First Love John Clare Analysis

Love is a strong emotion that has different connotations and levels. As one of the most powerful human emotions, wars have been fought over it and millions of works of literature have been devoted to it. However, despite it being thoroughly researched, love’s ability to persuade one to act out of character is still befuddling. These authors share a common theme that love is confusing and paradoxical, but still has the immense power to affect a person’s perspective on the world around him or her. The poets use metaphors to describe love and its place in the world, and they use irony to illustrate how the definition of love can be unconventional and conflicting.

All the poets use various comparisons to nature and core values to define love …show more content…
Her initial repetition of “I love thee” emphasizes her devotion. She states “I love thee freely, as men strive for right;/I love thee purely, as they turn from praise.” This illustrates how love has liberated her soul. A lot of people fear love because they view it as a surrendering of power and leaving oneself open to be hurt. “The cycle begins tentatively with the speaker’s amazement and distrust that, in her sickly middle age, romantic love would appear” (Gale 1). “First Love” by John Clare, written in the Romantic Period, depicts Clare’s first love and what is like falling in , Mary Joyce before his descent into insanity. Clare uses similes to describe the physical and mental …show more content…
The speaker discusses all the negative aspects of his lover, yet that he still is enamored by her. His poem uses numerous comparisons to describe all the things his love is not like. “My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun” and “Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks” appear shocking to the reader. Similar to Clare, Shakespeare depicts love in very different manner than other poets throughout history. Both compared their love to negative things. In Shakespeare 's poem, the poet lists all the things that are prettier and lovelier than his lover, almost to the extent to him ridiculing her. However, deeper analysis shows that his love for her might be more genuine that it appears. By acknowledging her flaws, this poem diverges from the norm and has a unique genuineness. While the love might not make sense to most readers, her flaws do not weaken his admiration; it only strengthens it. This also has a lesson within it that a woman does not have to be perfect to be loved. Other poems, similar to Barrett, only talk about the wondrous feeling of love. However, one could consider this poem’s definition of love more genuine: it is not idolizing a loved one. Understanding one’s shortcomings and flaws and a willingness to deal with them is an important trait many long-term relationships possess. In short, love is an overpowering force and different writers