I Hid My Love [c. 1842-1864]
John Clare (1793-1864)
I hid my love when young till I
Couldn't bear the buzzing of a fly;
I hid my love to my despite
Till I could not bear to look at light:
I dare not gaze upon her face
But left her memory in each place;
Where eer I saw a wild flower lie
I kissed and bade my love good bye.
I met her in the greenest dells
Where dewdrops pearl the wood blue bells
The lost breeze kissed her bright blue eye,
The bee kissed and went singing by,
A sunbeam found a passage there,
A gold chain round her neck so fair;
As secret as the wild bee's song
She lay there all the summer long.
I hid my love in field and town
Till een the breeze would knock me down,
The bees seemed singing ballads oer,
The fly's bass turned a lion's roar;
And even silence found a tongue,
To haunt me all the summer long;
The riddle nature could not prove
Was nothing else but secret love.
Questions for Discussion
1. Which of the following is the best restatement of "I hid my love to my despite / Till I could not bear to look at light; / I dare not gaze upon her face" (lines 3-5)?
A) Even though her smile lights up her face, I would not tell her I loved her.
B) Even though it was painful, I told her I loved her.
C) Even though I was shy, I looked her in the eye anyway.
D) Because I told her my feelings, I felt ashamed to face her.
E) Because I kept my feelings secret, it would be painful to look her straight in the eye.
2. Why does the speaker keep repeating, "I hid my love"?
It shows that
A) he had no other choice
B) he wants the woman to hear him
C) his life is monotonous
D) he deeply feels his failure to speak
E) the woman is uninterested in him
3. If the speaker attended a large party, which of the following would he most likely do?
A) profess romantic feelings to a woman he just met
B) hope a friend introduces him to someone special
C) dance all night with different partners
D) sit and think of a woman he onced loved
E) bring a date who is wearing a gold necklace
4. In the last stanza, which of the following helps convey that the speaker's undeclared love did not fit in the harmony of nature?
A) an uneven and disturbing rhythm
B) a fast-paced, upbeat rhythm
C) a slow, mournful rhythm
D) the disruption of the rhythm pattern
5. Which would best describe the speaker's tone?
A) regretful
B) irritated
C) hopeful
D) confident
E) skeptical