There grew a little flower
'Neath a great oak tree:
When the tempest 'gan to lower
Little heeded she:
No need had she to cower,
For she dreaded not its power -
She was happy in the bower
Of her great oak tree!
Sing hey,
Lackaday!
Let the tears fall free
For the pretty little flower and the great oak tree!
When she found that he was fickle,
Was that great oak tree,
She was in a pretty pickle,
As she well might be -
But his gallantries were mickle,
For Death followed with his sickle,
And her tears began to trickle
For her great oak tree!
Sing hey,
Lackaday!
Let the tears fall free
For the pretty little flower and the great oak tree!
Said she, "He loved me never,
Did that great oak tree,
But I'm neither rich nor clever,
And so why should he?
But though fate our fortunes sever,
To be constant I'll endeavour,
Ay, for ever and for ever,
To my great oak tree!"
Sing hey,
Lackaday!
Let the tears fall free
For the pretty little flower and the great oak tree!
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Comments
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I could just imagine and have often wondered did the flowers and the trees speak to eachother, this is beautifully written and brings about much of the beauty of nature. As glazecovered said reminders here of Romeo and Juliet................ Passionately written...........................................
I loved it
Edited on Jul 21, 6:24 because ''. -
The rhyme scheme and the repition make it feel like a light-hearted romp through the woods, but the subject matter speaks otherwise. I'm not so sure the ex-lovers are literally meant to be an oak and a flower, but he was strong, and she felt herself unworthy of him. This reminds me of 'To a Lady' by Anna Laetitia Barbauld in that the flower is simply there to be beautiful, not being strong enough to do anything else. She cries as the oak abandons her, not able to recover on her own.
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When I read this, I imagined a group of westerners (cowboys) or southerners gathered around a fire and a man singing a song slapping spoons on his leg. Which I have actually participated in myself and viewed separately (without the tv or movie screen).
And that's what this reminded me of. And I got right into it, it was quick it was loud and best of all - it was happy.
A great piece that is written here.
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The repetition and the rhyme scheme make this a very lighthearted and song-like piece. Although, of course, this is a tragedy, a beautiful love story between a pretty little flower and a great oak tree. The closing repetitive lines are much like
"For never was a story of more woe
Than this of Juliet and her Romeo."
from "Romeo and Juliet". At least they reminded me of it.
Of course it is assumed that a fragile flower is a female and a great strong macho tree is male. I guess William S Gilbert never lived to see the women's revolution.
~Anastasia
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