All These My Banners Be
poem 22
All These My Banners Be - meaning Summary
Private Springtime Celebration
The poem describes a small, private ritual of planting and celebration in spring. The speaker sows pageantry and builds hillocks with a childlike spade, leaving spaces for daisies and columbine as a way to mark renewal. These domestic acts protect joy from loss or commerce: the Burglar cannot rob what is internal, the Broker cannot cheat it. The shared secret of the crocus—"There is no more snow!"—signals an inward, botanical knowledge that transforms landscape and mood, culminating in the image of swamps turning pink for the one who "keeps an Orchis’ heart."
Read Complete AnalysesAll these my banners be. I sow my pageantry In May It rises train by train Then sleeps in state again My chancel all the plain Today. To lose if one can find again To miss if one shall meet The Burglar cannot rob then The Broker cannot cheat. So build the hillocks gaily Thou little spade of mine Leaving nooks for Daisy And for Columbine You and I the secret Of the Crocus know Let us chant it softly There is no more snow! To him who keeps an Orchis’ heart The swamps are pink with June.
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