POEM: "ORCHIDS"
POET:
HAZEL
SIMMONS-McDONALD (St. Lucian-born)
FACTS:
- Orchids are currently believed to be the largest family of flowering plants.
- The number of orchid species equals more than twice the number of bird species, and about four times the number of mammal species. It also encompasses about 6–11% of all seed plants.
- All orchids are perennial (persistent) herbs and lack any permanent woody structure. The leaves of most orchids are perennial, that is, they live for several years.
- The dried seed pods of some species are used as flavouring in baking, for perfume manufacture and aromatherapy (in traditional medicine).
- Orchids are usually cultivated simply for the enjoyment of the flower.
ETYMOLOGY (origin of the word
"orchids"):
The name comes from the Greek, literally meaning
"testicle", because of the shape of the root. The Greek myth of Orchis explains the
origin of the plants. Orchis, the son
of a nymph (female demigod) and a satyr (male demigod associated with music and
merriment), got drunk at a festival of Dionysius (Bacchus) in the forest and
attempted to rape a priestess of Dionysius. For his insult, he was torn apart
by the Bacchanalians. His father prayed for him to be restored, but the gods instead
changed him into a flower (orchid). Thereby exposing his "testicles"
(nakedness and shame) forever.
A bouquet
of orchids from Ernst Haeckel's Art Forms
of Nature.
ANALYSIS OF POEM:
"Orchids"
I leave
this house
Box pieces of the five-week life I’ve
gathered.
This connotes a
broken/divided/fragmented/disjointed/separated existence, perhaps a
relationship. The house is symbolic of the persona’s desire/quest for security,
safety and belonging. The persona (1st person narrator) leaves with
her belongings packed away in boxes (accumulated over a five-week period).
I’ll send
them on
to fill spaces in my future life.
Her possessions are transported elsewhere;
continually building upon the persona’s possible past failed relationships and
shifting lifestyle.
5 One thing is left
a spray of
orchids someone gave
from a
bouquet one who
makes a ritual of flower-giving sent.
A stem of orchids is
called a spray but multiple sprays are called a bunch. The persona received a
gift of orchids, taken from a variety of other flowers, perhaps symbolic of the
persona’s own perennially (continually) shifting existence. She is always moving from one
house/place/location to the next without cessation; always on the move
(moving); changing addresses; not confined to one place/space. Hence, the
persona’s lack of permanence and stability.
The orchids
have no fragrance
10 but
purple petals draw you
to look at the purple heart.
Perhaps the orchids have lost their
fragrance—no longer appealing to the
sense of smell but sight, as the persona is drawn to their regal (magnificent)
beauty—forced to look within her own
heart/soul/consciousness and make introspection (self-analysis) of her own
seemingly weathered and withered lifestyle—lacking
enrichment and inner beauty. By looking into the "purple heart"
of the orchids as into a mirror (also
symbolic of the Purple Heart/Badge of Military Merit) she is reminded of her need to find inner strength and courage to face her daily challenges.
I watered
them once
when the
blossoms were full blown
like polished poems.
I was sure they’d wilt
and I would
toss them out with the five-week litter.
The beauty
of the orchids can be likened to the beauty of well-written poetry. The persona
anticipates the fading beauty of the orchids—their
message/meaningfulness/value—the
allegory here may be true of poetry as well, however, they outlived her expectations. Even a poem lacking in sound or minimal craftsmanship has the
potential to develop/blossom into a work of aesthetic beauty. This is
reinforced by the persona’s use of the simile in lines 13 & 14: "when the blossoms were full
blown/like polished poems".
They were
stubborn.
I starved
them
They would
not die.
The persona’s failed and perhaps
dishonest/distrustful attempt to deny/abandon/disregard her heartfelt
admiration of orchids and their symbolic referent (poetry) is overcome/resisted
by the orchids’ beauty, resilience and adaptation to social, historical, and environmental / geographical change.
20 This
morning the bud at the stalk’s tip unfurled.
The
blossoming bud is symbolic of new life, renewed hope and opportunities. As the
orchids are adaptable to whatever hardships, difficulties, or challenges
encountered in their natural surroundings so too can (must) the persona learn
to develop endurance. The orchids’ resilience is meant to remind her and us (as
readers/critics) that—the dark
night of the soul’s despair will eventually give way to the glorious morn of
hope, prosperity and liberty—in true
fashion to the pastoral elegy—"In Memoriam"—by 19th century poet Lord
Tennyson.
I think
I’ll pluck the full-blown blooms
press them
between pages of memory.
