In the poem “Elegy for Jane” by Theodore Roethke we can tell from the first stanza “I remember the neckcurls, limp and damp as tendrils; and her quick look, a sidelong pickerel smile; And how, once startled into talk, the light syllables leaped for her, And she balanced in the delight of her thought” that the speaker briefly talks about her beauty and then goes on to talk about highly emotional nature that he often observed her every so often and in a way admired her. Also he goes on in the first stanza to reminisce on the power of her joyfulness in which you can see how her happiness had such a powerful impact on him as well. Plus the speaker goes on to talk about in the beginning of the second stanza that when she was troubled, she threw herself so deep into depression that "Even a father could not find her" which is ironic because at the end of the poem the speaker even said himself that “Over this damp grave I speak the words of my love: I, with no rights in this matter, Neither father nor lover in which I felt he was saying he had not really had much experience in neither fatherhood or love because he didn’t know how to. However throughout the poem you can tell that this teacher really fancied his former student and was ready to let her go emotionally since she was already gone physically. I think it may be even safe to say that he was distraught and grieved by her death which seemed to take place too soon. The Speaker’s attitude toward his lady was very sad but he tried to lift up his spirits by reminiscing on all the good
