Sonnets of Flowers and Trees - George Markham Tweddell 1823 - 1903

George Markham Tweddell

George Markham Tweddell  (GMT) 1823 - 1903 was born in Stokesley, North Yorkshire in 1823 and was variously a printer, publisher, author, editor, poet, Chartist, People's historian and much more. His wife, Elizabeth Tweddell (nee Cole) was better known as the poet Florence Cleveland whose book Rhymes and Sketches to Illustrate the Cleveland Dialect. One of her poems (Take Thy-self a Wife) has been set to music and is the title of an album by the Stockton on Tees folk duo - Megson. The full and interesting history of this 19thC couple can be found in more detail via this hub to their work http://georgemarkhamtweddell.blogspot.co.uk/

George & Elizabeth Tweddell

In 2005 I began work documenting the Creative Writing scene in Cleveland / Tees Valley which I had been involved with as a tutor and development worker and decided to research the area's older literary history. This led me to George Markham Tweddell's book The Bards and Authors of Cleveland and South Durham - 1872 (a compendium of local authors going back to 500 AD). The book was long out of print and only available at the time in the local reference libraries or antiquarian shops. I endeavoured to put information from it on our website. As a result, one of GMT's descendant's Paul Tweddell, got in contact and we began a 5 year project to get GMT's work out into the public domain.

One day, Paul showed me some manuscript books by GMT which clearly showed that GMT was a more diverse and prolific poet than I had realised. You can find out more about his fuller collection of poetry on the site mentioned above.

Manuscript book

Paul Tweddell

One of the books in particular impressed me greatly - Sonnets of Flowers and Trees. GMT had attempted, before his death, to bring together all of his sonnets on those two themes. Some were never published in his life-time but others had been published in local and national newspapers or in masonic magazines in the United States and Europe.

Emblems and Symbols
GMT was well acquainted with the sonnet and had walked widely on the Cleveland hills where many of the wild flowers can be seen. Reading the poems I began to suspect that they worked on other levels through emblems and symbols. Paul Tweddell sent me a poem by George Wither - Marigold - that had influenced GMT (he had a similar poem The Marsh Marigold.0 I began to think the Whither poem was in some way symbolic. Then I noticed at the foot of the poem it mentioned that Whither was one of the best known Emblem writers, influenced by The Emblematum Libellus of Alciati (1522). I had also noticed a number of masonic symbols in GMT's work and mention of emblems in these poems. His wider work, especially his 100 Masonic Poems confirm the symbolic / emblematic aspects to GMT's poetry. A fuller discussion of the nature of GMT's poetry can be found here http://georgemarkhamtweddell.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/poets-view-of-george-markham-tweddell.html , along with links to his Collected poetical works, available as a free pdf file.

Here's an extract from the essay on his poems about Emblems and symbols linked above.

"After reading GMT’s poem for Elliot ‘The Bramble (Rubus Vulgaris)’  I wondered why many of these radical poets also had a strong interest in flowers and plants. Was it purely botanical or was there some kind of esoteric symbolism going on? This was reinforced by finding a Masonic reference in the GMT poem about The Great First Cause. In the Alchemist book The Secret of the Golden Flower, the golden flower is thought by some to be the Emerald Tablet and in the spiritual side of Alchemy part of the process of purifying the spirit. Symbols of flowers, colours, suns and moons are part of the symbolism. Freemasonry derives is symbolism from the Hermetic tradition and has its own path towards spiritual enlightenment. Could there be a deeper level to some of these poems, especially in GMT’s sequence of sonnets under the heading Sonnets on Trees and Flowers I wondered?"

I hope you find these poems enjoyable and interesting. If you have any thoughts on any aspects of these poems, please leave a comment.

Trev Teasdel - 2012

On a Corn-field

On a Corn-field.

Oh, it is a glorious sight, that field of corn!
Yellow as amber is each ripen’d ear:
See, now they lowly bend,—like one forlorn,
Who o’er departed fiend doth drop a tear;
And now they rise majestic,—like a man 5
Who, hearing Slander blackening his name,
Resolves to do whate’er a true man can
To clear his conduct and uphold his fame,
Full soon, I ween, will merry reapers come,
With keen-edged hooks that shine like sabres bright, 10
And (cheer’d with thoughts of joyful harvest-home)
Toil ’neath the burning sun with hero-might.
Fill each the ale-horn; let them rest awhile,
And harmless chat the tedious hours beguile.

