Underdog v. Monster

Roses have always had the pleasure of being connotated to feelings of love and care, and while to many they make for great late Valentine’s Day or Mother’s Day gifts, writers and poets from around the world have began to challenge the rose’s long-standing symbol. Of the two poems assigned this week, “Sea Rose” by H.D. does a better job of challenging the current status of the rose than does Adrianna Puente’s “The Rose and the Poppy”. The reason for this conclusion comes to the fact that while Adrianna Puente’s poem continues the tradition of a “beautiful rose”, she also champions for the beauty of the poppy. The poppy in Puente’s poem is clearly the underdog against the mighty rose, but that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have its own unique characteristics that makes it beautiful in its own right. While Puente makes it known that the poppy is beautiful, the rose in H.D. is a complete monster, her first description of the flower being “harsh”. This rose is “marred and stint with petals”, a “meagre flower, thin”, the complete opposite of how roses are usually described. Even though this monster of a flower might not be everyone’s cup of tea, in H.D.’s view, it is no more different than a regular, “beautiful” rose due to the fact that beauty is not limited to that of physical characteristics. By stating that a monster flower could replace the traditional rose, H.D. makes a more effective argument over Puente, who more so wants the “underdog” poppy to replace the mighty rose.