Where Flowers Bloom so Does Hope

Where flowers bloom so does hope
People who read poems have many different interpretations, but when it comes to Emily Dickinson, the interpretations are almost infinite. Throughout the 19th century Emily Dickinson is perhaps one of the most fascinating American poets studied. Even though the Romantic period was coming to an end during her time many of Dickinson’s poems embody the characteristics during the period. Often times, Dickinson would use nature such as flowers, forests, meadows, hills, water, and creatures. These symbols were highly suitable for the inner conflicts that Dickinson was expressing in her poetry. Dickinson was an avid reader of Wordsworth, Bryant, and Emerson who had all been products of the Romantic period and also used nature as a reoccurring symbol in their poetry. Despite being frowned upon during her time, Dickinson incorporated sex and love into her poems in ways that others can’t even describe. In the poem “I tend my flowers for thee” Dickinson uses a wide variety of flowers to symbolize her love and loneliness and to reveal her feelings to her absent “Lord,” the “Bright Absentee!”. Flowers are widely considered to be the language of love. Since Dickinson couldn’t exactly come out and say what she wanted about her lover, she had to find another way to express her feelings. When Dickinson says “Rip-while the Sower-dreams” she is describing herself as the sower and is saying that she dreams of him or perhaps dreaming to waste the time while she is alone. It’s interesting that she calls herself “the Sower” because a sower is someone who takes care of a garden or field, which is typically a male. Dickinson claims that she has been tending her garden for her lover when she says “I tend my flowers for thee” but in fact it has been neglected because Emily lived a very reclusive and introverted life and, in fact, rarely left her room. While she dreams about her lord she says “Geranium-tint-and spot-Low daisies-dot” this image is explaining that the Geraniums that used to be beautiful and vibrant are now the exact opposite. Meanwhile, her “Cactus-splits her Beard to show her throat” an image suggesting that she is ripe and opening for the lord. She also states that “Carnations-tip their spice” and “A Hyacinth-I hid-Puts out a ruffled Head-And odors fall”, these two flowers have very strong smells that attract pollinators such as bees. Soon after she talks about the carnations she says the bees “pick up” and are coming to the flowers. Towards the end of the poem Emily Dickinson finally introduces the rose which is the ultimate symbol of love. When Dickinson says, “Globe Roses- break their satin flake- Upon my Garden floor” she is saying that the rose is beginning to shed its petals and that she is basically going to waste.
In the last stanza, Dickinson is explaining that she would rather have no one than her lord when she says “Thy flower-be gay-Her lord-away” and that she has no sexual attractions to anyone but her lord. Dickinson is planning on being “Draped” until her lord returns to her and her bud ripens. But in all reality, she knows that he will not be returning.
At the time that Emily Dickinson wrote this poem everyone believed it to be about flowers. Women weren’t exactly aloud to talk about sex or their love for someone else. But the way that Emily Dickinson did it in “I tend my flowers for thee” was very creative and that is why it is known as one of her better poems because she successfully concealed the poem’s true meaning so that not many people would really know what it is about.
Another one of Dickinson’s poems “Wild nights Wild nights” is similar to “I tend my flowers for thee” because it expresses Dickinson’s feelings of love and sexual passion. The opening stanza certainly gives the reader the image of a very passionate encounter between two lovers. But the second and the third stanzas are much more inconvincible. They create a metaphor using ocean images and navigational terms. Dickinson was a master at describing many mysteries in life in different and imaginative ways with the words that she used in her work and without people actually knowing the meaning at the time. When Dickinson uses the word “luxury” in the poem she is meaning lust and gratification which is a very old definition of the word. The “heart in port” is the lovers embrace and is saying that a storm will not be able to sink the ship in the port. So basically she is saying nothing can break the love she has for this person. I think Dickinson uses the sea as a symbol because the sea could be a symbol for passion. When she is using the navigational terms in the poem I believe she is trying to say that she will not need to go find anyone else because she has this lover and is happy with him.
In conclusion, Emily Dickinson was extremely masterful with every word that she put into all of her poems. She wasn’t supposed to express her love and her sexual passion in her poems, so she didn’t. She used complex symbols to express herself in ways that many still don’t understand. This is why many of Dickinson’s poems are still being read today and there are many different interpretations.

Works Cited
Dickinson, Emily. “Wild Nights-Wild Nights.” Literature:An Introduction to Reading and
Writing, Fifth Compact Edition. Eds. Roberts,Edgar V., and Robert Zweig. Bostonet al: Pearson, 2012.770. Print.
Dickinson, Emily. "I Tend My Flowers for Thee by Emily Dickinson — Hello Poetry." Hello Poetry. N.p., 13 Jan. 2013. Web. 03 Apr. 2013.
Kornfield, Susan. "The Prowling Bee." : I Tend My Flowers for Thee—. N.p., n.d. Web.03Apr.2013
Sisson, Kayla. "Amateur Analysis Authenticated." : Wild Nights. N.p., 27 Oct. 2011.
Web. 03 Apr. 2013.

Cited: Dickinson, Emily. “Wild Nights-Wild Nights.” Literature:An Introduction to Reading and Writing, Fifth Compact Edition. Eds. Roberts,Edgar V., and Robert Zweig. Bostonet al: Pearson, 2012.770. Print. Dickinson, Emily. "I Tend My Flowers for Thee by Emily Dickinson — Hello Poetry." Hello Poetry. N.p., 13 Jan. 2013. Web. 03 Apr. 2013. Kornfield, Susan. "The Prowling Bee." : I Tend My Flowers for Thee—. N.p., n.d. Web.03Apr.2013 Sisson, Kayla. "Amateur Analysis Authenticated." : Wild Nights. N.p., 27 Oct. 2011. Web. 03 Apr. 2013.