The RHS Book of Flower Poetry and Prose

Book excerpt: Artists and writers have always been drawn to flowers, as sources of inspiration, for simple enjoyment, and flowers themselves have been the muses for many of our greatest and most memorable works of art. This volume brings together the best flower poetry and prose from a broad range of writers, from Shakespeare and Milton, to Reginald Farrer and Edward Augustus Bowles, to twentieth-century poets such as Marianne Moore and Theodore Roethke. Wild and garden flowers are here explored in all their moods and mysteries. The poems and extracts are illustrated with botanical art from the Royal Horticultural Society’s Lindley Library, acknowledged as the world’s finest horticultural library. Addison • Betjeman • Bowles • Bradley and Cooper • Burns • Burroughs • Capek • Carroll • Clare • Colette • Crabbe • Ellacombe • Farrer • Fish • Gerard • Gilbert • Hanmer • Hardy • Hopkins • Housman • Hudson • Hunt • Jekyll • Johnson • Lawrence • Longfellow • Marvell • Milton • Mitchell • Moore • Parkinson • Pitter • Plunkett • Ridler • Roethke • Rohde • Rossetti • Sackville West • Seward • Shakespeare • Silkin • Sitwell • Stevenson • Swinburne • Thomas • Williams • Williamson • Wither • Wordsworth