First Love by John Clare

The poem ‘first love’ is written by John Clare. The thoughts here come across as more idealized rather than believable. Clare starts of the poem by saying ‘I ne'er was struck before that hour’ the hyperbole used here conveys an overpowering sense of shock as he has never before felt love so strongly. The word ‘struck’ can imply to cupid hitting him with an arrow and as a result Clare is now love struck. The poet then tells us how ‘Her face it bloomed like a sweet flower And stole my heart away complete.’ Clare remarks at how this emotion is unexpected yet wonderful and his loves face reminds him of the radiance of a blooming ‘flowers’. The poet tells us when he sees her instantly his heart leaves him and belongs to her on a complete level. In my opinion Clare’s emotions toward this ‘women’ are superficial and cliché as he just attracted to her because of her physical beauty. The poet then says, ‘My face turned pale as deadly pale’ the emotions overwhelming Clare are so intense that his face is drained out of color and he feels as though he is paralyzed since his ‘legs refuse to walk’. Clare then continues to tell us one single look from his love makes his ‘life and all seemed turned to clay’ here we see life for Clare is so captivated by the women’s beauty that life becomes meaningless when she looks at him. Clare then continues to say, ‘my blood rushed to my face and took my eyesight quite away,’ the poet exaggerates his emotions and tells us how most of his senses stop functioning normally the moment first love strikes him. The earlier ‘pale’ face is now flushed with blood and his eyes fail him as they refuse to focus on anything but her. The poet then says ‘the trees and bushes round the place Seemed midnight at noonday’ here we see that Clare is so distracted by this women’s beauty that the color of life becomes nonexistent and he cannot tell the difference between night and day. The poet then continues to say ‘I could not see a single thing,’ this line