Her desire
to suppress, conceal and confine her own seemingly nightmarish truth/reality is
perhaps an attempt to prematurely end a potentially fruitful way of life—a new
beginning; fearful of accepting or embracing an uncertain future and living her life to its fullest potential. By running from her past, in order to avoid the
present, the persona hinders her future prospects. This shifting lifestyle
appears to be the persona’s perennial (recurring) problem.
Perhaps in
their thin dried transparency
As the "pluck/press" orchids die "between pages of
memory" at the hands of the
persona, so too does her opportunity to experience a new beginning
"die" by her acceptance of the potentially deadly and decaying
influence of personal drawbacks and unresolved emotional hurts.
I’ll
discover their peculiar poetry.
Long after
the poets, like the orchids, have withered and died, their poems attain greater
clarity, purpose and insight into their true form and hidden / concealed beauty,
message and vision. Thus, the orchids (poems) take on a new life / meaning of
their own during the perennial (continual) cycles of life and death. As one
generation of orchids die another one blossoms in its place. Similarly, as one
generation of poets die another generation fills the void and the perennial
(immortal poems) live on in the memory of new writers /readers / critics. By
embracing the oxymoronic/paradoxical view that in the presence of death she will
discover the true meaning of life the persona not only appears to be desirous
of death but assumes that death will resolve all of her queries, problems and disappointments; offering her a better, brighter life/future. The
orchids serve as an effective metaphor for poetry and the poetic craft.
POETIC
STRUCTURE:
- The structure/form of the poem may reflect the frequency with which the persona changes addresses and the length of time spent in each location, illustrated by the number of stanzas/verses (10), the number of lines per stanza and the sporadic/uneven length of the lines. Therefore, two lines in the first and second verses may correspond to two weeks each spent in two different locations, third stanza (4 weeks), fourth (3 weeks), fifth (5 weeks), sixth (3 weeks), seventh (1 week), eighth (2 weeks) and the last two stanzas/divisions of the poem (1 week each). Again, this is visually and structurally symbolic of her somewhat shifting / nomadic lifestyle. This is a narrative poem, one that tells a story owing to its plot structure.
- The poet’s use of blank verse (lacks rhyming pattern) effectively captures the persona’s struggle between hope and despair as she narrates (tells her life-story) with a tone that similarly and occasionally shifts between feelings of optimism and pessimism, adding to a mood that varies between contemplative serenity and foreboding uncertainty. Illustrated by the poet’ use of emotive language to describe the aesthetically pleasing orchids—"purple petals/blossoms … full blown/like polished poems/ This morning the bud … unfurled" juxtaposed against the persona’s destructive intentions—"I watered them once/ I would toss them out/I starved them/I’ll pluck the full-blown blooms/press them." Indicative of the persona’s seeming lack of appreciation for the orchids as natural and philosophical emblems of beauty, wisdom and strength.
SYMBOLISM:
- "The orchid is a flower of magnificence that brings a universal message of love, beauty, wisdom, thoughtfulness, luxury, strength, refinement, and affection".
- "This elegant flower should make you feel pampered. Purple is the colour of royalty. Orchids are generally regarded as symbolic of rare and delicate beauty…. Their graceful appearance draws immediate attention, and their reputation as an exotic and unusual flower evokes a sense of refinement and innocence".
- This poem may also serve as a literary allusion to and function as a stem/blossom of The Orchid House (a novel by Phyllis Shand Allfrey, published in 1953) which tells the story of three white sisters fleeing from their true colonial reality but having to return to face the truth of their undeniable love for home. Told through the eyes of their black nurse Lally.
READER RESPONSE:
This is but
one descriptive way the reader/critic may view and experience this poem and by
extension, all poetry of this type—as a naturally and pervasively (re)occurring universal
motif of artistic beauty; communicating messages of hope, wisdom, affection,
and grace, especially to a dying global wasteland of despair. The reader must
not rely on death (i.e. embrace hopelessness) to reveal life’s mysteries and
lessons when one grows old, weary, dying or dead. Death is not the way of
escape from despair but rather hope in life itself. Like the orchids, occurring
in almost every habitat, the persona (a
solitary orchid) is an archetype (symbol) for humanity’s teeming, wandering and
restless souls on a futile quest for vain beauty while ignoring the beautiful
purity of Nature’s craftsmanship, as seen in the orchids. The universal
theme(s) of homelessness; searching for home-land; the quest for
self-discovery; identity and belonging are all exemplified via this quest.
OOW
2011
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