Growing Roses in a Garbage Pan

 

May was Lily of the Valley month. It is a flowering plant I like as it is very hardy and can be found in various environments, including the harsh ecosystem of deserts.

I also like the lily because of many references in the literature about its unassuming yet inviting flowers compared to the more flamboyant rose, which has captured the imagination of every poet who used a flower as a metonym for a feeling, such a passion, love, sorrow or dependency.  My favorite descriptions of the lily of the valley flowers come from Germanic legend and mythology. Indeed in Christian legend, Eve's tears are said to have turned into lilies of the valley as she and Adam were expelled from the Garden of Eden. And in Old Norse mythology, these flowers have symbolised the purity and humility of the virgin goddess Ostara, who transformed a  bird whose wings were frozen into a hare, so a bird that cannot fly can still live by hopping.

Among many uses of the rose and lily comparison in poetry, I have often returned to the rather simple words of Victorian poet Christina Rossetti (1830-1894).

The lily has a smooth stalk,

Will never hurt your hand;

But the rose upon her brier

is lady of the land.

Yet, the “lady of the land” is dangerous through her thorns. Perhaps Rossetti reminds us that sweetness and passion, when concomitant, have to be handled with care.

But almost a century before Rossetti, another famous English poet, William Blake, used the rose and the lily to tackle dimensions of love such as passion, loyalty, strength and purity.

In 1794 Blake included the poem “The Lily” in his collection of Songs of Experience. Here is one stanza reminding us of Rossetti’s poem:

The modest Rose puts forth a thorn,

The humble sheep a threat'ning horn:

While the Lily white shall in love delight,

Nor a thorn nor a threat stain her beauty bright.

So, using flowers to personify human (animal?) feelings and behaviour is a lovely strategy to convey both visual and philosophical guidance.

Growing up, one of the metaphors my father used was

                         “The best flowers grow next to the outhouse door”

to prepare me for optimism regarding the challenges of life.

 

… So May is Lily of the Valley month, reminding us of humility, resilience and beauty.

 

June 15, 2023

© Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2023