I Tend My Flowers for Thee
poem 339
I Tend My Flowers for Thee - meaning Summary
Gardening as Deferred Devotion
The speaker cultivates a garden for an absent beloved, watching blooms flourish while feeling their absence sharply. Flower imagery shows abundant beauty and scent, yet the speaker suppresses joy because it would seem improper without the beloved present. The garden becomes an emblem of deferred affection and modest restraint; the speaker prefers muted dignity to celebration, keeping feelings folded and the display quiet rather than openly triumphant.
Read Complete AnalysesI tend my flowers for thee Bright Absentee! My Fuchsia’s Coral Seams Rip while the Sower dreams Geraniums tint and spot Low Daisies dot My Cactus splits her Beard To show her throat Carnations tip their spice And Bees pick up A Hyacinth I hid Puts out a Ruffled Head And odors fall From flasks so small You marvel how they held Globe Roses break their satin glake Upon my Garden floor Yet thou not there I had as lief they bore No Crimson more Thy flower be gay Her Lord away! It ill becometh me I’ll dwell in Calyx Gray How modestly alway Thy Daisy Draped for thee!
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