Written by American philosopher and poet Ralph Waldo Emerson in 1834, "The Rhodora" celebrates the beauty of nature and suggests that people can connect with God by communing with the natural world. The poem's speaker comes across a flowering rhodora bush in the woods, whose beauty seems to brighten the otherwise drab, dreary landscape. The image leads the speaker to reflect on both the healing power and spiritual significance of nature, concluding that the bush, like the speaker, was placed there by God.
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The Full Text of “The Rhodora”
On Being Asked, Whence Is the Flower?
1In May, when sea-winds pierced our solitudes,
2 I found the fresh Rhodora in the woods,
3 Spreading its leafless blooms in a damp nook,
4 To please the desert and the sluggish brook.
5 The purple petals fallen in the pool
6 Made the black water with their beauty gay;
7 Here might the red-bird come his plumes to cool,
8 And court the flower that cheapens his array.
9 Rhodora! if the sages ask thee why
10 This charm is wasted on the earth and sky,
11 Tell them, dear, that, if eyes were made for seeing,
12 Then beauty is its own excuse for Being;
13 Why thou wert there, O rival of the rose!
14 I never thought to ask; I never knew;
15 But in my simple ignorance suppose
16 The self-same power that brought me there, brought you.
The Full Text of “The Rhodora”
On Being Asked, Whence Is the Flower?
1In May, when sea-winds pierced our solitudes,
2 I found the fresh Rhodora in the woods,
3 Spreading its leafless blooms in a damp nook,
4 To please the desert and the sluggish brook.
5 The purple petals fallen in the pool
6 Made the black water with their beauty gay;
7 Here might the red-bird come his plumes to cool,
8 And court the flower that cheapens his array.
9 Rhodora! if the sages ask thee why
10 This charm is wasted on the earth and sky,
11 Tell them, dear, that, if eyes were made for seeing,
12 Then beauty is its own excuse for Being;
13 Why thou wert there, O rival of the rose!
14 I never thought to ask; I never knew;
15 But in my simple ignorance suppose
16 The self-same power that brought me there, brought you.
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“The Rhodora” Summary
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“The Rhodora” Themes
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The Value of Beauty for Beauty's Sake
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The Divinity of Nature
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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “The Rhodora”
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Before Line 1, Line 1
On Being Asked, Whence Is the Flower?
In May, when sea-winds pierced our solitudes, -
Lines 2-4
I found the fresh Rhodora in the woods,
Spreading its leafless blooms in a damp nook,
To please the desert and the sluggish brook. -
Lines 5-8
The purple petals fallen in the pool
Made the black water with their beauty gay;
Here might the red-bird come his plumes to cool,
And court the flower that cheapens his array. -
Lines 9-12
Rhodora! if the sages ask thee why
This charm is wasted on the earth and sky,
Tell them, dear, that, if eyes were made for seeing,
Then beauty is its own excuse for Being; -
Lines 13-14
Why thou wert there, O rival of the rose!
I never thought to ask; I never knew; -
Lines 15-16
But in my simple ignorance suppose
The self-same power that brought me there, brought you.
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“The Rhodora” Symbols
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The Rhodora
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“The Rhodora” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
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Personification
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Apostrophe
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Alliteration
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Imagery
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“The Rhodora” Vocabulary
Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.
- Whence
- Rhodora
- Desert
- Gay
- Red-bird
- Plumes
- Array
- Sages
- Why thou wert there
- Self-same power
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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “The Rhodora”
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Form
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Meter
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Rhyme Scheme
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“The Rhodora” Speaker
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“The Rhodora” Setting
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Literary and Historical Context of “The Rhodora”
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More “The Rhodora” Resources
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External Resources
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Transcendentalism — Learn more about the philosophical and artistic movement Emerson led.
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Emerson's Life and Work — Read a short biography of Ralph Waldo Emerson at Poets.org.
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The Poem Out Loud — Listen to a recording of the poem.
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See the Rhodora — Learn more about, and see some photographs of, the flowering shrub that inspired this poem.
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LitCharts on Other Poems by Ralph Waldo Emerson
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