Essay Questions

Explain the analogy the narrator draws between himself and the "illiterate man."

The narrator is attempting to explain the nature and depth of his affection for the "goodness" of another person. He explains his reluctance to fully explore and grasp this goodness as being like a man who does not know the contents of a letter addressed to him but will not ask anyone to read it to him; he is both afraid of its contents and ashamed to ask someone to read it to him. Additionally, he doesn't really want to open it and spoil the mystery, which, because of the romantic possibilities, allows him to feel "rich and orphaned and beloved" while imagining the wonderful things that could be contained in the letter and which have not yet been disproven.

What is the significance of the line "Or the dark girl changed and want him for beloved"?

On the surface, this line is an extension of the simile Meredith draws between himself and this "illiterate man." Not able to read the letter, the man carries it around with him, wondering about its contents and feeling good about himself by imagining the wonderful things it could hold. This "dark girl" changing her mind and wanting him for her beloved is one of these attractive options that the man is holding in his mind.

This mention of the "dark girl" is also an allusion to several sonnets of Shakespeare, in which he praises a mysterious "dark girl" and writes her professions of love and adoration. There has been some scholastic speculation about this girl; it is a somewhat commonly held belief that she might have actually been a boy, and the imagery of her femininity was simply a cover for Shakespeare's less-than-legal attraction. Since Meredith was a known homosexual, this interpretation is somewhat compelling and possibly sheds light on the meaning of the poem as a whole.