Why I love A Certain Young Lady

Washington Irving, an American writer famous for his work, “The Sketch Book,” also composed some works of poetry. One poem of Irving’s that I particularly enjoy is titled, “A Certain Young Lady.” I know this is a love poem, but I like it very much because I happen to be a ‘Man of Feeling’. 

THERE'S a certain young lady,
Who's just in her heyday,
   And full of all mischief, I ween;
So teasing! so pleasing!
Capricious! delicious!
   And you know very well whom I mean.

“There’s a certain young lady,” the poem describes this young lady in all of the lines and stanzas that follow. The first stanza describes the lady’s mischievous and delightful attitude. The second stanza goes on to describe how beautiful and powerful her eye is. The third stanza compares the lady’s aura to that of a duchess or queen. The lady’s expressions are described as “appalling” and “enthralling” in the fourth stanza. Even though she breaks hearts, she is still so amazing! This is the contents of the fifth stanza. And the sixth and final stanza speaks about those who would try and put the moves on this lady. 

The reason that this poem has had such an impact on me is that I understand the poem, I can relate to what it is like to know such a woman. This is just like Irving writes at the end of every stanza, “And you know very well whom I mean.” I do know who he means. This poem takes me back to the days of middle school when I, the shortest kid in school, would be competing with all of the popular kids for the good looking girl. It seems so humorous to think about it now, but at the time it was very serious, and this poem takes me back to those days. This woman is the light of the world, and, according to Irving, we all know a lady just like this.