The Speaker
The main character of “First Love” is the speaker. He is passionate and emotional, experiencing love as an overwhelming sensation that leaves him disoriented and transformed. We can interpret him as John Clare, perhaps recalling the moment he first saw Mary Joyce as a child. However, the experience described here seems pretty intense for a child’s emotions, so we can assume that he is heavily elaborating on his own experiences.
The Beloved
We get very little detail about the object of the speaker’s affections. Clare twice describes her face as “sweet,” meaning pretty and kind. However, the adjective is so typical of love poetry that it doesn’t necessarily tell us anything about her—any woman might have provoked the same language. The speaker also imagines her as remarkably empathetic, capable of reading his gaze. Yet, unable to understand the meaning of “love appeal’s,” she also seems somewhat naive.
