À Quoi Bon Dire: A Short Literature Lesson

Hibiscus Teach · Literature 11 · Poetry

À Quoi Bon Dire

A poem by Charlotte Mew

B1-B210-15 minutesLove, time & ambiguity

Created by , British English teacher.

01 · Vocabulary first · 3 minutes

Five expressions before you read

stiff
difficult to bend or move easily; it may also suggest emotional distance
lane
a small, narrow road
swear
promise or state something very strongly
tossed
moved lightly or quickly; here, a playful movement of the other person’s hair
sounded like
seemed to be, judging by what was heard

Look beneath the definitions: Which words suggest distance and which suggest closeness? How certain does “sounded like” feel? Keep these associations provisional.

Reading aim: Interpret how contrasting voices and an ambiguous ending make love seem to resist time.

Opening question: Can a relationship remain important when two people are apart? Give one reason in 30 seconds. Solo/tutor follow-up: does remembering someone keep the relationship unchanged, or transform it?

Answer alone or with a partner. You can discuss an imagined relationship without sharing personal experiences.

02 · Read closely · 3 minutes

A private answer to everybody

Read once for the feeling. Read again to notice the short replies and the change to an imagined future.

Reading help: After “everybody thinks”, “But I” means everyone except me. “But you” similarly means everyone except you. “Will have smiled” and “shall have tossed” imagine actions completed by a future moment. The speaker is the poem’s voice, not automatically the poet describing her own life.

Seventeen years ago you saidSomething that sounded like Good-bye;And everybody thinks that you are dead,But I.

So I, as I grow stiff and coldTo this and that say Good-bye too;And everybody sees that I am oldBut you.

And one fine morning in a sunny laneSome boy and girl will meet and kiss and swearThat nobody can love their way againWhile over thereYou will have smiled, I shall have tossed your hair.

Charlotte Mew, “À Quoi Bon Dire”. From The Farmer’s Bride (1921). Public-domain text, following the Academy of American Poets edition.

Contrast: “Everybody” is set against the short “But I” and “But you”. The brief replies give the private relationship a voice against the public view.

Ambiguity: More than one reading is possible. The final intimate gesture can suggest an imagined reunion, a continuing bond, or a scene beyond ordinary time. The poem does not establish exactly where “over there” is.

Supported inference, 20 seconds: What does the speaker refuse to accept? Use one of the short “But” lines as evidence. Possible reading: the private bond resists what everybody believes about death or age. Follow-up: is that emotional truth necessarily a literal fact?

03 · Interpretation · 4 minutes

What supports your reading?

Open the quiz · 4 questions

Choose the best-supported answer. Read the feedback to explore how the poem leaves room for different meanings.

1. What effect do the very short “But I” and “But you” lines have?
2. Why does “sounded like Good-bye” matter?
3. What does the young couple’s claim add?
4. Which reading of the ending is best supported without treating speculation as fact?
Answer key and explanations
  1. They quietly but firmly challenge the views of everybody. Each short line interrupts a general claim. Their matching form makes the private bond seem mutual, although it does not settle the literal circumstances.
  2. It leaves room for the speaker to resist a final separation. “Sounded like” describes an impression rather than a direct quotation. That uncertainty prepares the rejection of a final ending in “But I”.
  3. A contrast between love that feels unique and love that continues across generations. The young couple swear that nobody can love like them, while the older pair are imagined sharing a tender gesture. The ending invites readers to question that claim of uniqueness.
  4. The imagined gesture makes affection feel alive, while the setting remains uncertain. The smile and touch suggest intimacy. “Over there” does not specify a literal place, so a hopeful reunion is a defensible reading rather than an established event. Love may resist time in imagination even when bodies change.

04 · Speaking · 3 minutes

Love beyond time?

Open the speaking task

Does the ending overcome loss, or show how imagination helps the speaker live with it? Plan for 20 seconds, then speak for 45–60 seconds using one word or line. End with a reasoned interpretation, while recognising an alternative. Speak alone or with a partner.

“I read the ending as … . The words … suggest … because … . Another possible reading is … .”

Solo/tutor follow-up: Solo: add one sentence explaining what evidence could support another reading. Tutor: ask whether the young couple’s confidence seems touching, mistaken, or both.

See a possible interpretation

I read the ending as an imagined closeness that resists loss. “Everybody” makes separation seem publicly accepted, but “But I” protects the speaker’s private view. The gentle hair gesture makes that bond feel present. I do not think we can prove a literal reunion: “over there” leaves the place uncertain. Another reader might hear hope for a reunion beyond ordinary life.

Other defensible readings are welcome. Support your interpretation with the poem and distinguish emotional meaning from a claim about literal events.