Secret Love by Amelia Opie
Introduction
Amelia Opie was born on November 12, 1769 and grew up in Norwich, England. She was educated mostly through the arts such as dance, music, and French. She also held a lot of strong political views she inherited from her father. She was a leading abolitionist which she wrote about confidently in many of her books. Her name is first on the list for a petition to British Parliament from women to stop slavery. She was very outspoken about slavery. Another topic she tackled with her writing was how women were educated at that time and the injustices that went along with that. She published her first novel The Dangers of Coquetry anonymously in 1790 when she was just 21. Similar to many female authors at the time, she felt by writing it anonymously that it would gain more respect and stand alone as work rather than the focus being on her gender. She started writing poems throughout the mid 1790s through mostly the rest of her life. Along with poetry, many of her published works also include novels like Adeline Mowbray, and The Father and the Daughter being two of her most notable.
This poem Secret Love is from a collection of Opie’s poems in her book “The Warrior’s Return and Other Poems” which she published in 1808. In the years leading up to the publication of The Warrior’s Return, Opie made many trips to London and ran in different literary circles with people like Mary Wollstonecraft, Thomas Holcroft, and William Godwin. She also was rumored to have taken part in affairs with older gentlemen like Godwin and another whom she referred to as ‘B’ in her letters. However, many critics believe ‘B’ was Mr. Boddington of Southgate with whom she paid many visits in the 1790s. There are many, though, who think this is about her husband John Opie whom she married in May of 1798. Regardless of the male in the poem, this is a narrative poem about her lover. It seems to recall an intimate memory she shared with him. She is sentimental about the moments she had with him. This is a strong example of a poem from the Romanticism era because of the sublime, the greatness of this experience she speaks of, the melancholy she feels because she can no longer have him, and the deep sense of love found throughout this poem.
On the top is her husband John Opie and on the bottom is her supposed lover, William Godwin. The two likliest subjects of this poem
First Edition of Secret Love from her book:
Not one kind look....one friendly word!
Wilt thou in chilling silence sit;
Nor through the social hour afford
One cheering smile, or beam of wit?
Yet still, absorbed in studious care,
Neglect to waste one look on me;
For then my happy eyes may dare
To gaze and dwell unchecked on thee.
And still in silence sit, nor deign
One gentle precious word to say;
For silent I may then remain,
Nor let my voice my soul betray.
This faltering voice, these conscious eyes,
My throbbing heart too plainly speak:
There timid hopeless passion lies,
And bids it silence keep, and break .
To me how dear this twilight hour,
Cheered by the faggot's varying blaze!
If this be mine, I ask no more
On morn's refulgent light to gaze:
For now, while on HIS glowing cheek
I see the fire's red radiance fall,
The darkest seat I softly seek,
And gaze on HIM , unseen by all.
His folded arms, his studious brow,
His thoughtful eye, unmarked, I see;
Nor could his voice or words bestow
So dear, so true a joy on me.
But he forgets that I am near....
Fame, future fame, in thought he seeks:
To him ambition's paths appear,
And bright the sun of science breaks.
His heart with ardent hope is filled;
His prospects full of beauty bloom:
But, oh! my heart despair has chilled,
My only prospect is....the tomb!
One only boon from Heaven I claim,
And may it grant the fond desire!
That I may live to hear his fame,
And in that throb of joy expire .
Oft hast thou marked my chilling eye,
And mourned my cold reserve to see,
Resolved the fickle friend to fly,
Who seemed unjust to worth and thee:
While I, o'erjoyed, thy anger saw....
Blest proof I had not tried in vain
To give imperious passion law,
And hide my bosom's conscious pain.
But when night's sheltering darkness came,
And none the conscious wretch could view,
How fiercely burned the smothered flame!
How deep was every sigh I drew!
Yet still to thee I'll clothe my brow
In all that jealous pride requires;
My look the type of Ætna's snow....
My heart, of Ætna's secret fires.
One little moment, short as blest,
Compassion Love's soft semblance wore;
My meagre form he fondly pressed,
And on his beating bosom bore.
His frame with strong emotion shook,
And kindness tuned each faltering word;
While I, surprised, with anxious look
The meaning of his glance explored.
But soon my too experienced heart
Read nought but generous pity there;
I felt presumptuous hope depart,
And all again was dark despair.
Yet still, in memory still, my heart
Lives o'er that fleeting bliss again;
I feel his glance, his touch, impart
Emotion through each bursting vein.
And "Once ," I cry, "those eyes so sweet
On me with fondness deigned to shine;
For once I felt his bosom beat
Against the conscious throbs of mine!"
Nor shall the dear remembrance die
While aught of life to me is given;
But soothe my last convulsive sigh,
And be, till then, my joy....my heaven!
Annotation
This is not a satirical poem by any means. It’s one that seems to reveal how broken hearted she is. The secrecy of this love seems to be tearing her apart, yet she never says who the secret lover is. She speaks of the experience she has with him and is quite detailed as though she is recalling the events. One word she uses here is Ætna's (pronounced Etna), which most likely is a reference to the personified volcano in Italy in Greek mythology. Opie writes the lines,
My look the type of Ætna's snow....
My heart, of Ætna's secret fires,
which seem to signify her jealousy that she no longer has her lover. She is comparing that jealous attitude towards the eruption of a volcano; it’s a grand metaphor.
Opie is also using a very clear rhyme scheme here. Each stanza alone has an abab rhyme scheme. This is important to note because often times rhyme schemes set a tone for the poem and gives it a more musical sense. Amelia Opie was known for composing music so it comes to no surprise that her poem would have a sense of musicality.
Overall, I think this poem should be included in the Literary Canons for the Romanticism era because it has many of the elements that other romantic poems do. She sets this melancholy tone, while also revealing this great love and experience she had that was almost indescribable. Lastly, she also uses has elements of the sublime or that quality of greatness that was unmatched by anyone but this specific lover. Secret Love by Amelia Opie should be in the canon because of these elements as well as her undeniable talent as a writer and poet.
Bibliography
Eberle, Roxanne "Amelia and John Opie: Conjugal Sociability and Romanticism's Professional Arts." Studies in Romanticism 53, no. 3 (2014): 319-41. Accessed November 11, 2020. http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.unwsp.edu/stable/24247277.Eberle, Roxanne. "Amelia Opie’s "Adeline Mowbray": Diverting The Libertine Gaze; or, The Vindication of a Fallen Women." Studies in the Novel 26, no. 1/2 (1994): 121-52. Accessed November 11, 2020. http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.unwsp.edu/stable/29533001.
Encycolpedia, Britiannica. "William Godwin." Encycolpedia Britannica, 2020. https://www.britannica.com/biography/William-Godwin#/media/1/236959/11129
Hattaway, Meghan. “Amelia Opie's Fiction: Contagious and Recuperative Texts.” Taylor & Francis, 2013. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10509585.2013.828203.
James, Derek. "The Fascinating Story of how Opie Street in Norwich City Centre was Named." Eastern Daily Post. 2017. www.edp24.co.uk/features/heritage/the-fascinating-story-of-how-opie-street-in-norwich-city-centre-was-named-1-4879854.
Opie, John. "John Opie Portrait." National Portrait Gallery. 2020. https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw04751/John-Opie