# Joined His Church explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by James McIntyre.

## What happens

A man confesses to his fiancée, May, that he is a somnambulist (sleepwalker), fearing she will reject him. She initially accepts his condition, likening it to a church or creed, but soon weeps upon witnessing him walking in his sleep.

## Themes in this chapter

### Moral Lessons and Domestic Virtue

The poem explores themes of honesty, acceptance, and the challenges of marriage, highlighting domestic virtues and moral commitment despite personal flaws.

## Character check-ins

### Dear Dick

The narrator and fiancé who confesses to being a somnambulist.

### Jane

May, the fiancée who initially accepts Dick's condition but later weeps.

## Key lines

> They tell us, May, that love is blind, But dear, there’s something on my mind; And since we now are engaged, I hope you will not be enraged.

People say love overlooks faults, but I have a confession to make now that we are engaged, and I hope you won't be angry.

_The speaker introduces his confession with a common saying about love._

> Said she, 'Dear Dick, I will not lurch, But stick to you if that’s your church; Though I own, as a tender maid Of your belief I was afraid.'

She replied that she would not abandon him and would accept his condition as if it were a religion, though she admits she was initially frightened by his revelation.

_May accepts Dick's somnambulism, comparing it to a church or creed._

> But now the name I do not heed, And will adopt it as my creed; Though, alas, she soon is weeping To see her husband walking sleeping.

She decides to ignore the label and embrace it as her belief, but soon she is crying when she sees her husband sleepwalking.

_May's initial acceptance turns to sorrow upon witnessing the reality of his condition._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_12_se/chapters/joined-his-church
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_12_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_12_se/chapters