George Markham Tweddell
[Sonnets on Trees and Flowers, p. 1.] Also published in Yorkshire
Gazette, Aug. 29, 1848. Home Circle, Sept. 8, 1849. Darlington Times,
Sept. 14, 1850.

The Primrose (Primula vulgaris).

The Primrose (Primula vulgaris).

Sweet, modest flower, so gentle in its mien,
I ever love to gaze upon its form.
Full oft in childhood I’ve the Primrose seen,
Hiding its fragrant head from Borean storm,
In sheltered copse, by side of verdant hill, 5
On where to crystal river whimples still
Through scenes as lovely as the banks of Rhine;
What time the blackbird whistled till the green
Old gnarlêd woods re-echoed back the strain
And I have felt a glory truly mine 10
When I in primrosed walks have loitering been;
For earth seem’d free from every spot or stain
Of Sin and Care, which make the world a Hell,
And demons roam where angels fain would dwell.

George Markham Tweddell
[Sonnets on Trees and Flowers, p. 2.] Also published in Darlington
Times, Apr. 14, 1849. Cooper’s Journal, Apr. 13, 1850. Bury
Miscellany, May, 1855. Middlesbrough News, Apr. 27, 1866. South
Durham and Cleveland Mercury, March 9, 1867. Waikouaita Herald
[New Zealand], June 19, 1867. Barrow Times, May 22, 1869. Voice of
Masonry, Aug., 1882, Northern Weekly Gazette, Mar. 29/97.

The Beech.

The Beech.
I.

I envy not the taste of those who see
No beauty in the Beech. In Spring, its green
Is of the finest hue; and I have been,
Like Virgil, glad to its cool shade to flee
From Summer’s scorching heat. And when “the sere, 5
The yellow leaf,” shows on each other tree,
The scarlet Beech gives fine variety
To our Autumnal landscape; helping to cheer
The year’s decline. And when keen Winter comes,
And strips our trees of verdure, then the Beech 10
Shows its bare branches bravely—us to teach
How, if we breast the storms of life, our homes
The true abodes of Happiness will be,
As sure as leaves and mast again adorn this tree.

II.
Virgil and Ovid sang how Romans writ 15
Their names in the kind Beech tree’s friendly bark,
Together to endure; this lasting mark
Made Shakspere’s lovers, with their rustic wit,
In Ardenne’s Forest. Well our fathers knew
The value of its timber. Many a draught 20
Of mead or nut-brown ale, I ween, they quaff’d
From Beechen Bowls, when Boreas furious blew
His stormhorn all unheeded; and they slept
Soundly on leaves dropp’d from the old Beech Tree:
And many a meal from trenchers ate, which we, 25
With appetites like theirs, had gladly leapt
From fireside stools, had we been seated their,
To join with relish in their homely fare.


III.
’T was ’neath a “broad Beech-tree” that Walton sat—
Izaak, that prince of anglers!—when he heard 30
“Friendly contention” echoed from each bird
“In the adjoining grove.” Oh! thanks for that
That fine pastoral picture, which will never fade
While love of rural life is dear to man.
The “primrose hill,” “the silver streams” than ran, 35
“Opposed by rugged roots,” endear the shade
Of Walton’s Beech-tree to the end of time.
For us his “harmless lambs” indulge their sport;
For us his “handsome milkmaid’s” voice is fraught
With sweetest melody; her pleasant rhyme 40
“Made by Kit Marlow.” Honest Izaak! each
Lover of Nature venerates thy Beech.

George Markham Tweddell
[Sonnets on Trees and Flowers, pp. 3-5.] Also published in Voice of
Masonry, Oct., 1882. Hull Miscellany, Aug. 9, 1884. The second Sonnet is
quoted in Modern Yorkshire Poets, by William Andrews, p. 51.

The Stitchwort (Stellaria holostea).

The Stitchwort (Stellaria holostea).
I love, when loitering in some rustic lane,
To see Stitchwort’s little satin flower;
For every wilding is to me a dower
By nature given, to ease the mind of pain.
Emblem of innocence it seems to me; 5
With grass-like leaves of green, and petals white;
How it adorns the hedgerows, when the light
Falls full upon it! Spotless purity,
Like its, full pain would I now make my own.
I love each flower that pleased me when a child, 10
Whether in gardens cultured, or grown wild,
Far from the precincts of the smoky town,
With Nature for sole gardener: and she
Has no more loving child than I have wish’d to be.

