Alice Meynell

To Alice Meynell

Self-referential address

Meynell is writing about herself in third person, addressing herself as 'you.' This creates distance—she's analyzing her own appeal rather than claiming it directly, which fits her characteristic restraint.

I marvel not that they have loved you so—
The gifted ones who knew you;
Gazing upon your face, I know
Why poet and why painter drew you;
Perceive the mystic thing divine
That brought their hearts to worship at your shrine!
How much the eyes are windows to the soul

Eyes as spiritual indicator

'Windows to the soul' was a Renaissance commonplace, but Meynell applies it specifically to artistic vision. The 'poet eyes' aren't just beautiful—they're the source of her influence on other artists.

Your poet eyes have taught me,—

Shadowed orbs

'Shadowed' suggests depth and mystery rather than simple beauty. The word choice implies there's something unknowable about her, not just something visually striking.

Those shadowed orbs that seem the goal
Of all that fairest dreams have brought me,—
And, in their depths revealing you,
Win from my heart a tender homage, too.

Homage vs. worship

The poem shifts from observing others' 'worship' (line 6) to offering her own 'homage' (line 12). The downgrade in intensity suggests self-awareness about flattery and a more measured emotional claim.

Source Wikipedia Poetry Foundation

Reading Notes

The poem's structural reversal

This poem doesn't praise Meynell's work—it praises her face and eyes. In the first stanza, she reports that artists have been drawn to paint and write about her appearance. In the second stanza, she becomes the observer, analyzing what makes her own eyes compelling.

The reversal matters: she moves from being the observed object to becoming the observer. By the final lines, she's claiming that *her* perception ('Your poet eyes have taught me') has as much authority as the artists' depictions of her. She's not just a muse; she's a viewer with interpretive power.

Meynell's use of restraint and indirection

Notice what Meynell *doesn't* do: she never directly states her own beauty or talent. Instead, she reports others' responses to her ('they have loved you') and then analyzes the mechanism ('eyes are windows'). This indirectness is characteristic of her work—she preferred suggestion to declaration.

CONTEXT Meynell was a celebrated poet and essayist in the 1880s-90s, but she cultivated an image of modesty and spiritual seriousness. This poem reflects that strategy: by framing admiration as something she observes rather than claims, she maintains dignity while acknowledging her influence. The final gesture—offering 'tender homage' rather than demanding it—positions her as both subject and judge.