• Smit with those charms, that must decay, I grieve to see your future doom; They died--nor were those flowers more gay, The flowers that did in Eden bloom; Unpitying frosts, and Autumn's power Shall leave no vestige of this flower.
Figures of Speech
• Apostrophe [ə’pɔstrəfi] (呼语) --- ”fair flower” • Personification--- “dost”, “you”, “she” • Alliteration—”fair flower” ”blossoms blow” • Parallelism, synecdoche---”untouched thy
• From morning suns and evening dews At first thy little being came: If nothing once, you nothing lose, For when you die you are the same; The space between, is but an hour, The frail duration of flower.
smit: past tense of “smite” smit with: impressed by, stricken by; unpitying: cruel, merciless vestige: trace
• Smit with those charms, that must decay, I grieve to see your future doom; They died--nor were those flowers more gay, The flowers that did in Eden bloom; Unpitying frosts, and Autumn's power Shall leave no vestige of this flower.
• Stanza 3: it reveals the indifference of nature—the "unpitying frosts” are as much a part of nature as the "soft waters". Thus, the notion that nature has provided a "guardian shade" for the protection of the honey suckle is a sentimental fancy. It is relative, but death is absolute.
• ﹀ \ ﹀ \ ﹀ \﹀\
• Hid in this silent, dull retreat
• ﹀ \ ﹀ \﹀ \ ﹀ \
• Untouch'd thy honey'd blossoms blow,
•﹀ \
﹀\ ﹀ \ ﹀ \
• Unseen thy little branches greet:
• To understand this poem better, we should understand the most important characteristics of honey suckle: its beautiful colours, its rich fragrance, its rampant growth, and its frailty. This kind of flower usually grows in remote areas (forests, swamps, or hills).
Nature: personification (she) in white array’d: dressed in white; purity bade: past tense of “bid”; command, ask shun: avoid summer: metaphor repose: rest
• Fair flower, that dost so comely grow, Hid in this silent, dull retreat, Untouch'd thy honey'd blossoms blow, Unseen thy little branches greet: No roving foot shall crush thee here, No busy hand provoke a tear.
• Four six-line stanzas • RHYME: ababcc • Rhythm: iambic tetrameter
Rhythm or Metrical pattern: iambic
tetrameter
• Fair flower, that dost so comely grow
• Stanza 1: the poem treats the advantages as well as the disadvantages of the flower's modest retirement—it is designed with beauty and well protected in solitude, whereas its beauty might be admired by few.
Analysis of “The Wild Honey Suckle”
The Wild Honey Suckle
What is a Honeysuckle?
• It is one of the most beautiful of all wildflowers, marked by its scent (香味）and ability to grow in difficult places.
honeyed blossoms blow/ unseen thy little branches greet” • Metaphor--- Thus quietly thy summer goes • Hyperbole--- The space between, is but an hour
The Wild Honey Suckle
The Wild Honey Suckle
• Fair flower, that dost so comely grow, Hid in this silent, dull retreat, Untouch'd thy honey'd blossoms blow, Unseen thy little branches greet: No roving foot shall crush thee here, No busy hand provoke a The Wild Honey Suckle” describes a beautiful flower growing in a secluded place, less known and less honored by people. And when Autumn comes, the flower dies quietly and unknowingly. The whole life of the flower is short and it comes from nowhere and goes nowhere. It seems to be the natural law for everything to die in the world.
• By Nature's self in white arrayed, She bade thee shun the vulgar eye, And planted here the guardian shade, And sent soft waters murmuring by; Thus quietly thy summer goes, Thy days declining to repose.
Stanza 2: it suggests that the honey suckle bears a special relationship with nature which has advised it to keep away from the "vulgar eye"; Nature has designed it in white--a color of simplicity and purity, and, it has sent the soft waters flowing gently by. However, in spite of all the nature's kindness, the flower cannot escape its doom. The best time of its life is fading, for death is waiting.
retreat: place of seclusion; secluded place greet: personification No roving foot shall crush thee here, / No busy hand provoke a tear: iteration: parallelism; personification; synecdoche; provoke: stir up; cause to shed;
• By Nature's self in white arrayed, She bade thee shun the vulgar eye, And planted here the guardian shade, And sent soft waters murmuring by; Thus quietly thy summer goes, Thy days declining to repose.