My love is like a red, red rose…
The latest Island Writers assignment topic is Flowers with a meaning.
Everyone knows that a single red rose means I love you. But why?
Back in Victorian times, there were things which couldn’t be said openly for reasons of delicacy, so a complicated language of flowers developed to express these emotions. It wasn’t just the flowers, but where the bow was tied and even how they were presented to the recipient which could impart each shade of meaning.
Some flower meanings pre-date the Victorian era. We might recall Ophelia in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, saying, “Here’s rosemary; that’s for remembrance.” And it’s not too difficult to figure out the intended meaning behind a posy of forget-me-nots. But which other flower meanings have survived to the present day? And which have changed?
White roses symbolise new beginnings and purity, a reason for their continued popularity in wedding bouquets. My personal favourites, yellow roses, meant jealousy or infidelity in the Victorian era, but fortunately their modern meaning is friendship. Sunflowers, with their connotations of positivity and strength, have been chosen as a symbol for those coping with cancer.
Heraldic flower meanings include the white and red roses for the houses of York and Lancaster in the wars of the Roses. Other flowers have been chosen as their country’s symbol, notably the daffodil for Wales and the thistle for Scotland. Holly has Christian meaning, with its spiky leaves representing Christ’s crown of thorns, and its red berries symbolising his blood.
For creative writing, the meanings of flowers can be given a directly-stated symbolism, but can also add subtle emphasis of a theme, as the roses on the judge’s bench are used in Dorothy Sayers’ Strong Poison, which is not only a murder mystery but a love story: red roses (true love) “they looked like splashes of blood,” when Harriet is put on trial for murder and Wimsey falls in love with her, and gold chrysanthemums (neglected love) “they looked like burning banners,” to represent her triumph when she is found not guilty, but also her rejection of Wimsey’s proposal of marriage.
In a piece of historical fiction, if less well-known flower meanings are included, it might be necessary to explain their significance to a modern-day audience:
“The gentleman left these flowers for you, miss.” A basket of white clover, meaning, ‘think of me.’ Isabella’s heart leapt. “I shall do little else until you return, my dearest,” she murmured. Then, to her horror, she noticed a single poppy nestling in the middle of the clover. Horatio was telling her he was not free! “Why, you impertinent…” As he had already departed for London, she couldn’t even send him a single yellow carnation to express her disdain. In a fury, Isabella snatched up the basket and hurled it out of the open window to land on the flagstones below.
In this modern era, we’re free to speak our minds (although that particular doorway of opportunity appears to be edging closed already), but we’re still using symbols to communicate. Emojis began as the use of regular typography to represent smiley faces and other simple emotions and has proliferated into a vast range of symbols requiring an Emojipedia to explain them all. So, if flowers don’t do it for you, perhaps another aspect of the topic could motivate a non-fiction opinion piece.
Or, as it’s November, the present-day symbolism of poppies might inspire you to create an appropriate piece of writing.
