A friend of mine from Iowa recently sent me a poem written by Bliss Carman. He was a Canadian poet who lived from 1861 to 1929. He titled the poem: White Iris.
Wouldn't it be interesting to research the Irises that were popular during his era and see if we could discover some of the white irises he may have feasted his eyes on? As a tribute to Carman I thought we should feature a few charming white Iris from our era. Perhaps one of them will do his poem justice. The Iris you see to the left is a Siberian Iris, named Swans in Flight, hybridized by R. Hollingworth.
White Iris
by,
Chris Carman
White Iris was a princess
In a kingdom long ago
Mysterious as moonlight
And silent as the snow.
She drew the world in wonder
And swayed it with desire,
Ere Babylon was builded
Or a stone laid in Tyre.
Yet here within my garden
Her loveliness appears
Undimmed by any sorrow
Of all the tragic years.
How kind that earth should treasure
So beautiful a thing -
All mystical enchantment,
To stir our hearts in spring!
For the sake of good measure, I have included two more white Iris that may stimulate our imaginations. The white Iris above is named Beyond the Pale, hybridized by Potterness in 2006. This is the Tall Bearded variety.
In Carman's time there were probably a 'handful' of white Iris to admire. Today there are probably several hundred white Iris to contemplate. We live in a time of abundance, yet one may wonder how much progress we have made when it comes to happiness. Some great thinker once said 'a person is about as happy as he or she makes up his or her mind to be'. There may be some truth in that.
The white Iris to your right is nameless. Perhaps it is poetic that it has no name, just as Carman's white Iris had no name. I encourage you to look for the differences in the white Irises shown on this post; their shape, their texture and their subtleties.
I hope that you are beginning to enjoy the gardening adventure that is unfolding at Deegan in the Garden. I had no idea a friend would send a poem entitled White Iris. Someone once said "If you expect the unexpected you will never be disappointed." I think you can look forward to many more pleasant surprises from this site. See you in the Garden.
1 comment:
Beautiful flowers. I look forward to following your blog.
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