On Seeing Miss Fontenelle in a Favourite Character
written in 1793
On Seeing Miss Fontenelle in a Favourite Character - meaning Summary
Natural Charm, Not Acting
The poem praises Miss Fontenelle’s spontaneous, unstudied charm, celebrating her ‘‘sweet naivete’’ and natural presence. The speaker insists her appeal comes from being herself rather than performing a role: she only appears in a favourite character because nature equips her with genuine simplicity. The moral contrast is clear—authenticity versus artificiality—since affectation would turn her into someone merely acting. The tone is admiring and corrective, implying that true grace needs no artifice and that sincerity, not technique, produces real attraction.
Read Complete AnalysesSweet naivete of feature, Simple, wild, enchanting elf, Not to thee, but thanks to nature, Thou art acting but thyself. Wert thou awkward, stiff, affected, Spurning nature, torturing art; Loves and graces all rejected, Then indeed thou'd'st act a part.
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