Shakespeare's flower? The wild rose. I think the roses are mentioned oftenest, although he may have said finer things about the violet and the cowslip." I question if he has. Now that you remind me of it, Shakespeare has an image of the rose and the canker-worm, and it appears in all his earlier work, and in every stage of development from the unadorned question in ' Lncrece ' - 'Why should the worm intrude the maiden bud?' to the perfect utterance in ' Twelfth Night'- 'She never told her love. But let concealment, like a worm i' the bud, Feed on her damask cheek.' This is Shakespeare, the artist. An image haunts him, and he attempts to lay it again and again; he does not go away from it, but rather encourages its visits, until at last he puts it to rest, embalmed in Viola's sweet-smelling words. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...LINES ON HEARING THE ORGAN by CHARLES STUART CALVERLEY ON THE MEMORABLE VICTORY OF PAUL JONES by PHILIP FRENEAU THE CLOSING SCENE by THOMAS BUCHANAN READ FETES GALANTES: MANDOLINE by PAUL VERLAINE NOCTURNE by JOHN VAN ALSTYN WEAVER |