Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE SMALL CELANDINE, by WILLIAM WORDSWORTH Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: There is a flower, the lesser celandine Last Line: Age might but take the things youth needed not! Variant Title(s): A Lesson;the Celandine Subject(s): Celandine; Plants; Planting; Planters | ||||||||
THERE is a Flower, the lesser Celandine, That shrinks, like many more, from cold and rain; And, the first moment that the sun may shine, Bright as the sun himself, 'tis out again! When hailstones have been falling, swarm on swarm, Or blasts the green field and the trees distrest, Oft have I seen it muffled up from harm, In close self-shelter, like a Thing at rest. But lately, one rough day, this Flower I passed And recognised it, though an altered form, Now standing forth an offering to the blast, And buffeted at will by rain and storm. I stopped, and said with inly-muttered voice, "It doth not love the shower, nor seek the cold: This neither is its courage nor its choice, But its necessity in being old. "The sunshine may not cheer it, nor the dew; It cannot help itself in its decay; Stiff in its members, withered, changed of hue." And, in my spleen, I smiled that it was grey. To be a Prodigal's Favourite -- then, worse truth, A Miser's Pensioner -- behold our lot! O Man, that from thy fair and shining youth Age might but take the things Youth needed not! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...KILLING THE PLANTS by JANE KENYON NOW I AM A PLANT, A WEED by KATHERINE MANSFIELD TANKA DIARY (5) by HARRYETTE MULLEN A JEWISH FAMILY; IN A SMALL VALLEY OPPOSITE ST. GOAR by WILLIAM WORDSWORTH |
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