George Markham Tweddell
[Sonnets on Trees and Flowers, p. 6.] Also published in Accrington Times,
July 15, 1882. Hull Miscellany, Sept. 9, 1882. Masonic Review, Nov.,
1883. Ulverston Mirror, April 11, 1885.

Sweet Gale, or Bog Myrtle (Myrica Gale).

Sweet Gale, or Bog Myrtle (Myrica Gale).
I.
Linton, our artist poet, tells a tale,

How “the sweet South Wind underground was frozen,
And only growth to save her could avail:”
So “she grew up a plant; the plant so chosen
We call in our North Country the Sweet Gale.” 5
It is a pleasant plant, which I have seen
Adorn our moors; in many a rural dale
I too have found it; and it long has been
Prized by the people, who loved to give their ale
A flavour from the herb ere hops were known: 10
Its leaves hung in the houses, did not fail
To yield them their sweet fragrance; most did own
Its powers medicinial; and its wax did form
Fine scented tapers ‘gainst dark Winter’s storm.
II.

And can we learn no lesson from this plant,
To guide us in our passage through the world?
Have we no offering from human want?
No pleasant perfumes from our lives unfurl’d?
If the Sweet Gale can e’en the bog adorn 5
With beauty and with fragrance, cannot we
Bring gifts to ev’ry child of woman born,
And help to gladden poor humanity?
We too can throw abroad some useful light,
Dispelling mental darkness around; 10
Can help to put fell Ignorance to flight;
And aid in binding up each bleeding wound,
Mental or physical, our fellows feel,
And cherish Virtue for our own and other’s weal.

George Markham Tweddell
[Sonnets on Trees and Flowers, pp. 7-8.] Also published in Leeds
Mercury Weekly Supplement, May 3, 1884. Voice of Masonry, May,
1884. Northern Weekly Gazette, April 24, 1897.

Jack-by-the-Hedge, or Sauce Alone (Sysimbricum Alliasion).

Jack-by-the-Hedge, or Sauce Alone
(Sysimbricum Alliasion).
‘Our ancestors’ sole salading! I greet
Your nettle looking leaves, and flowers of white,
With a true welcome, for ye seem to invite
The student to shut up his books, and meet
The jocund Springtime in her vernal bowers— 5
For listen to the minstrelry of birds—
To gaze on pastures fleckt with flocks and herds,
And buds burst into leaf, and other flowers
Than those you bear,—daisy and celandine,
Violet and stitchwort, archangels white and red, 10
Cowslip and primrose, and chickweed’s bed
Beneath the hedgerow; and, favourite of mine,
Whoever may despise that golden star,
The dandelion gleaming and far.

George Markham Tweddell
[Sonnets on Trees and Flowers, p. 9.] Also published in Cleveland
News, Aug. 29th,1885. Northern Weekly Gazette, Ap. 10/97.

The Harebell (Campanula rotundifolia).

The Harebell (Campanula rotundifolia).

No garden cultured flower e’er seems to me
More graceful than the Harebell growing wild.
It help’d to form my posy when a child,
And I now love to gather it to be
Part of a grandchild’s; for I would fain to teach 5
The love of flowers to all. With fancy free,
One may imagine fairy minstrelsy
Chiming from those frail bells: to all and each
They seem to ring out in the willing ear
Death to all evil, long life to all good; 10
That we have need of more than clothes and food
To truly live; and ev’ry passing year
Should find our love of beauty wax more strong;
And our whole lives should be sweet as a poet’s song.

George Markham Tweddell
[Sonnets on Trees and Flowers, p. 10.] Also published in Yorkshire
Gazette, October 10th, 1885. Texas Masonic Journal, Fort Worth,
Texas, July, 1886. Northern Weekly Gazette, Oct. 23/97.

Sonnet, written May 11th, 1884.

Sonnet, written May 11th, 1884.

