To a Late Poplar
love
ode
playful
Not yet half-drest, O tardy bride! And the priest And the bridegroom and the guests Have been waiting a full hour. The meadow choir Is playing the wedding march Two fields away, And squirrels are already leaping in ecstasy Among leaf-full branches.
To a Late Poplar - meaning Summary
Delayed Union, Nature Waits
The speaker addresses a poplar as a tardy bride, using wedding imagery to highlight a contrast between human punctuality and nature’s readiness. While the priest, bridegroom and guests wait, nearby fields and squirrels already celebrate with a meadow choir and a wedding march. The poem gently marries humor and tenderness, suggesting that natural rhythms proceed on their own timetable, indifferent to human ritual and expectation.
Read Complete Analyses
Feel free to be first to leave comment.