The Ragwort

Frances Darwin Cornford 1886 (Cambridge) – 1960 (Cambridge)



The thistles on the sandy flats
Are courtiers with crimson hats ;
The ragworts, growing up so straight,
Are emperors who stand in state,
And march about, so proud and bold,
In crowns of fairy-story gold.

The people passing home at night
Rejoice to see the shining sight,
They quite forget the sands and sea
Which are as grey as grey can be,
Nor ever heed the gulls who cry
Like peevish children in the sky.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 19, 2023

23 sec read
65

Quick analysis:

Scheme AABBCC DDEEFF
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 414
Words 77
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 6, 6

Frances Darwin Cornford

Frances Crofts Cornford (née Darwin) was an English poet; because of the similarity of her first name, her father's and her husband's, she was known to her family before her marriage as "FCD" and after her marriage as "FCC" and her husband Francis Cornford was known as "FMC". Her father Sir Francis Darwin, a son of Charles Darwin, yet another 'Francis', was known to their family as "Frank", or as "Uncle Frank". more…

All Frances Darwin Cornford poems | Frances Darwin Cornford Books

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