory.
The final line is particularly intimate and tender. Tossing someone's hair is an affectionate, playful gesture that suggests closeness and familiarity. This detail brings the loved one vividly to life and expresses the speaker's wish to be reunited with them. The phrase closes the speaker's remembrance, bringing both figures together to conclude the poem on a note of hope and continuity.
Key poetic techniques
Tone: The poem maintains a contemplative and lyrical quality throughout. The speaker seems to understand the passing of time clearly and calmly, accepting it whilst others don't. This creates an atmosphere of quiet certainty despite the painful subject matter.
Sibilance: The repetition of 's' sounds throughout creates a slow, calm rhythm. This is particularly important as it goes along with the tone of the poem, suggesting peaceful acceptance rather than bitter resentment.
Rhythm: The steady rhythm created by iambic tetrameter reflects both the passage of time and the enduring nature of the speaker's emotions. The harmony between form and content is extremely important to the poem's overall effect.
Parallel structure: The first two stanzas mirror each other in syntax and meaning. Both follow the pattern of stating what happened, what everybody thinks, and then contradicting that perception with But I/But you. This creates a strong connection between the speaker and the loved one, suggesting they exist in a shared reality separate from the rest of the world.
Alliteration: The use of this and that in the second stanza emphasises how things in life don't mean much now that the loved one has gone. The repetition of sounds reinforces the monotony of life without the beloved.
Contrast: Throughout the poem, Mew contrasts everybody with the speaker and loved one, emphasising their unique bond and how it isolates them from ordinary perception and experience.
About Charlotte Mew
Charlotte Mew (1869-1928) was an English poet whose work explored themes of love, loss, memory, and the passage of time. Her life was marked by considerable tragedy - she faced mental illnesses, death, loneliness, and disillusionment, all of which became central themes in her poetry.
Mew published her first work, a short story titled Passed, in 1894 when she was in her mid-twenties. This story appeared in Yellow Book. Although she is best remembered for her poetry today, Mew wrote many short stories throughout her career.
Her breakthrough came in 1912 with the publication of The Farmer's Bride in the Nation, which brought her considerable attention. Between 1894 and 1912, she published seven pieces of poetry and various short stories in different journals. However, it was The Farmer's Bride that established her literary reputation.
During this period, she also wrote Madelain in Church and Fin de Fête, which were included in her first poetry collection, also titled The Farmer's Bride, published in 1916. The literary community praised this work, though the books took years to sell widely.
Mew's distinctive voice is marked by introspection and emotional depth, coupled with evocative imagery and a contemplative tone. Her lyrical quality and nuanced exploration of personal experience reflect her characteristic style, making A Quoi Bon Dire a fitting example of her poetic oeuvre.
Key Points to Remember:
- The French title A Quoi Bon Dire means What's the good or What's the point, suggesting questioning and perhaps futility
- The poem uses a shift in rhyme scheme (ABAB, CDCD to EFEFF) to mirror its movement from personal to universal themes
- Memory is presented as a force that preserves love beyond death - the speaker keeps the loved one alive through remembrance
- Parallel structure in the first two stanzas creates symmetry: everybody thinks the loved one is dead (but the speaker doesn't), and everybody sees the speaker is old (but the loved one doesn't)
- The final stanza imagines reunion beyond death, with the intimate detail of tossing hair suggesting enduring affection and hope