A Quoi Bon Dire – Charlotte Mew

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Notes de leçon

The poem at a glance

"A Quoi Bon Dire" by Charlotte Mew (1869–1928), from×The Farmer's Bride×(1916).
The French title means roughly "What is the point of saying?" / "What good is it to say?" — words cannot capture what the speaker feels.
The speaker addresses a beloved who died seventeen years ago: everyone else thinks he is dead — "But I" do not.
Now the speaker is old; the world sees only that — "But you" do not.
The last stanza imagines young lovers who think no one ever loved as they do, while the speaker and the dead beloved are together "over there".
Three short stanzas; key ideas: enduring love, death and memory, ageing, the private nature of grief.

Stanza 1: 'But I'

"Seventeen years ago you said / Something that sounded like Good-bye": the death is described gently, almost as a misunderstanding.
"And everybody thinks that you are dead, / But I.": the short final line (just two words) isolates the speaker — alone in keeping the beloved alive.
The caesura-like brevity makes "But I" stand out as defiance and loneliness.
Death is not accepted: in the speaker's mind the love continues.

Stanza 2: 'But you'

"So I, as I grow stiff and cold / To this and that say Good-bye too": the speaker is ageing and letting go of the world — the words also hint at death.
"And everybody sees that I am old / But you.": the second two-word line mirrors the first.
The beloved — frozen in memory — would still see the speaker as young; the love keeps both of them unchanged.
The parallel structure (But I / But you) binds the two lovers together against "everybody".

Stanza 3: over there

"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": new young lovers, sure their love is unique.
There is gentle irony: every generation believes it invented love.
"While over there / You will have smiled, I shall have tossed your hair.": the future perfect tense places the speaker and beloved together — perhaps in an afterlife, perhaps in memory — sharing an intimate, playful gesture.
The ending is tender and consoling: love outlasts death.

Form and methods

Stanzas 1 and 2 are quatrains with short final lines ("But I." / "But you."); stanza 3 is longer, with its own short line "While over there".
Rhyme (said/dead, Good-bye/I, cold/old, too/you) gives a song-like closeness.
Parallelism links the lovers; repetition of "Good-bye" and "everybody".
Understatement: death as "Something that sounded like Good-bye".
Tense shift to the future perfect in the last line: "will have smiled", "shall have tossed" — as if the reunion is already certain.

Themes and comparisons

Enduring love beyond death.
Grief and memory: the private world of the bereaved vs what "everybody" thinks.
Ageing: the speaker grows "stiff and cold", but love keeps youth alive.
Time: seventeen years, a lifetime, and eternity.
Comparisons: "Because I Could Not Stop for Death" (death and eternity), "Meeting at Night" (lovers), "Because I Liked You Better" (unexpressed love), "One Art" (loss).

Diapos

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Questions d'entraînement

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1.Who wrote 'A Quoi Bon Dire'?
Easy
- ACharlotte Mew
- BEmily Dickinson
- CRuth Pitter
- DChristina Rossetti
2.What does the French title roughly mean?
Easy
- AGoodbye, my love
- BSeventeen years
- COver there
- DWhat is the point of saying?
3.How long ago did the beloved say 'Good-bye'?
Easy
- ASeventy years
- BOne year
- CSeventeen years
- DSeven years
4.What does 'Something that sounded like Good-bye' refer to?
Medium
- AA train leaving
- BThe beloved's death, described gently
- CAn argument
- DA letter
5.Who does NOT think the beloved is dead?
Medium
- AThe speaker
- BEverybody
- CThe young lovers
- DThe beloved's family
6.What does everybody see about the speaker in stanza 2?
Medium
- AThat the speaker is rich
- BThat the speaker is in love
- CThat the speaker is ill
- DThat the speaker is old
7.What is the effect of the two-word lines 'But I.' and 'But you.'?
Medium
- AThey are questions
- BThey introduce new characters
- CThey isolate and bind the two lovers against everybody else
- DThey show the poet ran out of words
8.What does 'stiff and cold' suggest about the speaker?
Medium
- AGood health
- BAgeing and drawing closer to death
- CAnger at the beloved
- DWinter weather only

