Book Analysis: The Wife Speaks
In “The Wife Speaks,” a poem by Elizabeth Drew Barstow, published in 1895, the poet contemplates marriage’s mystery. The couple started well, and despite the challenges in the union and the vanishing splendid that once ruled the marriage, the wife anticipates reviving it with a positive perspective. “We thought fair spring returned” “5Cloud the shades vanish from these fifteen years”. The first line expresses the fair mood that the union had initiated in this couple in their early days in marriage, while the second contrasts it by mentioning its vanishing.
The poet has extensively used a wealth of literary devices that have enhanced the poem’s meaning. For instance, the poet used imagery in the fourth line (We thought fair spring returned). In this context, Fair spring refers to a good season where life seems to be fantastic, smooth, and with fewer challenges. The poet expresses how the couple felt regarding life for each other when they wed, and this line creates the image of how happy they were.
The use of similes is also evidenced in the line “As old as Adam and as sweet as Eve.” Here, the poet describes the mystery of love, which has been in existence for the longest time, and compares it with Adam. Eve was Adam’s wife, who completed him and enhanced his happiness. In this case, love is said to be sweet because it brings joy and life’s completeness. Also, there is the simile “Calm as those statutes in Egyptian sands” in the third-last sentence. The wife interrogates the husband whether he would choose to stay in the cold marriage that brings no happiness or rekindle it. The poet compares the cruel life with the Egyptian sand, which is calm and boring.
The poet also used the element of contrast. In expressing comparing the benefits and challenges of marriage, the poet used the statements “Learning the joys birth and woe of death.” The poet compares the joy experienced when a child is born with the sweetness of marriage and contrasts this by comparing the anguish of death with marriage hardships. In this case, it is clear that marriage life is smooth and also challenging at times. However, these two aspects are necessary to balance life and ignite perseverance in couples.
The poet summarizes the poem by implementing foreshadowing elements that provide insights regarding what might happen in the future of the story. In the last sentences, the wife woes the husband choose the path of life, whether the happy or the boring path. She continues to ask if the husband would choose desert life as they watch their old age. The last sentence foreshadows how the hard and monotonous life will initiate a future with no past. This creates insight into how a future without the past can look like a couple that has stayed together for many years.
In general, the poem is persuasive, whereby the wife woes the husband to participate in rekindling their love life. Comparing the first days and the current ones in marriage was essential to help them decide the kind of life they would want to lead.