A January Dandelion by George Marion McClellan Literary Analysis Essay Example

The author of A January Dandelion, George McClellan, uses the voice of a speaker to describe a dandelion, instead of directly talking about the flower; thus, he uniquely creates what feels like a biased but relatable critique of dandelions and later, hearts. However, beginning off more delicately by describing the scenery of “Nashville” as “a-chill”, McClellan quickly turns around the poem to reflect the speaker’s true feelings about the dandelion. Such blunt shifts and changes accompany the flow of the poem’s rhythm as well as punctuation, to develop a well-rounded sonnet.  McClellan creates the feel of an outburst towards the dandelion in the middle of the sonnet that sparks a familiar regret in the speaker’s tone. Although the poem’s story does seem to follow the dandelion through the despicable cold, the nature of the flower that the speaker chooses to chastise spirals into something more melancholic and remorseful. Almost as if the speaker never really wished to scold the dandelion with ill-intent, but used harsh words to realize something more profound about the heart in comparison to the dandelion.

Mclellan sprinkles spondees, angry, bitter descriptions, and images of cold, barren scenes all throughout the sonnet to convey his overlaying message of the damage and destruction that the cold does to nature. Nature in context could mean either the dandelion, or in a deeper sense the heart. The first quatrain gives context and develops the scenery or setting. Here are phrases like “wind-swept sands upon the desert blow” and “sifted through the air” and “powdered blast of January snow” that bring in the element of cold and empty places surrounding the speaker. No exclamation points are used, so this section of the sonnet feels more laid back and innocent. Similarly, the use of “January” in both the title of the sonnet and the last phrase of the quatrain serve to acknowledge that presently it is the start of a year. This brings snow, icy temperatures, naked trees, dry, monotone landscapes, and the feeling that something has ended and now all is left to either new beginnings or past regret. What does one find joy in during January? The start of something new? Or are beginnings just an excuse to repeat the same mistakes?  The author ends the quatrain here with a period to move onto the next section and develop the speaker’s emotion more deeply. The tone is now harsh, focusing more on the “thoughtless dandelion” and it’s faults when it decided it should bloom. The harshness comes from the enjambment found in line 5, plosive consonants, a spondee in line 8, and the exclamation mark at the end of the quatrain. When compared to the previous section, this part of the poem seems as if the speaker is yelling, or angry. However, when looking more closely at the meaning of the lines, it becomes apparent that the jarring flourishes of this quatrain may be masking something more gentle and sorrowful. In the speaker’s rebuke of the dandelion, one notices that they ponder the idea of “a few warm days” of hope that lead to “folly growth and blooming over soon” just as January only brings false hope of change. McClellan furthers the softer, more meaningful theme in the third quatrain, by bringing up matters of the heart. The speaker explains to the flower that it creates enemies with its foolishness of bloom and “full many hearts have but a common boon” with it; yet continues and introduces sympathy by pitying the dandelion, “Thee, now freezing on thy slender stem”. The speaker portrays the dandelion as something weak and incapable of self-defense. It could not prevent the cold nor could it fight it, and that is why the speaker pities the flower even while scolding it. As the third quatrain comes to a close, the speaker and the author seem to merge together. By mentioning the heart that “blooms by love’s fervid breath” and comparing it to the dandelion, the intentions of the speaker conversing with the dandelion seem to align with the feelings of the author. There is now no one speaking to the dandelion, but the third line of the third quatrain begins a new portion of statements made from the author’s point of view. The undertones of sadder sentiments that were hidden throughout the speaker's speech are now brought to fruition by the author discussing the similarities of a dandelion dying in the cold and the heart that “is left” only to let “chilling snow” sift in. No longer are the true intentions concealed, but the imagery of the dandelion being reprimanded finally finds purpose. McClellan however does not end the quatrain with a period or exclamation mark as in the other quatrains, but this time with a comma to signal the continuation of the thought. 

Now that the end has come, the poem utilizes a unique couplet as such would have in a Shakespearean sonnet. The altered rhyming scheme throughout the third quatrain and couplet add to the effect of making the sonnet flow and it’s ideas blend together. It feels as though there are two octets, but the last two lines serve as the last statement instead of being part of a full, connected octet. The author, in que to end the poem, quite bluntly states that once a heart has experienced the harsh cold “it still may beat, but there is blast and death”. Normally imagery of a flower or winter would have positive connotations, but McClellan chooses to instead display the realities of those two beautiful things put together: a January dandelion. Although prosperous and refined separately, together there is destruction that causes all “blooming life that might have been” to pass away. Just as a flower “misled” by short lasting warmth is frozen, so too is the heart hopeful for life and love yet quickly broken. McClellan ends the sonnet finally with a somber period. By using a modified Shakespearean iambic pentameter, the author takes advantage of both the rhyming scheme and quatrain/couplet placement to develop the sonnet’s larger theme that parallels the heart to a fragile dandelion in the harsh cold. The poem starting out with focus on the dandelion, shifts to reveal that more importantly, the heart cannot be deceived by love for the pain is comparable to death when left in love’s wake.