In their full blush are now the flowers of Spring:
How the sweet Jacinth, with its watchet hue,
Vies with its neighbour Speedwell’s eyes of blue!
These, with the Primrose and the Cowslip, fling
Beauty o’er all the scene. Rose Campions bring 5
Their well-named blooms; Stichwort, and Cuckoo flowers,
And bright Marsh Marigolds, with these are ours
Daisies and Buttercups; while above us sing
The joyous Larks, making the welkin ring
With their choice melody. In yonder bush, 10
Just as in Walton’s day,* loud sings the Thrush;
The Cuckoo too brings her gay welcoming;
Whilst Broom, and Gorse, and Dandelion, as of old,
Gild all the landscape with their floral gold.

George Markham Tweddell
* “How do the Blackbird and Throssel, with their
melodious voices, bid welcome to the cheerful Spring, and
in their fixed months warble forth such ditties as no art or
instrument can reach to.”—The Complete Angler, written
in 1653. The Song Thrush is still called the Throssel in
Yorkshire.
[Sonnets on Trees and Flowers, pp. 11-12.] “The foregoing Sonnet
appeared in the Leeds Mercury Weekly Supplement, May 17, 1884.
The Masonic Review, Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, May, 1885”.

The Dandelion (Dens Leonis).

The Dandelion (Dens Leonis).

I love the Dandelion’s golden stars,
Gleaming in beauty o’er the vernal meads:
Some seventy years agone, I blew its seeds
To tell what ‘t was o’clock! My spirit wars
With Superstition—strives to break its yoke 5
For self and others; yet I love to see
My grandbairns, in their joyous innocency,
Blowing the down-wing’d seeds, when oft we walk
Along the foot-paths of my native vale:
And when they stop to pluck the hollow stems 10
To make their floral chains, I fancy gems,
Though rich and rare, in after years will fail
To give them equal pleasure. Are not we
Oft idling our lives away o’er seeds of Vanity?

George Markham Tweddell

[Sonnets on Trees and Flowers, p. 13.] Also published in Voice of
Masonry, Chicago, Illinois, U.S., January, 1887, Texas Masonic
Journal, Fort Worth, Texas, U.S., July, 1887 Northern Weekly
Gazette, April 3rd, 1897.

The Bramble (Rubus Vulgaris).

The Bramble (Rubus Vulgaris).

Brave Elliot loved “thy satin-threaded flowers,”
Dear Bramble! All who appreciate those things
Of beauty which Nature as largess flings
So freely over valleys, plains, and moors,
Must share the Corn Law Rhymer’s healthy love. 5
And who in Autumn does not like to taste
Thy pleasant Dewberries?* There is no waste
Throughout the universe; for all things move
In strict obedience to the unchanging laws
Wisely laid down by Him who cannot err; 10
And He alone is His true worshipper
Who studies to obey them. The Great First Cause
Adorns our very brakes with fruit and flowers,—
As if to teach us all that happiness may be ours.

George Markham Tweddell
* During my various visits to the Land of Shakspere, I fully satisfied
myself, by frequent inquiries among the people, that the “Dewberries”
mentioned by our great Bard, were not Gooseberries, as erroneously
stated by some of the Commentators, but really the fruit of the Bramble.
I got Warwickshire agricultural labourers, about Stratford-on-Avon, to
gather for me sprays of what they call “Dewberries”. Without telling
them what I believed them to be, and the briars, leaves, flowers, and
fruit, which they collected for me, were always those of the Bramble.
[Sonnets on Trees and Flowers, pp. 14-15.] Also published in Texas
Masonic Journal, Sept., 1886. Voice of Masonry, Chicago, Illinois,
U.S., Feb., 1888 (without Note)


...................................


Editor's Note -
Tweddell refers to Ebenezer Elliott's poem below. Elliott is known as the Poor Law poet and both shared a concern for the poor and for nature in their work. Paul Tweddell and I (Trev Teasdel), with the help of Malcolm Chase of Leeds University and Keith Morris who runs the Ebenezer Elliott website explored the relationship between the two poets recently.

