Words: 549
The Rhoda is an embodiment of the many fascinating flowers that proves that all he qualities of beauty are found in the universe waiting to be recognized and admired. This representation of beauty (the Rhoda) questions and contemplates the worth of beautifully crafted creatures on earth if no one ever sees it, consequently it implicitly explains that the beauty of something is unworthy if no one witnesses how beautiful it is. As the poem progresses, it expresses that each earthly things supply beauty to each other.
It describes beauty as something relative, and it does not measure true beauty only by its appearance rather by experiencing it through senses. The poem also suggests that there is no way of comparing an earthly thing by its outside or physical attributes but only by the experiences that its beauty brings. Naturally all creatures are beautifully created and they contribute and work together for the harmony of nature. The poem consists of sixteen lines with an iambic (refers to a division of two syllables in which the emphasis stresses on the second syllable) pentameter (which means five) rhythm.
There are a total number of 139 words in the poem. The eight-line section builds one half of the sixteen line poem, which results to an integrated and fair piece. It has a rhyme scheme of two paired couplets, preceded by four lines of alternating lines. For example, in lines 1 to 8 they end with the following sounds: solitudes- woods/ nook-brook/ pool-gay/ cool-array. The poem starts with the subheading “On being asked, whence is the flower? ” the first line establishes a question where does the flower come from.
In the first four lines of the poem, it describes the season and the weather condition which is May, a month when flowers are starting to bloom. A traveler takes a walk. During his walk, he sees a flower, the Rhoda which oddly belongs to a terrible spot in the damp nook. Since it is the only flower on the location, it seems abandoned near the notably sluggish brook. “In May, when sea-winds pierced our solitudes, I found the fresh Rhoda in the woods, Spreading its leafless blooms in a damp nook, To please the desert and the sluggish brook. In lines five to six, the poem starts with alliteration of “AS”; the poems musical-like description to the flower, Rhoda. Noticeably there is a consistent connection between the imagery of the “petals that have fallen into a pool of black water” to the “sluggish brook” in line 4, it explains the ironic location of the charming fallen petals onto the unattractive body of water, although the beauty of the petals beautifies the uninviting water. The purple petals fallen in the pool, Made the black water with their beauty gay; The poem continues by adding colors, as “red-birds” comes into the black water with purple petals to cool themselves. “Here might the red-bird come his plumes to cool, And court the flower that cheapens his array. ” In lines 9 to 10, “Rhoda! ” exclaims that the flower starts to regain the focus of the poem rather than its companions. The poem suggests that it sarcastically questions he “Sages” as if it is not appreciating the beauty and charm of the flower.