Sep 26 2008
The Rhodora
Introduction
“The Rhodora” is a poem written by Ralph Waldo Emerson. It is a type of flower that grows in the mountain or near a water. It is also called “Rhododendron.”
It is not stated whether this is the type of the Rhodora that the writer found but I’m sure it was as pretty as this.
The Rhodora
On being asked, whence is the flower.
In May, when sea-winds pierced our solitudes,
I found the fresh Rhodora in the woods,
Spreading its leafless blooms in a damp nook,
To please the desert and the sluggish brook.
The purple petals fallen in the pool
Made the black water with their beauty gay;
Here might the red-bird come his plumes to cool,
And court the flower that cheapens his array.
Rhodora! if the sages ask thee why
This charm is wasted on the earth and sky,
Tell them, dear, that, if eyes were made for seeing,
Then beauty is its own excuse for Being;
Why thou wert there, O rival of the rose!
I never thought to ask; I never knew;
But in my simple ignorance suppose
The self-same power that brought me there, brought you.
The author found this flower and expressed his disappointment why it was in the mountain where no one could appreciate its beauty.
A few days ago I wrote about “The Vision of Sir Launfall ” where I emphasized doing great things in a small way. Today I chose a parallel poem “The Rhodora” but this time I’m going to talk about the other side of the coin.
There are some of us who have been given the talent to do great things. But we seem to have been put in the wrong place. Unlike the Rhodora, we have a choice to go where we can be more useful especially doing God’s work.
Are we the Rhodora or Sir Launfall? Help us, O Lord, to know what we are and be a witness for you to lead others to follow you.
