In both the poems assigned today, Sea Rose by H. D. and The Rose & The Poppy by Adrianna Puente, the traditional image/ideas of the rose are completely torn apart and questioned. Th tradition images of a rose include romanticism, lust, passion, love, beauty, desire, atraction; the rose is associated with so many positives by society that many people don’t see the negative stigma that can also be imposed by roses, these two poets describe and show just that, the fact that roses have been made up by society to represent all these good thing, but ae all those representation accurate and do they hold true? The poems Sea Rose and The Rose & The Poppy share similar ideas about the rose and in their own way tear the traditional meaning apart.
In the poem Sea Rose by H. D. we don’t sea any specific rhyming scheme being used and we can clarify this poem as free verse. However we can see that the tenor in this poem is the sea rose and the vehicle is I, as in the person in the poem, metaphors, enjambment, and imagery in order to help get the meaning across of the poet that the wilted, sea affected rose, is just as beautiful and interesting, if not more interesting, than the standard rose. Throughout the poem, such as in the first stanza we can see enjambment as there is no specific set up for the lines, the lines don’t stop in a specific place e instead they are doing their own thing only spectated by the commas but we never get to see a full sentence or the capitalization of a word as we move to next line in a stanza. The whole poem can be characterized by a metaphor as it compares the sea rose to a person, setting apart its imperfection such as “harsh rose, marred and with stint of petals, meagre flower, thin, sparse of leaf” then it goes on to say “Stunted, with small leaf, you are flung on the sand.” The poem uses this allude and compare the sea rose to a person who has flaws and isn’t necessarily up to the standards of society. The imagery in the poem also helps emphasize the message then poet, with the first stanza describing the sea rose as “Rose, harsh rose, marred and with stint of petals, meagre flower, thin, sparse of leaf” and the last stanza questioning if the spice rose(the tradition ‘beautiful’ rose) “Can the spice-rose drip such acrid fragrance hardened in a leaf?” This imagery of the two roses helps us better understand teh difference between the two roses.
In the poem The Rose & The Poppy by Adrianna similarly explaimns the rose in comparison to the person. She starts the poem by saying ” I am not a ravishing ruby red, or a semblance of purity white” in this case is is stating that she is not a rose but instead she uses a poppy to compare to the rose and explain that in society the poppy and the rose do not have the sam implications, yet in reality they are both flowers and teh only true difference is the meaning that they have been given by society. She states “Not the flower you give to a lover, or a token of comfort you give to a friend in the hospital. Nor am I a symbol of romance” the traditional symbols and imagery that are given to a rose are not given to a poppy. She later in the poem goes on to reflect on teh fact that although she is not a rose she is unique and special, “Most times I am forgotten.Rarely chosen foreager hands on Valentine’s day-but I am my own.” She ends the poem by remind the reader “we each wilt-between dried petals-scenting rooms with our fragrance. Rotting into umber.” This parrelles people, although someone might not fit the standards athat are deemed as desirable in a society they are still a person unique and wonderful, with qualities that make them special, just like the poppy is in compassion to the rose. Both of these poem compass the idea that society ideals and standards do not define a thing, the thing defines itself.
Guadalupe Lemus
Introduction to Poetry 