How we cite our quotes: (Line)
Quote #1
I was picking flowers, playing by my door,
When you, my lover, on a bamboo horse,
Came trotting in circles and throwing green plums (2-4)
We can see some pretty conventional gender role play in this scene from the speaker's childhood. The girl (the speaker) is picking flowers, and the boy (the lover) is trotting along on a toy horse. This is kind of the equivalent of girls nowadays playing with Barbies and boys playing with cars and guns. In other words, even as children, we can see that gender roles are differentiated through play.
Quote #2
And I lowered my head toward a dark corner
And would not turn to your thousand calls (9-10)
Again, here, we see the speaker depicting her relationship to her hubby in terms of conventional gender roles. It's her hubby who calls a "thousand" times to his shy wife. In other words, he is the "active" man who initiates things, while she cowers shyly in a corner.
Quote #3
But at fifteen I straightened my brows and laughed (11)
This is the first time in the poem where we get a sense of the female speaker growing in confidence. Now she's laughing openly with her sweetheart; she isn't frowning anymore. She seems to be becoming an equal to her husband, because she clearly feels comfortable expressing herself.