Wednesday, October 23, 2013

The meaning of flowers for toads

At the Imaginary Garden with Real Toads, Kerry has told us of the meaning of flowers, first those Ophelia mentioned in Shakespeare's Hamlet, then as the ancient tradition in different countries of assigning meanings to flowers, and also as the poet William Blake wrote of them.
This already gave us much food for thought, and then she gave us a link to lists of flowers and their meanings.
Along with the latter, I have taken the title of a 1940s song by the beautiful and talented Lena Horne, and have written a few verses in no particular poetic style ("no particular" being, to me, my own style).





Dahlia from Wikipedia
my love, your love is careless love
you give me dahlias,
michaelmas daisies,
geraniums and yellow carnations.


my dear, my love is constant love
so I give you bluebells, 
pink carnation buttonholes,
and the dainty caspia.

you give me hellebore
Michaelmas Daisy
(Aster) from Wikipedia
betraying your calumny,
while I give you rosebuds
to confess my devotion.

the flowering pear
and scarlet geranium
will soon comfort me
in your absence.
 Kay L. Davies, October, 2013

18 comments:

  1. I really enjoy the educational sense in this poem. I learned! I love Hellebore.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ooo...I just love all the different flowers and the meanings you lace throughout your poem...definitely brings the story and the emotions, too. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love the barbed wit in this poem - terrific message in the offering of the very different blooms.

    ReplyDelete
  4. A lovely poem. I adore flowers but am neither adept at growing them nor identifying anything more than the common ones. I'm always interested to know what they mean. There is a scene in "Kate and Leopold" where Hugh Jackman's character (Leopold) counsels Breckin Meyer's character about which flowers to send to his lady love according to meaning. I've always remembered that scene. :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. A floral dictionary so beautifully written through poetry. :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love the emotions tied into your verse~ Very clever Kay!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I think I have/had Michaelmas Daisies in my garden. Plus an assortment of others. Which are now all being battered to pulp by the pounding rain.

    I am always amazed that you seem to be able to write those poems so easily! Good on you!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Such a clever use of contrasting emotions on this bouquet.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Looks like she realized the divide and has her comforts lined up for when he's gone. Smart.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Very adept use of the language in question, Kay--had fun looking up the various flowers. I love Lena's voice!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Flowers, well, they are one of my favorite things in this whole world - beautifully done! Have I told you lately that I love your way with words Kay?

    ReplyDelete
  12. Such a well-crafted intertwining of words to show how love can bloom even when not reciprocated.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Well, I for one always enjoy "your style".

    As for this poem, one cannot say she wasn't forewarned! Nicely done.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I like your style here and all the flowers you included! Good response to the prompt!

    ReplyDelete
  15. How sad for the absence Kay ~ I like how you used all the flowers & their meanings ~ Good one, smiles ~

    ReplyDelete
  16. I so love flowers. Thanks for checking in.
    Tough week.
    Lovely to read your blog.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Love story in flowers ... with music, messages and consolation. Very fine!

    ReplyDelete