Never Seek to Tell thy Love

Never Seek to Tell thy Love

By William Blake

Never seek to tell thy love
Love that never told can be
For the gentle wind does move
Silently invisibly

I told my love I told my love
I told her all my heart
Trembling cold in ghastly fears
Ah she doth depart

Soon as she was gone from me
A traveller came by
Silently invisibly
O was no deny

Summary of Never Seek to Tell thy Love

• Popularity of “Never Seek to Tell thy Love”: Published in 1863, “Never Pain to Tell Thy Love” is a sad poem. William, the great English romantic, encrypts the pain of rejection in this short poem in his typical cryptic style. The poem paints the picture of an aggrieved man who lost his love soon after expressing his feelings. It, however, became popular for the representation of a universal thematic strand in a unique way.
• “Never Seek to Tell thy Love” As a Representative of Sadness: This poem revolves around the pain one endures after facing rejection in love. It begins when the speaker suggests that sometimes it is best to keep your love a secret. To him, revealing this secret makes us experience catastrophe. He compares a simple love confession to a gentle wind. Just because the wind is invisible does not mean it won’t make an impact. In the second stanza, he describes a personally painful experience of rejection to justify his stance. It was heartbreaking when he expressed his love, and the lady rejected him, leaving him in a vicious circle of guilt and sadness. In the final stanza, he explains how nothing in the world changes when fate hits someone hard. Only the person facing calamity undergoes terrible situations, and the world keeps moving on. The traveler passing by may symbolize the past life moving away from him; he must follow the unknown traveler or freeze in that painful moment.
• Major Themes in “Never Seek to Tell thy Love”: Sadness, pain, confession, and the cycle of life are the major themes of the poem. Although the poem looks simple and straightforward, it carries depth in its meaning. The poem’s speaker narrates an incident from the past that changed his life for good. Keeping in mind the traumatic time, he suggests that we should not rush in the matter of love. We should remain calm and wait for the right time to talk about it. The reason is some people are not emotionally strong; they fail to harbor the pain of rejection and get depressed. Therefore, one should not make hasty decisions once they are in love.

Analysis of Literary Devices Used in Never Seek to Tell thy Love

literary devices are tools that writers use to create meaning in their texts. It is through these devices they convey their emotions, feelings, and ideas to the readers. William Blake, too, used some literary devices in this poem. The analysis of some of the literary devices used in this poem is given below.

1. Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /e/ in “Never seek to tell thy love” and the sound of /o/ in “I told my love I told my love.”
2. Anaphora: It refers to the repetition of a word or expression in the first part of some verses. William Blake repeated the word “I” in the first third of the poem to emphasize the point, such as;

“I told my love I told my love
I told her all my heart”

3. Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /t/ in “I told my love I told my love” and the sound of /s/ in “Soon as she was gone from me.”
4. Enjambment: It is defined as a thought in verse that does not come to an end at a line break; rather, it rolls over to the next line. For example;

“I told my love I told my love
I told her all my heart
Trembling cold in ghastly fears
Ah she doth depart”

5. Irony: Irony is a figure of speech in which words are used in such a way that their intended meaning is different from the actual meaning of the words. The poem shows situational irony where expressing love creates distances and wreaks havoc.
6. Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. William Blake used imagery in this poem, such as; “For the gentle wind does move”, “Soon as she was gone from me” and “Trembling cold in ghastly fears.”
7. Metaphor: It is a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between objects different in nature. The poet used pain as an extended metaphor to show the condition of man once he faces rejection in love.
8. Symbolism: Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them symbolic meanings that are different from the literal meanings. The poem uses symbols such as pain, love, suffering, and life.

Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in Never Seek to Tell thy Love

Poetic and literary devices are the same, but a few are used only in poetry. Here is an analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem.

1. Diction: The poem shows descriptive, melodic, and poetic diction.
2. End Rhyme: End rhyme is used to make the stanza melodious. William Blake used end rhyme in this poem, such as; “by/deny”, and “be/invisible.”
3. Quatrain: A quatrain is a four-lined stanza borrowed from Persian poetry. Here each stanza is quatrain.
4. Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. There are three stanzas in this poem, with each comprising four verses.
5. Tone: It means the voice of the text. This poem shows a mysterious, loving, and exciting tone at different places in the poem.

Quotes to be Used

The following lines are useful to quote the pain of a heartbroken person.

“I told my love I told my love
I told her all my heart
Trembling cold in ghastly fears
Ah she doth depart.”