Spring Flowers - Snowdrops

We are at an overlapping of seasons, sandwiched between the of the end of winter and the beginnings of spring. I am so glad to see spring slowly but surely arriving this year. When the only environment that we have access to at the moment is our local one, little changes really do make all the difference. Whether it is the small buds forming on trees, catkins hanging from branches or small sprouts shooting up amongst the grass, signs of springtime are beginning to bless my walking routes. 

I find myself once again turning to literature as I am reminded of some poems and extracts that mention spring flowers. On any grassy walks that I currently take, I am greeted with clusters of crocuses that vary in shades and snowdrops peeking out from around the trees. This week’s post will focus on snowdrops in a few of my favourite extracts. This time, rather than a book or poem inspiring a walking route, my regular walks inspired me to reflect upon literary depictions of spring flowers. 

I am reminded of William Wordsworth’s ‘To a Snowdrop’, which describes the flower along with the coming of spring. My favourite part reads:

‘Yet art thou welcome, welcome as a friend

Whose zeal outruns his promise! Blue-eyed May 

Shall soon behold this border…’ 

Snowdrops are one of the first signs of the change from winter to spring, and here in Ambleside they seem to be everywhere! Like Wordsworth, I really do see snowdrops as little friends that spread happiness. This poem ends with the lines: ‘venturous harbinger of Spring, And pensive monitor of fleeting years!’ Here, he encapsulates what I enjoy most about snowdrops – their promise of warmer and sunnier days. Snowdrops truly are little joys to view, and the line ‘pensive monitor of fleeting years’ describes how quickly time feels to be going for me at the moment. I can’t believe it’s already been a year since the last flurries of snowdrops. Looking back on the events of the past year causes a mixture of emotions to shoot up in front of my eyes.

Staying close to my base of Ambleside, Dorothy Wordsworth also mentions snowdrops in her Grasmere Journals, and on the 21st February 1802, her diary entry reads:

‘…William walked to the Tailor’s while I was at Mrs O’s it rained all the time. Snowdrops quite out, but cold & winterly – yet for all this a thrush that lives in our orchard has shouted & sung its merriest all day long…’ 

Dorothy Wordsworth’s journals are such a delight to read as they allow us an insight into her day-to-day life. Sometimes she describes her entire day in a journal entry, but in other entries such as this one she writes about small close-up moments and highlights. This journal entry produces a picture of her peering down and looking at the snowdrops whilst listening to the thrush’s song in the chilly weather. In this extract her poetic side shines through via her vivid descriptions. Dorothy writes that although the snowdrops are out, which indicates spring is coming, it is still ‘cold and winterly’. There is still a long way to go. 

The snowdrops will soon disappear until next year, so I took plenty of photos to treasure and put in my scrapbook. Snowdrops are cyclical creatures, returning to embellish our February/March walks every year. Finally, I think of Alfred, Lord Tennyson's poem 'The Snowdrop', which is beautiful in its simplicity:

The Snowdrop

Many, many welcomes,

February fair-maid,

Ever as of old time,

Solitary firstling,

Coming in the cold time,

Prophet of the gay time,

Prophet of the May time,

Prophet of the roses,

Many, many welcomes,

February fair-maid!

I feel like this short poem ties together all of the feelings that I associate with these tiny flowers. Tennyson's description of them as 'Ever as of old time' links once again to the repetitive, reliable nature of the flower and the comfort that this cycle brings. The comparison of them 'Coming in the cold time ... Prophet of the May time' perfectly represents how they arrive at the end of winter, and leave as springtime is setting in. They are a bridge between the two seasons, and I have loved spotting them on my local walks.

(thank you to Nada for this beautiful picture!)

My next post will explore crocuses, as they seem to be sprouting up all over the place!

Referenced Works:

• Tennyson, Lord, Alfred, 'The Snowdrop' - accessed via a Facebook post from Tennyson's Birthplace; Somersby, Lincolnshire: https://www.facebook.com/TennysonsBirthplace/posts/2547505445358911
• Wordsworth, Dorothy, The Grasmere and Alfoxden Journals, ed. by Pamela Woof, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008), p. 71
• Wordsworth, William, 'To a Snowdrop' in The Collected Poems of William Wordsworth (Hertfordshire: Wordsworth Editions, 2006) pp. 313-314