The Illiterate

The title of William Meredith’s poem at first seems to describe the “man / [w]ho turns a letter over in his hand” (Lines 1-2). In a literal evaluation, this man cannot read the words in the letter he receives and will remain uninformed of its content unless he chooses to ask someone to read it to him. However, the speaker identifies with this imaginary man, suggesting that they, too, are unaware, especially in the relationship with the addressee. The speaker, like the man, is unable to read the contents of what has been given him—a potential love hinted at through touch. However, unlike the man, the speaker decides to move forward from ignorance, choosing to ask the potential love interest to explain what is meant by the multiplicity of their feelings. Finding one’s way into a new love relationship can often be full of tenuous feelings, and Meredith’s title includes the reader as well. The title (and poem) is about anyone who feels love for the first time. Meredith’s title introduces the poem’s extended simile by making it a label for a man who can’t interpret the letter he’s received, but it also shows how the speaker is uninitiated in love and must struggle to define their potential relationship.