The Ripe Floral Love

The use of floral imagery within Michael Field's poetry is extremely significant, especially in Unbossoming. Floral imagery is often associated with the female genitalia and thus fits directly into the lesbian connotations of the poetry. The only actual flower directly mentioned in the poem is the iris which is pictured to the left. This flower is clearly similar to the female genitalia and is often portrayed in paintings and art work as a mixture of the flower and a vagina. This appreciation of the female anatomy clearly surpasses the bounds of a simple physical admiration and merges with the natural and spiritual. The fertility of the woman as presented through the "brimful of seeds" within the flower, suggests a connection between the womb and the natural world but this is contrasted as "the summer of fragrance and sighs is dead," showing the inability of the two women lovers to reproduce, despite the fertility of the flower. There is a profound connection as well, between the woman and the mythical and classical mother earth theme within these poems. Immense feminine passion can be seen as the speakers "breast is rent" and the "harvest secret" is an almost direct reference to the reaping of the female subject's sexual fruit. The scene set is one of ripe and fervent floral/vaginal imagery which connects to the appreciation and femininity of the writers.