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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
SHAKESPEARE'S FLOWER, by JOHN DAVIDSON Poet Analysis Poet's Biography
First Line: Shakespeare's flower? %the wild rose
Subject(s): Country Life
First Line: Shakespeare's flower? %the wild rose
Subject(s): Country Life
Shakespeare's flower?
The wild rose. I think the roses are mentioned oftenest, although he may have said finer things
about the violet and the cowslip."
I question if he has. Now that you remind me of it, Shakespeare has an image of the rose and the
canker-worm, and it appears in all his earlier work, and in every stage of development from the
unadorned question in ' Lncrece ' -
'Why should the worm intrude the maiden bud?' to the perfect utterance in ' Twelfth Night'-
'She never told her love.
But let concealment, like a worm i' the bud,
Feed on her damask cheek.'
This is Shakespeare, the artist. An image haunts him, and he attempts to lay it again and again; he
does not go away from it, but rather encourages its visits, until at last he puts it to rest,
embalmed in Viola's sweet-smelling words.
Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!
Other Poems of Interest...
THE TARIFF by GEORGE HENRY BOKER
A DRIVE IN THE COUNTRY by TED KOOSER
THERE IS ALWAYS A LITTLE WIND by TED KOOSER
COUNTRYSIDE by JOSEPHINE MILES
A BALLAD OF HELL by JOHN DAVIDSON