First Love by John Clare

                                                 Courtesy of the Poets' Graves website.

"A POET IS BORN NOT MADE."

Overview and Stanza 1.

"First Love" is simply a poem expressing Clare's love for Mary Joyce. There is evidence that the poem is based on one by Yeats with the same title. This is not uncommon amongst writers.
Unfortunately, Joyce's family stopped the relationship from developing and he married Martha (Patty) Turner in 1820 and they had seven children but he was unhappy. The end of his life was tragic and he was institutionalised in an asylum where he died in 1864.

Structure:

The poem is written in three stanzas. Clare was a 19th Century poet; English critics consider him to be among the most important poets of the 19th Century. His poems are generally about nature and how the Industrial Revolution destroyed nature and the landscape. Notice the rhyme scheme of abab,cdcd etc. which works consistently throughout the poem such as: hour/flower; pale/aid. It is not always full or complete rhyme, sometimes it is a bit contrived. In terms of the metre and the stress on syllables which help with the rhyme there is a pattern of usually eight syllables per line and then six.
In stanza one, line one this is a typical example of eight syllables. In stanza two, line six this is a typical example of six syllables.
This regularity (generally speaking) means that his feelings of first love are consistent. He has been greatly affected in stanza one. We have examples of how he responded physically in stanza one, lines 5-8.
In stanza two more physical affects are shown in lines 1-2. Then you have confusion and disorientation with the place and time.
In the third stanza you have rhetorical devices to try to re-establish a sense of order and understanding to his emotions. You feel that his love is doomed. For instance in lines 1-4. Nothing is certain other than the knowledge that he "never saw so sweet a face/As that I stood before." Simply put, he has lost his heart and the implication of the last line is that it won't return as if the experience will destroy him! A devastating thought.

Techniques used to reinforce ideas, feelings and attitudes:

Clare is emphatic in the first line. He uses negation with: "I was never struck before..." This makes it seem significant. The opening is dynamic and is quite powerful in establishing new feelings in the poet; it certainly had a great impact on Clare. Notice the precision of time with the use of "that hour." The word "struck" suggests a physical action as if he has been hit with something, used metaphorically. The way Clare has been affected is through an emotional experience. " Struck" makes it sound striking, excuse the pun and is used effectively. Simple sentiments but effective.

Courtesy of Poets' Graves website.

Alliteration:

The poet enjoys using alliterative devices: "struck" in line 1 with "so sudden" and "so sweet" in line 2 and "sweet" in line 3 also. The word "sweet" is repeated, another simple device used to describe her face and compare it to a flower using a simile.
"Bloomed" is positive and powerful compared to a flower which makes her face seem attractive, perhaps colourful but also healthy-looking.
He becomes so besotted by her presence, so much in love and used the sense of "stole" as a metaphor to show how he had lost his heart to her. To convince you as a reader, he has to use "complete" (which today would be grammatically incorrect if this was written in prose but grammatically acceptable at the time). It also has to rhyme with "sweet" and there is a bit of poetical license if we adopt today's standards! Some of us see this as "rule-breaking" which all writers see as their prerogative.
In line 5 we have a physical reaction of "pale" repeated but with more emphasis on "deadly pale." It's almost as if he felt faint or was feeling ill.
In line 6 Clare continues to stress his physical reaction with "My legs refused to walk away." He was unable to move, frozen to the spot.

Presumably the girl in question who was Mary Joyce "looked" at Clare hence the rhetorical question of "what could I ail?" It's as if one look from her was enough to cause worry (ailment) when it shouldn't have disturbed him in such a way. Love is meant to be a wonderful experience not a disaster after all! But what happened to Clare WAS devastating. His "life" and "all" which suggests everything he did, his feelings, emotions, attitudes, everything "seemed turned to clay." We do understand the impact this has caused. If he is "clay" it's as if he has reverted to soil and is no longer a human person, more dead than alive perhaps? If so, the poet is euphemising death, his own. Note he uses "seemed"as if he felt like this. A lot of uncertainty.

How do you respond to this?

Are you sympathetic? Empathetic? do you engage with his feelings and feel concern? Do you believe that a first love could affect you in such a dramatic way? If so, which parts of this verse allow you to do this? Remember, if you express your feelings in response to the poem always support what you are saying by referring to the text and quoting.

 

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 a deadly pale

My legs refused to walk away

And when she looked what could I ail

My life and all seemed turned to clay

    to be continued................................................................................................................

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