"In the Heart of a Rose" a poem by George Marion McClellan
A poem from the public domain
Intro
February is Black History Month. All the public domain poems I’m sharing this month are by black poets.
Valentine’s Day is coming up this Friday, so I thought I’d throw in some love poems this week. Poetry is how I wooed my beloved, so give it a try for yours. McClellan was a contemporary of Paul Laurence Dunbar, whose poem “Not They Who Soar” I shared last week. I enjoy how this poem uses the simple image of rose—a flower poets have been using to symbolize love since forever—to carry the speaker’s “soul and its mighty love” to the beloved. It’s a fairly short, seemingly straightforward love poem, but it welcomes the reader into a beautiful intimacy.
To learn more about George Marion McClellan, check out his poets.org bio.
The poem is below, followed by my reading.
💜Miranda📚
In the Heart of a Rose
I will hide my soul and its mighty love
In the bosom of this rose,
And its dispensing breath will take
My love wherever it goes.
And perhaps she’ll pluck this very rose,
And, quick as blushes start,
Will breathe my hidden secret in
Her unsuspecting heart.
And there I will live in her embrace
And the realm of sweetness there,
Enamored with an ecstasy,
Of bliss beyond compare.