You can read our findings here http://georgemarkhamtweddell.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/poets-view-of-george-markham-tweddell.html under the sub heading -
A Radical Canon of  Poets: EBENEZER ELLIOT


And further work on Keith Morris's Ebenezer Elliott site - here http://www.judandk.force9.co.uk/Tweddell.html George Tweddell & the Rabble's Poet


And the full site for Ebenezeer Elliott - http://www.judandk.force9.co.uk/elly.htm

Here is Ebenezer Elliott's poem

To the Bramble Flower
Thy fruit full-well the schoolboy knows,
Wild bramble of the brake!
So, put thou forth thy small white rose:
I love it for its sake.
Though woodbines flaunt and roses glow
O’er all the fragrant bowers,
Thou needst not be ashamed to show
Thy satin-threaded flowers;
For dull the eye, the heart is dull,
That cannot feel how fair,
Amid all beauty beautiful,
Thy tender blossoms are!
How delicate thy gauzy frill!
How rich thy branchy stem!
How soft thy voice, when woods are still,
And thou sing'st hymns to them;
While silent showers are falling slow
And, 'mid the general hush,
A sweet air lifts the little bough,
Lone whispering through the bush!
The primrose to the grave is gone;
The hawthorn flower is dead;
The violet by the moss'd grey stone
Hath laid her weary head;
But thou, wild bramble! back dost bring,
In all their beauteous power,
The fresh green days of life's fair spring,
And boyhood's blossomy hour.
Scorn'd bramble of the brake! once more
Thou bid'st me be a boy,
To gad with thee the woodlands o'er,
In freedom and in joy.[viii]

The Germander Speedwell (Veronica chameadrys).

The Germander Speedwell
(Veronica chameadrys).
I have a special liking for thy flowers,
Germander Speedwell! Like to angels’ eyes
They seem to me; bluer than watchet skies
When most serene in Summer’s loveliest hours:
And all life long in Nature’s sylvan bowers, 5
From early childhood, till my hair is white
With frosts of three score Winters, my delight
Was greater than my muse’s feeble powers
Can e’er express, whene’er I met with thee.
I thank my God for ev’ry floral gem, 10
And for the joy I feel in loving them.
Though poor in purse, I hold the world in fee:
For none need e’er feel poor, despised, or dull,
Who truly loves the Good and Beautiful.

George Markham Tweddell
[Sonnets on Trees and Flowers, p. 16.] Also published in Hull Weekly
Express, Aug. 30, 1884. Texas Masonic Journal, Sept., 1886. Northern
Weekly Gazette, June 19th, 1897

The Cracking of the Corn.

The Cracking of the Corn.

When loitering in the Cornfield, I have oft
Listen’d with pleasure to crackling sound
Made fitfully by ripening grain all round;
Glass-coated straws, each bearing up aloft
Its load of welcome food,—Oats, Barley, Wheat, 5
Or Rye; fit nutriment for beast and man:
And when cool zephyrs breathe, to gently fan
Our burning brows in the autumnal heat,
How gracefully the golden grain doth wave
Its myriad heads in homage to the sun! 10
Mankind from savagery had well begun
To march the path of progress, and to have
Dim notions they were for usefulness were born,
Men in rude furrows they first sow’d the corn.

George Markham Tweddell
[Sonnets on Trees and Flowers, p. 17.] Also published in The
Freemason, Detroit, Michigan, U.S., Nov. 13, 1886, Northern
fWeekly Gazette, October 30th, 1897

The Daisy (Bellis Perennis).

The Daisy (Bellis Perennis).

The “Day’s Eye” blooms in father Chaucer’s verse,
Through all the centuries; in an inspired hour,
Burns sang the “modest, crimson, tippêd flower”;
Sweetly and brief as old Wither did rehearse
How it does “shut when Titan goes to bed;” 5
Wordsworth with mighty power, has hymn’d its praise;
Montgomery i’ the choicest of his lays,
Tells “how it never dies!” Often it led
Our infant footsteps into rural lanes,
Or along by-paths rich with many a gem 10
Fallen from Flora’s glowing diadem,
Till health and happiness were e’er our gains.
Children are always poets: pity we
Should ever quench the sparks of poësy.

George Markham Tweddell
[Sonnets on Trees and Flowers, p. 18.] Also published in Voice of
Masonry, March, 1885. Northern Weekly Gazette, April 17/97.


