Fair Jenny
written in 1793
Fair Jenny - meaning Summary
Summer's Love Turned to Loss
The poem is a first‑person lament about lost joy and a grief rooted in a failed love. The speaker contrasts bright natural images — morning larks, summer roses, riverbanks — with an inner winter of sorrow. He recognizes that the seasonal world still thrives, but his own pleasures have been replaced by ‘‘Sorrow and sad‑sighing Care.’’ The speaker finally names the cause as Jenny and accepts that time or hope cannot heal him, even inviting a perverse solace in dwelling on his pain.
Read Complete AnalysesWhere are the joys I have met in the morning, That danc'd to the lark's early song? Where is the peace that awaited my wandring, At evening the wild-woods among? No more a winding the course of yon river, And marking sweet flowerets so fair, No more I trace the light footsteps of Pleasure, But Sorrow and sad-sighing Care. Is it that Summer's forsaken our vallies, And grim, surly Winter is near? No, no! the bees humming round the gay roses Proclaim it the pride of the year. Fain would I hide, what I fear to discover, Yet long, long too well have I known; All that has caused this wreck in my bosom, Is Jenny, fair Jenny alone. Time cannot aid me, my griefs are immortal, Nor Hope dare a comfort bestow: Come then, enamour'd and fond of my anguish, Enjoyment I'll seek in my woe.
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