A woman to her lover by Christina Walsh

A woman to her lover by Christina Walsh is a poem about a woman who only wants true and natural love instead of physical love.

The poem starts with a rhetorical question, “Do you come to me to bend me to your will”. This could show that the narrator is asking to her lover that, does he want her to do whatever he wants. This can show that women were controlled by their husbands. She describes herself as a “bondslave.” This word could suggest that she is bonded to her husband in a negative way as she uses the word “slave.”

She repeatedly uses the phrase “O lover I refuse you”, to stress and show how worried she is about how her lover would treat her. In the second stanza, Christina says that she is not the “one from heaven sent who’s every deed and word and wish is golden.” She is saying that she is not one of the polite women who would do whatever her lover wants her to do. In the third stanza, Christina says that she is not “a creature”. This could show that before she was being referred as a creature, so she is inferior to a normal human being. All these factors also give us clues on how women were probably treated on those times.

In the final stanza, Christina Walsh talks about the ideal love she would like to meet. She starts the stanza with “but” which shows us a sudden change in the atmosphere. She explains to her lover that she requires a “co-equal love.” This means that she wants a lover who would treat her the same way he would treat himself. We can experience a change in the atmosphere as now Christina starts to speak more or less how she would like to be with him. She also calls him “husband” who shows that she still has feelings or him and is ready to accept him.