The Flower
The Flower - fact Summary
On Public Opinion's Fickleness
Tennyson presents a short fable in which a planted seed becomes a flower that first is scorned, then admired, then widely propagated, and finally dismissed again. The poem tracks how an idea or work can be alternately rejected and celebrated as it spreads through society. Its tone is wry and cautionary, noting the fickle, imitative nature of public opinion and how reputation turns with popularity.
Read Complete AnalysesOnce in a golden hour I cast to earth a seed. Up there came a flower, The people said, a weed. To and fro they went Thro' my garden-bower, And muttering discontent Cursed me and my flower. Then it grew so tall It wore a crown of light, But thieves from o'er the wall Stole the seed by night. Sow'd it far and wide By every town and tower, Till all the people cried 'Splendid is the flower.' Read my little fable: He that runs may read. Most can raise the flowers now, For all have got the seed. And some are pretty enough, And some are poor indeed; And now again the people Call it but a weed.
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