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The Flowers That on The Banks and Walks Did Grow

Aemilia Lanyer

+ Aemilia Lanyer (1569 – 1645)

A member of the minor gentry, her father and her husband were both court musicians. She was also the mistress of Henry Carey, by whom she became pregnant.

Aemilia was the first woman in England to publish a book of original poetry Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum (Hail, God, King of the Jews). She was inspired on a visit to Cookham, which she said awakened her spiritually.

The title poem contains 200 stanzas that satirically tells the story of Christ’s passion primarily through the viewpoint of the women who surround him. She also points out that women attended to Christ after the burial and resurrection, and that Pilate’s wife attempted to prevent the unjust trial of Christ.

Although the topics of religion and virtue were acceptable, she was considered a radical because she used these venues to address topics like the maltreatment of women. For example, she argues that Eve, who bears the blame for the expulsion from Eden, should share the blame with Adam.

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+The Flowers That on The Banks and Walks Did Grow

The flowers that on the banks and walks did growCrept in the ground, the grass did weep for woe;The winds and waters seemed to chide togetherBecause you went away they knew not whither;And those sweet brooks that ran so fair and clear,With grief and trouble wrinkled did appear.Those pretty birds that wonted were to sing,Now neither sing, nor chirp, nor use their wing;But with their tender feet on some bare spray,Warble forth sorrow and their own dismay.Fair Philomela leaves her mournful ditty,Drowned in deep sleep, yet can procure no pity.Each arbor, bank, each seat, each stately treeLooks bare and desolate now for want of thee,Turning green tresses into frosty gray,While in cold grief they wither all away.The sun grew weak, his beams no comfort gave,While all green things did make the earth their grave.Each brier, each bramble, when you went awayCaught fast your clothes, thinking to make you stay;

Delightful Echo wonted to replyTo our last words, did now for sorrow die;The house cast off each garment that might grace it,Putting on dust and cobwebs to deface it.All desolation then there did appear,When you were going, whom they held so dear.This last farewell to Cooke-ham here I give,When I am dead thy name in this may live,Wherein I have performed her noble hest Whose virtues lodge in my unworthy breast,And ever shall, so long as life remains,Tying my life to her by those rich chains.

+Context

This verse is an excerpt from The Description of Cooke-ham, the last poem in Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum.

This poem praises the estate of Lanyer’s patroness, Margaret, Countess of Cumberland, as being a lost Eden for women.

Lanyer views the Countess as the ideal Renaissance woman—graceful, virtuous, honorable, and beautiful; thus, while Margaret is around the flowers and trees work to please her. In this excerpt, Margaret has left the estate, so the flowers and trees mourn her.

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Structure

The poem is written in the pastoral tradition that both praises and laments the loss of a unique paradise.

The 210-line verse is written in couplets of iambic pentameter.

Lanyer is often credited with writing the first “Country-House” poem; others give that credit to Ben Jonson.

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The flowers that on the banks and walks did growCrept in the ground, the grass did weep for woe;The winds and waters seemed to chide togetherBecause you went away they knew not whither;And those sweet brooks that ran so fair and clear,With grief and trouble wrinkled did appear.

Pathetic fallacy is used so that the “flowers,” “winds,” “waters,” and “brooks” express forlorn emotions to mourn the departure of the feminine ideal.

Pastoral imagery grounds the poem in nature to provide a more vivid experience.

Alliteration of the “w” sound accentuate nature’s loss.

Those pretty birds that wonted were to sing,Now neither sing, nor chirp, nor use their wing;But with their tender feet on some bare spray,Warble forth sorrow and their own dismay.Fair Philomela leaves her mournful ditty,Drowned in deep sleep, yet can procure no pity.

lilwren.deviantart.com

Birds are personified as “tender” to establish the feminine ideal.

Caesura in lines 2 and 6 emphasize the cessation of sound.

The allusion to Philomela is appropriate for a poem that praises feminine strength. Philomela, after being raped and mutilated by her sister’s husband, obtains her revenge and is transformed into a nightingale. Because of the violence perpetrated on Philomela, the nightingale’s song is considered sorrowful. Coincidentally, female nightingales are mute; males sing.

Each arbor, bank, each seat, each stately treeLooks bare and desolate now for want of thee,Turning green tresses into frosty gray,While in cold grief they wither all away.The sun grew weak, his beams no comfort gave,While all green things did make the earth their grave.Each brier, each bramble, when you went awayCaught fast your clothes, thinking to make you stay;Delightful Echo wonted to replyTo our last words, did now for sorrow die;The house cast off each garment that might grace it,Putting on dust and cobwebs to deface it.All desolation then there did appear,When you were going, whom they held so dear.

Repeated use of caesura illustrates the widespread affect of the feminine departure. The personification of the “trees,” “sun,” “green things,” and “house” reflects how each aspect of nature embraces winter once Margaret leaves.

Allusion to Echo reflects the pervading silence of nature.

Echo distracted Hera by talking while Zeus dallied with the nymphs, so Hera punished her by removing her voice except when repeating others’ words.

This last farewell to Cooke-ham here I give,When I am dead thy name in this may live,Wherein I have performed her noble hest Whose virtues lodge in my unworthy breast,And ever shall, so long as life remains,Tying my life to her by those rich chains.

Margaret, Countess of Cumberland, requested a poem about her Cook-ham home. This poem is considered that poem. This particular excerpt lauds the feminine ideal of Cook-ham by showing the ill effects on nature of Margaret’s departure.

Notice the tribute in the final couplet. The poet will remain “tied” to Cookham’s “rich chains. These images reveal the impact the home had on Lanyer.

+Theme

Nature, when impacted by the feminine idea, suffers when left alone.

Feminist Interpretation: All that is feminine can be celebrated when women rely on one another for it is the responsibility of all women to pass on their knowledge to other women.

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ToneThe poem is basically an elegiac poem lamenting the loss of spring and summer all due to the departure of Margaret. Thus, the tone of the poem is sorrowful.

+ Works Cited

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki http://www.literature-study-online.com/essays/renaissance-poetry.htmlhttp://www.poemhunter.com/aemilia-lanyer/biography/