Flower in the crannied wall,
I pluck you out of the crannies,
I hold you here, root and all, in my hand,
Little flower—but if I could understand
What you are, root and all, all in all,
I should know what God and man is.
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Comments
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From guest Richard (contact)
More than a half century ago, my literature teacher in high school fondly quoted this poem. And now at the age 70 I once again found it, and it makes much more sense to me at this age. -
Awsomness
From guest Abigail (contact)
This poem is cool... well awsomness! I like it a lot and what is a Crannied wall?? -
Thats kool
From guest Tiffani (contact)
yea this is a good poem keep it going your good at writing poems... -
Chills
From guest Claudia M. (contact)
This poem gives me the chills. This is the essens of all religions in the world. -
Excellent
Truely he tell us how little we know about life itself. We are on the very outer edge of intelliegence like pre-schoolers. -
In this short poem we see how Tennyson is speaking to a flower (his mood and state of mind). There is no answer from the flower and the audience is not part of the scene. We are only viewers of his philosophical reflections (we as an audience are not included (part)in this experience. we are outsiders). It is as if Tennyson is not speaking to the flower but is communicating with himself (having an internal dialogue) about the flower which is a symbol of God and his creation. Eric Fromm, the well-known American - German writer, doesn't get the message. He thinks that Tennyson doesn't enjoy and admire the beauty of the flower but in stead he plucks it (destroys it). He wants to have it. This means that he is interested in possessing the littl flower. He compares it with a poem by a Japanese poet who looks at a flower intensively but doesn't pluck it. He also compares it with a poem written by the German poet Goethe who see a flower, plucks it and plants it in his garden.
This is a very superficial way of approaching the poem. He doesn't see that Tennyson has a very analytical mind. It is true that he plucks the flower but with its roots. He only does so in order to understand it. How can you understand it if you do not see the roots. What's more there is no mention of what Tennyson has done with the flower after plucking it. How can he destroy the flower if he sees Got in it? This is very unlikely.
What makes this poem fascinating is that it doesn't tell his readers a story as Goethe does but addresses the flower becaus he starts with it. He is not telling us stories of what he experienced but we are brought to the scene of experience. we are so to say experiencing it live. It is not a second hand experience from narration. Goethe plucks the flower although it tells him not to do so. He takes it to his house and plants it in his garden. He wants to tell us, viewers or readers, look how noble I am, he because he takes it home. He doesn't realize that by taking the flower home he is taking her wild life away and domisticating it in his factory (garden). In that he is not different from industrialists and people who practise green house raising.It is like enslaving his flower and on top of that he wants to be applauded and praised because he doesn't kill it. However, he does't listen to what his flower says: do not pluck me or I will die.
Another important point about Tennyson's poem is its tense. It is not reporting or in past tense. Time doesn't play any important role. He is also not interested in what the audience thinks because he is alone (intimate feelings). There is a privacy atmosphere here (no audience as im Goethe's poem). Tennyson's little flower incorporates everything. It is not only a flower but everything.
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