The Choice

The Choice

Original Text
Katharine Tynan, Collected Poems (London: Macmillan, 1930): 243-44. 9720.d.402 Cambridge University Library
1When skies are blue and days are bright
2A kitchen-garden's my delight,
3Set round with rows of decent box
4And blowsy girls of hollyhocks.
5Before the lark his Lauds hath done
6And ere the corncrake's southward gone;
7Before the thrush good-night hath said
8And the young Summer's put to bed.
9The currant-bushes' spicy smell,
10Homely and honest, likes me well.
11The while on strawberries I feast,
12And raspberries the sun hath kissed.
13Beans all a-blowing by a row
14Of hives that great with honey go,
15With mignonette and heaths to yield
16The plundering bee his honey-field.
17Sweet herbs in plenty, blue borage
18And the delicious mint and sage,
19Rosemary, marjoram, and rue,
20And thyme to scent the winter through.
21Here are small apples growing round,
22And apricots all golden-gowned,
23And plums that presently will flush
24And show their bush a Burning Bush.
25Cherries in nets against the wall,
26Where Master Thrush his madrigal
27Sings, and makes oath, a churl is he
28Who grudges cherries for a fee.
29Lavender, sweet-briar, orris. Here
30Shall Beauty makes her pomander,
31Her sweet balls for to lay in clothes
32That wrap her as the leaves the rose.
33Take roses red and lilies white,
34A kitchen-garden's my delight;
35Its gillyflowers and phlox and cloves,
36And its tall cote of irised doves.

Notes

3] box: "genus (Buxus) of small evergreen trees or shrubs ... specially B. sempervirens, the Common or Evergreen Box-tree, a native of Europe and Asia; a shrub with deep-green leaves of a thick leathery texture" (OED "box," sb. 1, 1). Back to Line
4] blowsy: blown-about, untidy, blowzy. Back to Line
5] Lauds: first liturgical service of the day, celebrated usually well before dawn. Back to Line
6] corncrake: the landrail, a harsh-sounding summer bird. Back to Line
15] mignonette: sweet-smelling, blossomy reseda. Back to Line
17] borage: a blue-flowered plant used to make cordial drinks. Back to Line
24] Burning Bush: God revealed himself in a burning bush to Moses on Horeb. Back to Line
29] orris: flower-de-luce. Back to Line
30] pomander: "A mixture of aromatic substances, usually made into a ball, and carried in a small box or bag ... in the hand or pocket, or suspended by a chain from the neck or waist, esp. as a preservative against infection" (OED). Back to Line
35] gillyflowers: clove-scented wallflowers, pinks.phlox: colorful flower. Back to Line
36] cote: small cottage.irised: rainbow-coloured. Back to Line
Publication Start Year
1901
Publication Notes
Tynan's Poems (1901).
RPO poem Editors
Ian Lancashire
RPO Edition
2002
Rhyme
aabb
Form
quatrains