Rhodora

__**External Sources:**__

[] The first link will help you understand what a //RHODORA// is. The poem is about a rhodora, and a rhodora is a North American shrub that has rose-purple flowers that bloom before the leaves appear. [] The second link tells you a little more about Rhodoras and where they come from. This piece of information is essential because it talks a little bit about when the author found the rhodora and where it was found and how it looked. By learning more about the actual rhodora, it makes it easier for the reader to understand why the author chose these specific words like "In May...". Specifically, the author probably used the words "in May" because the greatest bloom is usually observed in the mid spring, with fruit and seed production starting in the spring and continuing until summer

[] The third link is a map. This map shows where rhodoras are found in the United States, and this is important because it gives you more information about the poem itself. This information hints that the author was probably in New England when he saw the rhodora or maybe even wrote the poem.


 * __ MY Analysis: __**
 * __[]__**

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Before looking up a picture of a rhodora, I had already pictured a little shrub filled with purple flowers. This picture was already in my mind because the author wrote this poem in such a way that painted a picture in my mind. He writes about the rhodora and explains where it is, when it is, and what is happening around the author and the rhodora. They are in the woods in a damp nook. The author is saying in one part that if the wise people ask the rhodora why its beauty is wasted on the earth and sky, that the rhodora should tell them that it is because "Beauty is its own excuse for being". Personally, I think that the phrase "Beauty is its own excuse for being" is a very clever way of saying that there is beauty, because beauty itself is beautiful.

**__Poem's purpose:__**

I think that the poet's highest and best purpose for this piece of writing is to explain the significance of the Rhodora to the world, to nature, and other living things. The poet describes the environment of the rhodora that includes not only other plants like its rival, the rose, but also other animals like the red bird. The beauty of the rhodora is a significant part of this poem. The poet points out the beauty of the rhodora and tells the rhodora that beauty itself is beautiful and that it is "its own excuse for being". I think that the poet may have written this piece of writing because he may have had some experience with rhodoras, whether it was planting them or watching them grow or even reading about them. The poet was most likely inspired by the beauty of the Rhodora and its surroundings. The overarching message in this piece seems to be about mother nature. The last stanza seems to be saying that the "self-same power" of mother nature that brought the rhodora there brought him. Emerson seems to be pointing out the fact that mother nature is very powerful, and in her power she creates beauty.