Flower in the Crannied Wall

"Flower in the Crannied Wall" is an 1863 poem by Alfred Tennyson.[1]

Tennyson memorial statue beside Lincoln Cathedral

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.

Plaque

Analysis

Tennyson composed the poem by the wishing well at Waggoners Wells.[2]

The Tennyson memorial statue (1903) by George Frederic Watts at Lincoln shows him holding a flower in his hand and a plaque with this poem.[3] 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. Jerome Berryman (2017). Becoming Like a Child: The Curiosity of Maturity Beyond the Norm. Church Publishing, Inc. pp. 75–. ISBN 978-0-8192-3323-3.
  2. Wishing Well
  3. Monument to Lord Tennyson
  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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