................................
Editor's note -

In the intro to the Collected poems of George Markham Tweddell, descendant Paul Tweddell suggests, in relation to this poem -

"GMT also created his own ‘national canon’ in the poem on p. 186 below, ‘The Daisy (Bellis Perennis)’, which reinforced his wish to be judged alongside the ‘radical’ poets in the widest sense. These were Chaucer, Burns, Wither (1588-1667)[ix], James Montgomery (1771-1854), with Southey added later as a poet, but not for his politics (see the poem ‘Robert Southey’ – p. 50 below) and ‘William Wordsworth’ (p. 63 below). Montgomery, although a Scot, was a campaigning reformist especially against slavery, spending much of his life in Yorkshire and was imprisoned in 1795 and 1796. Later he responded to Ebenezer Elliot’s request for advice on his poetry, information that strengthens GMT’s links to like-minded poets.[x]"

Full text of intro here  http://georgemarkhamtweddell.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/poets-view-of-george-markham-tweddell.html  sub-heading A Radical Cannon of Poets.

The Marsh Marigold (Caltha palustris)

The Marsh Marigold (Caltha palustris)

Bonnie Marsh Marigold adorns the brook
In clumps like burnish’d gold. The earth is now
Not vile, but fit for angels. We must sow
The seeds of virtue broadcast, and may look
For happiness when we obey the laws 5
Of Nature, which are God’s: when we rebel
In our own minds we carry the real hell,
Which burns to punish all who may oppose
The great Creator’s will. ‘T was never meant
Mankind should be unhappy. Earth and sky 10
Unite to ask us the real reason why
Such misery is ours: for God has sent
All that is needful for our happiness,—
Only we hate each other when we should caress.

George Markham Tweddell
[Sonnets on Trees and Flowers, p. 19.] Also published in Texas
Masonic Journal, May, 1887 Northern Weekly Gazette, June 5th,
1897.


Editor's Note


Paul Tweddell sent me a copy the poem below by George Wither 1588 - 1667) in 2008 as a poet that had influenced George Markham Tweddell. I recalled that GMT also had one called Marsh Marigold (above) and somehow felt there was some symbolism going on in both poems. I scrolled down the Wither poem to find the note at the foot of the poem to discover that the whither poem was a well known Emblem writer. Afterwards I found plenty of evidence that GMT was employing Emblems and Masonic symbolism in his poems. here's the Whither poems from this website https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/html/1807/4350/poem2325.html

The Marigold

              1When with a serious musing I behold

              2The grateful and obsequious marigold,

              3How duly, ev'ry morning, she displays

              4Her open breast, when Titan spreads his rays;

              5How she observes him in his daily walk,

              6Still bending towards him her tender stalk;

              7How, when he down declines, she droops and mourns,

              8Bedew'd, as 'twere, with tears, till he returns;

              9And how she veils her flow'rs when he is gone,

            10As if she scorned to be looked on

            11By an inferior eye, or did contemn

            12To wait upon a meaner light than him;

            13When this I meditate, methinks the flowers

            14Have spirits far more generous than ours,

            15And give us fair examples to despise

            16The servile fawnings and idolatries

            17Wherewith we court these earthly things below,

            18Which merit not the service we bestow.

            19But, O my God! though groveling I appear

            20Upon the ground (and have a rooting here

            21Which hales me downward) yet in my desire

            22To that which is above me I aspire;

            23And all my best affections I profess

            24To Him that is the sun of righteousness.

            25Oh, keep the morning of His incarnation,

            26The burning noontide of His bitter passion,

            27The night of His descending, and the height

            28Of His ascension ever in my sight,

            29    That imitating Him in what I may,

            30    I never follow an inferior way.

Notes

1] The first emblem book (or book containing pictorial representations whose symbolic meaning is expressed in words) was the Emblematum Libellus of Alciati (1522). This was widely imitated, Quarles and Wither being the best known English emblem writers.

21] hales: drags.

..............................................

A contribution to the discussion of George Markham Tweddell's use of emblems and symbols in his poetry can be found here - http://georgemarkhamtweddell.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/poets-view-of-george-markham-tweddell.html under the sub-heading Emblems and Symbols.

The Red Poppy (Papaver rhoeas)

The Red Poppy (Papaver rhoeas)
I.

Look, how the Poppies flaunt their red-red flags
O’er all yon cornfield,—beauty out of place!
So when the angel Peace would bless our race,
The demon War, in horrid triumph, drags
His gore-stain’d chariot; drums and trumpets sound 5
To nerve the soldier’s arm to burn and slay,
And showy banners are unfurl’d alway,—
All fitter far for peace. How ‘t will redound
To human happiness when men shall learn
That wars are all unneeded! We can take 10
The Poppy’s juice, and from it we can make
An anodyne to pain: but when we burn,
Blow up, pull down, or (worst of all) take life,
Our acts perforce with misery are rife.


