Of all the poets of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, few were more important than Charlotte Mew. Her life was one of tremendous darkness and profound tragedy. When she was a small child, three of her brothers died. Later in her life, another one of her brothers and a sister were committed to mental hospitals where they would stay for the remainder of her life. After that, she was left alone with her sister Anne (both of whom eventually agreed to never marry or have children as to not pass down their family history of mental illness). All these events no doubt inspired her work as she incorporated themes of death, mental illness, loneliness, and disillusionment into her work.
Mew first published stories in her mid-twenties but gained a lot of acclaim and recognition for her poem called "The Farmer's Bride," which as expected tells the story of a farmer and his wife. This not only established her literary reputation; it also provided some additional financial stability for her and her family (although it was still not enough money to live on) after her father had died, thus depriving them of a salary and the much-needed money that came along with it.
After she became famous, many either loved or were startled by her idiosyncratic tendencies. She had very quirky and peculiar mannerisms and often wore men's suits to important readings and other public events. Two years after the publication of "The Farmer's Bride," Mew released poems like "The Fete" and "Madeline in the Church," both of which were tremendously successful. In the years after the release of "The Farmer's Bride" and "The Fete," Mew wrote more poems. Some were published; some were not. However, none were as successful as her earlier work.
Her beloved sister Anne died of cancer in 1927. Shortly thereafter, Mew went into a nursing home for treatment, but ultimately committed suicide by drinking Lysol. After her death, her friend collected and edited much of Mew's work for publication. That collection later became known as The Rambling Sailor, which was met with acclaim upon release. Wrote Humbert Wolfe of The Observer, "[Mew] has no tricks or graces. She is completely mistress of her instrument, but she does not use it for any but the most austere purpose...All that she wrote had its quality of depth and stillness. No English poet had less pretensions, and few as genuine a claim to be in touch with the source of poetry."
