Themes in The Garden

The poem ends with the speaker asking the wind to change her situation, to turn over the oppressive heat and free her and the fruits in the garden. While this could be a beautiful expression of the experience of summer heat, this changing wind could also be read as a metaphor for social or political change. The speaker asks for an external source to remove the oppression that prevents them from moving.

If one interprets the rose as a representation of women, then the oppressive heat can be seen as a metaphorical representation of the patriarchal society that prevents women from achieving their potential. As the speaker claims in the previous stanza, she could “break a tree” if it were not for the heat. Metaphorically, the speaker claims that she has the strength and ability to achieve impossible feats, but she cannot break this “heat” without external help.

H.D.’s poetry is an example of Imagism, a literary movement in the early 20th century that used sharp language to create clear images. Imagists would focus on all of the elements and details of a single object in order to capture the object’s essence. Here, the speaker describes this rose using metaphors and sharp language to reveal an unseen essence: the rose is hard, strong, and resilient even though it is perceived as delicate.

This poem can be read as a social protest poem against female and minority oppression and a patriarchal society. In this reading, the supposedly delicate rose is actually strong enough to break stone emphasizing the power of those who are socially underestimated. In this metaphor, the speaker points out that despite their perception as delicate, “roses,” or women, are strong enough to break stone.