II
And yet I love you, Poppy’s warlike flag! 15
Its dusky green, hairy, indented leaves,
The brilliant scarlet of the flower relieves:
And well it shows waving on yonder crag
Like baron’s banner on his donjon keep.
What though it be but a poor fragile flower? 20
To cheer my heart it still has got the power,
As when in childhood I did careless creep
To pluck it growing midst my grandsire’s corn.
Our ancestors from Poppies did prepare
That gentle soothing cordial, used with care, 25
Was softer that strong opiates. We are prone
Too much our useful simples to despise,
And in our ignorance deem ourselves most wise.

George Markham Tweddell
[Sonnets on Trees and Flowers; Stanza I on p. 20, stanza II on p. 4]

The Mints (Mentha).

The Mints (Mentha).

Sweet is the Spearmint’s perfume, and the taste
Is pleasant to the palate; poor would be
The salad lacking its fine fragrancy.
The Peppermint must not be thrown to waste;
For, when distill’d, the prudent dame well knows 5
Its worth medicinal. And then we have
Good Pennyroyal. All Mints help to save
From needless suffering ev’ry one of those
Who use them all aright. No herb that grows
But hath its uses: none were made in vain: 10
E’en poisonous plants at time can ease our pain.
Ever since Knowledge among men arose,
The wise have sought in simples for the good
Which helps to drive Death’s poisons from our blood.*

George Markham Tweddell
*Shakspere was an evident believer in their efficacy, or we never
should have had the fine passage put into the mouth of the Friar in
the opening of the first scene of the second act of his Romeo and
Juliet.
[Sonnets on Trees and Flowers, p. 21]

The Butterbur (Petasites vulgaris)

The Butterbur (Petasites vulgaris)

I cannot say I love thy flesh-like flower,
Wild Butterbur; and yet I like to see
It rising through the sand,—sure sign to me
That Spring at last has come, and that the power
Of Titan will increase each day and hour, 5
And thy large leaves will follow into due time;
When, though my manhood has far passed its prime,
I love to see some child (its parents too poor
To purchase parasols) use thy big leaves
To shade itself from Summer’s scorching heat, 10
Whilst older children cool their heated feet
In the clear brook; and wond’ring sheep and beeves
Stand staring at them in the neighb’ring fields;
A pastoral picture which to me can pleasure yield.

George Markham Tweddell
[Sonnets on Trees and Flowers, p. 22]

Autumnal Sonnet

Autumnal Sonnet

The sweet, but fragile, Hedge-Rose now is gone,
And the bright scarlet Hips the Briars adorn
With other beauty; what erst was “milk-white Thorn.”
In lieu of fragrant blossoms, bears upon
Each branch the ruddy Hoars. Autumn now 5
Begins to show “the sere, the yellow leaf;”
But of all sights, rich Harvest Fields are chief,
And the ripe Apples lading every bough
In pleasant orchards. Now the Bramble yields
Its luscious Dewberries. Everywhere around 10
Are gifts for Strength and Beauty. Now are found
Rosy-gill’d Mushrooms, dotting the green fields
With their white umbels. There is much amiss
When Want exists in a good land like this!

George Markham Tweddell
[Sonnets on Trees and Flowers, p. 23]

The Pimpernel. (Anagallis arvensis.)

The Pimpernel. (Anagallis arvensis.)

All who feel joy our rural sights to see,
Must know the little scarlet Pimpernel;
And they who named it “Shepherd’s Hourglass,” well
Had noted with what regularity
It opes and closes in the dry fine air. 5
You need not seek it when the atmosphere
Is charged with moisture. When the air is clear,
It opens early; but we may despair
Of finding it late in the afternoon.
True to the “short time movement” is this flower; 10
As if to teach us God ne’er meant each hour
Of our short lives should be all fret and frown;
But, like the Pimpernel, to rest and shine,
And prove the Hand that made us is Divine.

George Markham Tweddell
[Sonnets on Trees and Flowers, p. 24.] Also published in
Masonic Review, Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S., November 1887.