Analysis of Where She Told Her Love

John Clare 1793 (Helpston) – 1864 (St Andrew's Hospital)



I saw her crop a rose
Right early in the day,
And I went to kiss the place
Where she broke the rose away
And I saw the patten rings
Where she o'er the stile had gone,
And I love all other things
Her bright eyes look upon.
If she looks upon the hedge or up the leafing tree,
The whitethorn or the brown oak are made dearer things to me.

I have a pleasant hill
Which I sit upon for hours,
Where she cropt some sprigs of thyme
And other little flowers;
And she muttered as she did it
As does beauty in a dream,
And I loved her when she hid it
On her breast, so like to cream,
Near the brown mole on her neck that to me a diamond shone;
Then my eye was like to fire, and my heart was like to stone.

There is a small green place
Where cowslips early curled,
Which on Sabbath day I traced,
The dearest in the world.
A little oak spreads o'er it,
And throws a shadow round,
A green sward close before it,
The greenest ever found:
There is not a woodland nigh nor is there a green grove,
Yet stood the fair maid nigh me and told me all her love.


Scheme XABACXCXDD XEXEFGFGHH BIXIFJFJXX
Poetic Form Etheree  (30%)
Metre 110101 110001 0111101 1110101 0110101 11100111 0111101 011101 1110101110101 0110111110111 110101 11101110 1111111 0101010 01101111 1110001 01101111 1011111 10111011110101 111111100111111 110111 11101 1110111 010001 01011101 01011 0111011 010101 111011111011 1101111011101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,016
Words 217
Sentences 6
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 10, 10, 10
Lines Amount 30
Letters per line (avg) 27
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 266
Words per stanza (avg) 72
Font size:
 

Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:05 min read
103

John Clare

John Clare was an English poet in his time he was commonly known as the Northamptonshire Peasant Poet more…

All John Clare poems | John Clare Books

1 fan

Discuss this John Clare poem analysis with the community:

0 Comments

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "Where She Told Her Love" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/22359/where-she-told-her-love>.

    Become a member!

    Join our community of poets and poetry lovers to share your work and offer feedback and encouragement to writers all over the world!

    April 2024

    Poetry Contest

    Join our monthly contest for an opportunity to win cash prizes and attain global acclaim for your talent.
    2
    days
    22
    hours
    27
    minutes

    Special Program

    Earn Rewards!

    Unlock exciting rewards such as a free mug and free contest pass by commenting on fellow members' poems today!

    Browse Poetry.com

    Quiz

    Are you a poetry master?

    »
    Roald Dahl wrote: "The animal I really dig, above all others is the..."
    A dog
    B pig
    C horse
    D cat