​Narcissus Poeticus

I really loved this poem. It makes me very happy. I was first drawn by the title, as I love gardening.
Your poem really encapsulates the beauty of nature and how we should really appreciate what we have all around us. I like the way the language you used painted a really vivid word picture.
I like also your use of simile, it really draws out the reader's interest and bring the piece to life.

However, just a small thing, in the last line, it should be has, not as. But that's about it. Well done!
~Kazey

Gooood evening, peep!

Just a simple Jen plopping into your life with a gift. Of a review, that is, I'm broke.

Anyways, lovely job on a wonderful poem! I loved how the title links into the poem. "Narcissus Poeticus", the Poet's Daffodil, huh? It's a pleasant-sounding name. However, what I did not understand is, is the focus of the poem on the daffodils? Though I can perceive a connection, it doesn't seem to fit the atmosphere you have set up. I may just be ignoring an obvious relation. However, my personal viewpoint is that the focus is not on each object by itself, but the entire 'garden' and the interactions between the narrator and the lively vegetation. But nonetheless, it is a wonderful little name, and stays in the mind for a long time.

Another thing I enjoyed was the personification of the plants, especially at the last verse. The way the narrator views them reveals a fantasy world that very few would care to see. The lively way in which each plant is described is humorous, lighthearted, and warm. The last verse in particular is quite cute, and I do commend you very much on concocting such amusing puns.

Though, the last verse will also be where I found fault in your piece. For all the placidity present in other stanzas, the last one ends in a rather dark note: "The rue regrets ever meeting me, the ash as gone up in flames." The 'regrets ever meeting part' can be seen as just a simple joke, aiming to make readers smile, but the immediate follow up of 'the ash has gone up in flames' (I'm assuming you meant 'has', not 'as') proves the feelings otherwise. Fire is often associated with the death of plants, and gives readers a very uneasy feeling when they find out that one of the trees have "gone up in flames." Even if it is figurative, it still tears brutally at the serene atmosphere you had previously set up. I suggest you either have that line switch places with a lighter line, or remove it completely. I feel like you should end the poem in "The weeping willow has my condolences", as the poem also began with weeping willows. It brings about a sense of unity and completeness.

Overall, your poem was flavorful, descriptive, elegant (er, except for maybe a few lines here and there), and nicely crafted. Congratulations on the making of such a piece, and I will look forward to more of your future works~

Happy writing~~~

And now to that review I promised:

I am almost always a sucker for nature imagery. It's one of my soft spots, poetically speaking, and it conveys so much when used effectively and with great purpose. The problem being is, because of the general vastness and ease of said imagery, you really have to push outside of the box to make it less gimmicky. In some ways, I think you achieved this. In others, there are areas that could be strengthened.

The first stanza, I found, was probably the weakest of the bunch mostly because I found it was almost unnecessary. It doesn't fit with that sort of juxtaposing image we get from the second stanza but plays more on just the aesthetic alone. Even singular poetry is multifaceted in its own ways so I would consider either removing or repurposing the stanza entirely.

If you decide to keep it, consider changing the word saturate. The present tense feels awkward and jaunty especially when we get this sort of soft, effervescent image of these leaves being gentle as they caress skin. To saturate is to completely soak, and I'm not too sure how that bodes.

The next stanza is something a little more fascinating. It's making you solid and still. Something that isn't merely observing but is a part of. I find that fascinating. I also like that it brings in the concept of the highway. It suggests even good things can be tarnished in some way.

After this point I start to lose the meaning. It seems to play on those beautiful aesthetics that only nature has, but with no real purpose other than to discuss it as a whole. To write a very single-faceted poem about nature, if I'm catching your meaning here? We get this image that you're the keeper of said nature, the protector of it, but what that nature is and how it plays out is what I don't think really came out or across.

Things I do want to note on real quick:

Your imagery is lovely. Nature is and can be beautiful in so many different ways, whether it be untamed, weather oriented, or in the case of this poem, the calm solidarity of a controlled sort of garden-like place. Aesthetically, I think you did the topic justice.

There were also moments the gears were really turning here. When you talked of dragon-esque daffodils and lion-esque dandelions roaring between each other, you started to move away from explaining nature and started showing it. I enjoyed that immensely.

There's a lot of talent here. Now, lets see purpose.
~ Walker