Flower in the Crannied Wall

"Flower in the Crannied Wall" is a poem composed by Alfred Tennyson in 1863 beside the wishing well at Waggoners Wells. The poem takes a philosophical spin on flowers[1] and is one of multiple poems where Tennyson touches upon the topic of the relationship between God, nature, and human life.[2]

Tennyson memorial statue beside Lincoln Cathedral

The Tennyson memorial statue was completed in 1903 by George Frederic Watts and unveiled in 1905[3] at Lincoln Cathedral, shows Tennyson holding a flower in his hand standing alongside a dog. Underneath, on the pedestal of the statue, lies a plaque of the poem. Since the statue was unveiled in 1905, there has been concerns over discoloration and disintegration. A commissioned firm specializing in bronze restoration then expressed that the statue appears similar to when it was first unveiled.[3]

Text

Flower in the crannied wall,
I pluck you out of the crannies,
I hold you here, root and all, in my hand,
Little flower—but if I could understand
What you are, root and all, and all in all,
I should know what God and man is.

Structure

In terms of stresses, the poem follows an accentual meter where there is a fixed number of stresses per line. The pattern for the number of stresses in this poem is 3-3-4-4-4-3.

Plaque found on Waggoners Wells of the poem "Flowers in the Crannied Wall" commemorating the site of the poem's composition

Flow-er in the cran-nied wall,

I pluck you out of the cran-nies,

I hold you here, root and all, in my hand,

Little flow-er—but if I could un-der-stand

What you are, root and all, and all in all,

I should know what God and man is.

The poem also follows an ABCCAB rhyme scheme. There are also 2 instances of a feminine ending found in the second and last line.

Plaque of "Flower in the Crannied Wall" found on the pedestal of Tennyson's memorial statue.

Reception

In Literature

The phrase flower in the crannied wall is sometimes used in a metaphorical sense for the idea of seeking holistic and grander principles from constituent parts and their connections.[4]

References
  1. Campbell, William R. (1976). "A Note on the Flowers in "Pippa Passes"". Victorian Poetry. 14 (1): 59–63. ISSN 0042-5206.
  2. Tucker, Herbert F. (1983). "Tennyson and the Measure of Doom". PMLA. 98 (1): 8–20. doi:10.2307/462069. ISSN 0030-8129.
  3. "THE TENNYSON STATUE, LINCOLN". Tennyson Research Bulletin. 1 (4): 111–111. 1970. ISSN 0082-2841.
  4. Brandom, Robert (1981). "Leibniz and Degrees of Perception". Journal of the History of Philosophy. 19 (4): 447–479. doi:10.1353/hph.2008.0100.


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