This just in: I am a huge literature nerd. It's rather shocking, I know. Take all the time you need to process the new and possibly confounding reality that I, Emma Berkowitz, am a nerd. You already knew this? Oh, well. That makes sense, I suppose. I am pretty obtuse about the whole I was an English major thing, aren't I? In any case, whether this is a world-altering revelation matters not because I am about to share some top tier word nerd anecdotes with you that will, I hope, make the set more meaningful to you. This is the first of several blog posts that will breakdown the poetry I wrote for my latest song set: The Language of Flowers.
Floriography, or the language of flowers, was not invented by the Victorians nor was it actually that widely used in day to day life. There is not much evidence to suggest that suitors would deliver meticulously crafted bouquets to their paramours to represent undying affections or declarations of emotional warfare. However, the language appears rather often as symbols in art and literature. I could, unsurprisingly, spend an absurd amount of time waxing on the meanings of flowers in D.G Rossetti paintings or Elizabeth Gaskell's novels, but I will refrain from such tangents. You're welcome.
When I first sat down to write the text for these songs, I had thematic ideas for each movement but no particular story in mind. So, I searched up an online version of Kate Greenaway's Language of Flowers and set to work perusing flowers and their definitions. It is easy to get sucked into each flower and its definition. I started perusing the dictionary alphabetically, and happened upon the entry for clovers of the four-leaved variety. According to Greenaway, four-leaved clovers mean "be mine." The simplicity of both the definition and the flower itself inspired me to write from the perspective of someone who has nothing to give but their heart. As a graduate student and musician, this perspective was not difficult to imagine.
I have no diamonds,
I have no velvet,
I've no beauty save this Clover
Found over yonder past the stream...
Anaphora, the repetition of starting words, serves to both center the poem around the speaker as well as emphasize disruptions in the pattern. In line 3, I use the conjunction "I've" to soften the diction and allow for more words within the line. To my ear, "I've no beauty" yields a more mellifluous vocal line than "I have no beauty." Enjambment, the continuation of a sentence between two lines, further disrupts the anaphora with the word "found" and diverts the attention from the speaker to the clover.
The next three lines expand break the pattern even further:
I've no golden coins or strings of pearls to give you,
But I've this Clover, green as your eyes,
It says: be mine.
In this stanza, the speaker rejects traditional value judgements by declaring that a clover, which happens to be the same shade as the listener's eyes, is an adequate substitute for gold and pearls. The clover's resemblance of the speaker, then, is what gives the clover its value. Line 7 personifies the clover, and the speaker uses the clover to speak for them by declaring that it is the clover who says "be mine."
I'll bring you Lilacs grown by the Linden Tree,
Wild Oats that grow like your witching soul.
Bury me amid your Persimon beauty!
The fourth stanza breaks the motif of lack and poverty by focusing on what the speaker can give to the listener. The speaker will bring them lilacs, which mean different things depending on the variety. Field lilacs mean humility, purple lilacs mean first emotions of love, and white lilacs mean youthful innocence. I didn't name the type of lilac because I think all these definitions are possible interpretations of the speaker's feelings. The lilac is found by the linden tree because linden trees mean conjugal love, and this song is a proposal of sorts. Wild oats, which appear a couple times in this set, mean the witching soul of music. Persimon means "bury me amid Nature's beauty," so I thought it would be apt for the speaker to again declare their adoration of the speaker's beauty by comparing it to nature. To be buried in one's lover certainly implies a sexual connotation, though that is not the only interpretation for this line. I think the speaker could also be speaking of their love's perfume or even just the overwhelming emotions they feel in the presence of their lover.
The speaker then has a brief moment of insecurity about their poverty by again dwelling on the riches they cannot provide:
I'll not bring you silk
Or gleaming jewels!
However, the last stanza provides a final chance for the speaker to declare their intentions and confess their love to the listener.
I'll weave you a crown of Clovers
Four-leaved Clovers:
Be mine!
By weaving a crown of four-leaved clovers for their lover, the speaker compares the listener to royalty. Clovers, which remind them of their lover's eyes, are valuable because of their color. Thus, a crown of clovers is the most valuable thing that the speaker can bestow because it reflects the enormity of their feelings for the listener. This time, the speaker doesn't need to personify the clover to say the words "be mind" to the listener. They have finally garnered the confidence to speak the words themselves and propose to their love.
Please feel free to leave a comment or question about the poem and my brief analysis!
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