FIRST LOVE I ne'er was struck before that hour With love so sudden and so sweet, Her face it bloomed like a sweet flower And stole my heart away complete. My face turned pale as deadly pale. My legs refused to walk away, And when she looked, what could I ail? My life and all seemed turned to clay. And then my blood rushed to my face And took my eyesight quite away, The trees and bushes round the place Seemed midnight at noonday. I could not see a single thing, Words from my eyes did start ­­ They spoke as chords do from the string, And blood burnt round my heart. Are flowers the winter's choice? Is love's bed always snow? She seemed to hear my silent voice, And love's appeals to know. I never saw so sweet a face As that I stood before. My heart has left its dwelling­place And can return no more. John Clare John Clare ​
WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THE POEM? This is a love poem that is about losing one’s heart to someone but not being able to articulate one’s feelings. John Clare’s first love was Mary Joyce whom he was not able to marry due to parental opposition. In the first stanza​
, the poet is deeply affected by the first sight of a woman and falls in love with her beautiful face. The blood drains from his face and he is rooted to the spot when she looks at him. In the second stanza​
, he is so affected that he cannot see things around him. The blood rushes back to his face, suggesting he blushes with his feelings. He wants to speak of the strong emotions in his heart but cannot. In the final stanza​
, he confesses that he has lost his heart to her but as he cannot tell of his love she does not know of it; therefore his love remains frozen and unrequited as she does not respond. He feels that his love is like winter without flowers and snow rather than any warmth of love. Love like this is pain to him and he will never be the same again. WHAT ARE THE MAIN IDEAS AND THEMES? ­First love and the pain of it ­Impact of love at first sight which has powerful physical and emotional effects ­Unrequited love ­ as a result of not being able to articulate one’s feelings, to express one’s love. WHAT ARE THE ASPECTS OF STYLE WHICH ARE EFFECTIVE? It is written in the first person ‘I’ so is very personal and emotional. The word ‘heart’ is repeated three times, once in each stanza. There is an emphasis on sight: ‘looked’, ‘eyesight’, ‘see’, ‘eyes’, ‘saw’. The speaker falls in love at the ​
sight ​
of her and this poem is ​
love at first sight​
. There are similes in this poem: ‘her face it bloomed like a sweet flower’ which expresses how she blushes and looks beautiful to him. The power of his blindness to everything but her is expressed in ‘The trees and bushes round the place/seemed midnight at noonday’. The image is of total darkness at noon so showing the strength of his blindness. There are also metaphors which are contrasted: his ‘blood burnt round my heart’ which suggests how love is like a fire. This is contrasted with the snow which shows how his heart is also pained by the coldness of winter snow. First love could be seen as fire and ice at the same time.