Hello and welcome to Frank Skinner's poetry podcast. Last weekend I went to my nephew's

birthday party at what used to be known as Hampstead Town Hall. Now I was particularly

happy to be there, I'm not just because of the party, but because Hampstead Town Hall

a grade 2 listed building which opened in 1878 and yes I did copy this off the sign. There

the architects of that building were Henry Edward Kendall and Frederick Mu and that's why

I was excited and I asked the lady on the desk if there's any information or a plaque

about those architects and she said, don't know, but they were the grandfather and father

respectively of this week's poet Charlotte Mew. Charlotte Mew was born in 1869 and died

in 1928 and she I think she's absolutely brilliant. She was something of a character I should

say before we get into the poem. She wore men's clothes most of the time smoked till I always

carried a black umbrella short hair. Yeah, it was probably gay and was just an interesting

person. The story is that her and her sister Anne took a pledge when two of their siblings

ended up in what used to be known as a mental asylum that they would never have children

because they didn't want to inflict suffering upon them. So it's already it's a colorful tale,

but the important thing as ever is the poetry and so I want to get straight into that and if you're

going to do Charlotte Mew it's very hard to avoid the farmer's bride which is her signature piece

and which was first published in 1912. I just want to get straight into it. I can't wait any longer.

The farmer's bride it is irregular in its lines and stances. It's whatever Charlotte feels like

at that particular point in the poem, but it's got a beautiful old English ballad feel to it as well.

Let's jump in. I'll give you the first four lines of the first stanza. Three summers since I chose

a maid, two young maybe, but more's to do at harvest time than buy it and woo. When us was wed

she turned afraid. Okay, one of Charlotte's I think of her as Charlotte so that's what I'm going to

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