"Flower in the Crannied Wall" is a poem composed byAlfred Tennyson in 1863 beside the wishing well atWaggoners Wells. The poem uses the image of a flowering plant - specifically that of achasmophyte rooted in the wall of the wishing well - as a source of inspiration formystical/metaphysical speculation[1] and is one of multiple poems where Tennyson touches upon the topic of the relationships between God, nature, and human life.[2]
The Tennyson memorial statue was completed in 1903 byGeorge Frederic Watts and unveiled in 1905[3] atLincoln 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 have been concerns over discoloration and disintegration. A commissioned firm specializing in bronze restoration then expressed its view that the statue appears similar to when it was first unveiled.[3][relevant? –discuss]
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.
In terms of stresses, the poem follows anaccentual meter where the organization of the poem relied on the "count of stresses, not by count of syllables".[4] The pattern for the number of stresses in this poem is 3-3-4-4-4-3.
Flow-er in thecran-niedwall,
Ipluck youout of thecran-nies,
Ihold you here,root andall, in myhand,
Littleflow-er—but if I couldun-der-stand
What youare, root andall, andall inall,
I shouldknow whatGod andman is.
The poem also follows an ABCCABrhyme scheme. There are also 2 instances of afeminine ending found in the second and last line.
A previous exploration of the theme of a mysticalepiphany of the divinemacrocosm apprehended through the microcosm may be found in the oft-quoted first four lines of the poem "Auguries of Innocence", composed byWilliam Blake (1757 –1827) in the year 1803, but remaining unpublished until 1863 - the very year of Tennyson’s composition of "Flower in the Crannied Wall".[5]
The phraseflower 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.[7] The poem can be interpreted as Tennyson’s perspective on the connection between God and Nature.[8] English criticTheodore Watts characterized Tennyson as a "nature poet."[9]Fredric Myers described Tennyson as incorporating the “interpenetration of the spiritual and material worlds" into his literary works.[10]
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Scientists have also mentioned and drawn their own interpretations of the poem. In his bookThrough Nature to God, evolutionist John Fiske describes the flower as an “elementary principle” that is both “simple and broad.” According to Fiske, all living things "represents the continuous adjustment of inner to outer relations". The flower mentioned by Tennyson is a plant consisting of complex systems that regulates its "relations within" itself and its "relations existing outside" itself. Further understanding these complex systems scientifically can reveal the "mysteries of Nature."[11] Others including Theodore Soares, the then department head from the University of Chicago, also viewed Tennyson as "one of the earliest of the spiritual interpreters of life" who saw the impacts of science with macroscopic lenses.[12]
Amos Avery,Sophia Satina and Jacob Rietsema use the poem as theepigraph ofBlakeslee: the genusDatura, their work of botany and plant genetics devoted to the poisonous andentheogenic jimsonweed genus of the plant familySolanaceae, so named in honour of pioneering plant geneticistAlbert Francis Blakeslee.[13]
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