Nellie and the poet

Sunday, 08 November 2009 05:00

November 8, 1859. No 19th-century paper seemed complete without its column of poetry. Nellie, who claims to be a young maiden with only a backwoods education, who hasn't "a soul above buttons," and who is "often unable to appreciate or understand the highest flights of imagination" indulged by poets, is puzzled by a poem published in the Ottawa Citizen. She seeks help in this letter to the editor.

Will you kindly excuse my ignorance and explain to me the meaning of some lines recently published entitled, "I must away." The first verse is:

The twilight with sweetness is laden, is laden
Too soft for expression, to blissful to bear,
Then come to the casement, sweet maiden, sweet maiden,
Dawn tarries to catch thy young smile on the air.

And presents several difficulties to my obtuseness. Why, if the twilight was laden with sweetness, to blissful to bear, should the Serenader invite the sweet maiden to the casement? Wouldn't that add to the sweetness already unbearable? Or is it an insinuation that the sweet maiden is rather sour, and is requested to come to the casement to mingle acidity with the overpowering sweetness?

Again, how can dawn be said to tarry, since we are told it is midnight? What is a "young smile?" And, is there any definition of "soft sweetness," besides washed turnips?

Reading on to the third line of the second verse, I come to a jerk in the metre that upsets my ideas of quantity, but pass on to the poor skylark who is made to end his love song at glimmering dawn. Please, Mr. Editor, tell me, does not this bird sing when the dawn has glimmered into board daylight? Or is it not the bird of that name at all, but the Serenader, who had been out all night skylarking, and was singing, "We won't come home till morning?"

The first line of the last verse says, "Then haste love, the daylight is breaking, is breaking," Can it be possible the Serenader has taken from twilight till early dawn to sing his three verses? If this is what it means, he might well exclaim, "I must away."

Being a matter of fact and bashful young maiden, I should say, excuse my smile, and relying on your good nature to give me the benefit of your explanations,
I am, your obdt. Servt., Nellie.