User:Applesandbanana/Flower in the Crannied Wall

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"Flower in the Crannied Wall" is an 1863 poem composed by Alfred Tennyson beside the wishing well at Waggoners Wells. The poem uses flowers to represent philosophical ideologies and is one of multiple poems where Tennyson touches upon the topic of the relationships between God, nature, and human life. The Tennyson memorial statue was completed in 1903 by George Frederic Watts and unveiled in 1905 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.

Structure
In terms of stresses, the poem follows an accentual meter where the organization of the poem relied on the "count of stresses, not by count of syllables". The pattern for the number of stresses in this poem is 3-3-4-4-4-3. 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.

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. The poem can be interpreted as Tennyson’s perspective on the connection between God and Nature. English critic Theodore Watts characterized Tennyson as a "nature poet." Fredric Myers described Tennyson as incorporating the “interpenetration of the spiritual and material worlds" into his literary works.

In Science
Scientists have also mentioned and drawn their own interpretations of the poem. In his book Through 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 "mysteries of Nature." 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.