First Love

Stanza 3:

• In the final stanza Clare talks about his experience and depression as the love is unreciprocated.
• In the final verse, the character is depressed due to the relationship ending as he cannot make this girl love him.
• The pace of this stanza is slower than the previous 2.
•  includes rhetorical questions such as ‘are flowers the winter’s choice?’ and ‘Is love's bed always snow?’
• There are references of coldness and winter in the first few lines of this verse. The rhetorical questions in this stanza ‘Are flowers the winter’s choice? And ‘Is love's bed always snow?’ also give us the indication that this character is questioning himself about what he needed to do to save the relationship . Though, there is a clear reference to the fact that this character still has feelings for this woman. This is from the fifth line ‘I never saw so sweet a face . We get a clear indication that this person has only seen the girl from the outside because he never mentions her personality.

Themes:

• The first stanza’s basic themes are romance, feelings and emotions.
• But in the second, the theme has changed as we see signs of anger due to the fact that this woman might not love him. This is portrayed in the first line of the second verse ‘and blood rushed to my face’. We read in the last line ‘and blood burnt round my heart’ that this person’s heart is broken.
• The third stanza however is different where the pace is slower due to the theme of depression. There are references of coldness and winter in the first few lines of this verse. The rhetorical questions in this stanza ‘Are flowers the winter’s choice? And ‘Is love's bed always snow?’ also give us the indication that this character is questioning himself about what he needed to do to save the relationship . Though, there is a clear reference to the fact that this character still has feelings for this woman. This is from the fifth line ‘I never saw so sweet a face . We get a clear indication that this person has only seen the girl from the outside because he never mentions her personality.

Language:

he does use the simple and effective image of a "heart" and often "blood". These realistic images help the reader to understand the physical effects of being in love. Clare feels as though the woman has "stole my [his] heart away complete" In fact, quite literally for Clare, the woman has his heart. There is nothing else he can do or think about because he feels he must devote his life to her, in order to receive hers back. We can really feel the physical effect rejection has on Clare towards the end of the poem when he realises he will never be with his desired woman, "And blood burnt round my heart" suggests he is in terrible pain, perhaps not just emotionally but physically too. The most powerful "heart" image Clare uses is at the end of the poem where he suggests things can never be the same again, "My heart has left its dwelling-place And can return no more." This signifies that in Clare's everyday life, he will have lost the will to love anybody else, because this particular woman took his heart, she will have his heart forever; he therefore cannot be healed. He will be scarred for life.

t Clare uses more direct vocabulary and gives a true sense of the reality of being in love.

Structure:

• The rhyming structure of AB AB CD CD. The first stanzas have 8 syllables per line whilst the other 2 follow the pattern of 8 syllables then 6 syllables and so on.

Structure:

In "First Love" there are three stanzas, signifying something uneven, like unrequited love

Clare's poem uses a diary form, in that he appears to be pouring his heart onto paper. This is a strength of the poem because one can really feel his emotions.

Literary Devices and Effects:

Message/Purpose:

• I believe that Clare is implying that there is such a thing as love at first sight, however, this does not mean that the relationship will last as love is two-way thing. We get the impression that to truly love someone, you need to know them inside and out.