Plus de questions

9.Who appears in stanza 3?
Medium
- AA boy and girl who meet and kiss in a sunny lane
- BOld friends at a funeral
- CThe speaker's children
- DA priest
10.What do the young lovers swear?
Medium
- AThat they will never marry
- BThat they will leave the town
- CThat they are the speaker's children
- DThat nobody can love their way again
11.What is gently ironic about the young lovers' vow?
Medium
- AThey hate each other
- BThey are very old
- CThe speaker's love has already lasted beyond death
- DThey are already married
12.What is the final line?
Medium
- AGood-bye, good-bye.
- BYou will have smiled, I shall have tossed your hair.
- CAnd everybody thinks that you are dead.
- DWhat is the point of saying?
13.Why is the future perfect ('will have smiled', 'shall have tossed') effective?
Medium
- AIt presents the lovers' reunion as already certain
- BIt shows confusion about time
- CIt is a grammar mistake
- DIt describes the past only
14.Where might 'over there' be?
Medium
- AA foreign country
- BThe next village
- CA church
- DAn afterlife, or the world of memory, where the lovers are together
15.What is the overall tone of the ending?
Medium
- AMocking
- BTerrified
- CTender and consoling
- DBitter and angry
16.Which technique connects stanzas 1 and 2 most clearly?
Medium
- AA list of places
- BParallel structure
- COnomatopoeia
- DA refrain in French
17.What does the title suggest about the poem's view of words?
Medium
- AWords are inadequate to express the depth of love and grief
- BWords are powerful weapons
- CFrench is better than English
- DThe speaker is too busy to talk
18.Which words are repeated in the first two stanzas? (select all that apply)
Medium
- ABut
- Bsunny
- Chair
- DGood-bye
- Eeverybody
19.Which themes does the poem explore? (select all that apply)
Medium
- AIndustrial work
- BTravel
- CLove beyond death
- DAgeing
- EPrivate grief
20.Which features of form appear? (select all that apply)
Medium
- AFourteen lines
- BShort two-word lines
- CRhyme
- DA tense shift to the future perfect
- EFree verse with no rhyme
21.The beloved in the poem has died.
Easy
True or false?
22.The speaker agrees with everybody that the beloved is gone.
Easy
True or false?
23.The poem is spoken to the dead beloved.
Easy
True or false?
24.The young lovers in stanza 3 are the speaker's children.
Medium
True or false?
25.The speaker says the world sees them as old.
Medium
True or false?
26.The poem ends in despair.
Medium
True or false?
27.The poem suggests love keeps both lovers unchanged in each other's eyes.
Medium
True or false?
28.Match each quotation to its technique.
Medium
- Something that sounded like Good-bye
- But I. / But you.
- stiff and cold
- You will have smiled
- Understatement
- Parallelism
- Imagery of ageing and death
- Future perfect tense
29.Match each stanza to its focus.
Medium
- Stanza 1
- Stanza 2
- Stanza 3
- Only the speaker keeps the beloved alive
- Only the beloved sees the speaker as young
- Young lovers now; the two lovers 'over there'
30.Put these lines in order.
Medium
- But you.
- Seventeen years ago you said
- You will have smiled, I shall have tossed your hair.
- But I.
31.Complete the line.
Easy
And everybody thinks that you are ____,
32.Complete the line.
Medium
And everybody sees that I am ____
33.Complete the line.
Medium
That nobody can ____ their way again
34.What will the speaker have tossed 'over there'?
Easy
35.In which language is the title?
Medium
36.Explain how Mew uses structure to present the lovers' bond.
Medium
37.Explore the effect of the final stanza of 'A Quoi Bon Dire'.
Hard

Notes de révision

## Overview - Charlotte Mew, *The Farmer's Bride* (1916). French title ≈ "**What is the point of saying?**" ## Stanzas 1. "**Seventeen years ago** you said / Something that sounded like **Good-bye**; / And everybody thinks that you are dead, / **But I.**" 2. "as I grow **stiff and cold** / To this and that say Good-bye too; / And everybody sees that I am **old** / **But you.**" 3. "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**." ## Methods - Parallelism; short lines; understatement; irony; future perfect. ## Themes - Love beyond death; grief; ageing; the limits of words.

A quoi bon dire: French: 'What is the point of saying?'
Parallelism: Matching structures — 'But I.' / 'But you.'
Understatement: Death described as 'Something that sounded like Good-bye'.
Euphemism: A mild word for something painful, such as death.
Future perfect: Tense of 'will have smiled' — an action seen as completed in the future.
Irony: The young lovers' belief that no one can love as they do.
Elegy: A poem of mourning.
Direct address: Speaking to 'you' — the dead beloved.

Cartes mémo

Meaning of the title?

'What is the point of saying?'

When did the beloved die?

Seventeen years ago.

How is the death described?

'Something that sounded like Good-bye'.

End of stanza 1?

'And everybody thinks that you are dead, / But I.'

End of stanza 2?

'And everybody sees that I am old / But you.'

Ageing image?

'as I grow stiff and cold'.

Young lovers' vow?

'That nobody can love their way again'.

Last line?

'You will have smiled, I shall have tossed your hair.'

Key technique?

Parallel two-word lines binding the lovers.

Tone of the ending?

Tender and consoling — love beyond death.

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