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,
Not love's appeals to know.
I never saw so sweet a face
As that I stood before.
My heart has left its dwelling-place
And can return no more.
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,
Not love's appeals to know.
I never saw so sweet a face
As that I stood before.
My heart has left its dwelling-place
And can return no more.
Love is as powerful as the sun, something bright and something warm, something that can help and something that can heal. In John Clare's First Love, he talks of feeling love for the first time; "love at first sight" is what many may call this feeling.
"I ne'er was struck before that hour / With love so sudden and so sweet," This is only the beginning of what Clare felt when he first saw the love of his life. Everything that Clare says with his compassionate tone tells of how love really is. It's a whole rollercoaster of emotions. You go pale, your heart begins to beat faster, and your knees go weak. Clare is experiencing this weakness that washes over you like a tsunami and this makes you become more vulnerable. Also, the way that he is describing the woman who is so quickly taking his vision and his love is making her seem like she is only a dream that is not real, like she is a painting in a museum that you cannot touch, like she is an intangible being.
There is a compassionate tone which is used to tell of his love while using the alternate rhyme scheme. The symbols weaved throughout this rhyming consist of symbolizing the idea of love. The flowers, the lost vision, the eyes speaking "as chords do from the string", and his still legs all symbolize the idea that love takes over the person in such fierce ways.
Saenz makes love seem like it is the best, yet the worst thing that can happen to you; however, it always reaches you in the most mysterious ways.
"I ne'er was struck before that hour / With love so sudden and so sweet," This is only the beginning of what Clare felt when he first saw the love of his life. Everything that Clare says with his compassionate tone tells of how love really is. It's a whole rollercoaster of emotions. You go pale, your heart begins to beat faster, and your knees go weak. Clare is experiencing this weakness that washes over you like a tsunami and this makes you become more vulnerable. Also, the way that he is describing the woman who is so quickly taking his vision and his love is making her seem like she is only a dream that is not real, like she is a painting in a museum that you cannot touch, like she is an intangible being.
There is a compassionate tone which is used to tell of his love while using the alternate rhyme scheme. The symbols weaved throughout this rhyming consist of symbolizing the idea of love. The flowers, the lost vision, the eyes speaking "as chords do from the string", and his still legs all symbolize the idea that love takes over the person in such fierce ways.
Saenz makes love seem like it is the best, yet the worst thing that can happen to you; however, it always reaches you in the most mysterious ways.