Susan Griffin is an American poet and essayist. She has written over a dozen books, including the National Book Award-nominated A Chorus of Stones: The Private Life of War. Her work often focuses on feminism, ecology, and peace.
In her poem “Love Should Grow up Like an Wild Iris in the Fields,” Griffin explores the idea that love should be natural and free-flowing, like a wildflower. She writes:
Love should grow up like an wild iris in the fields
It should have no fences or boundaries
It should be free to roam and bloom
Wherever it pleases
This is a beautiful poem about love, and how it should be allowed to grow and flourish without restrictions. Susan Griffin’s work is always worth reading, and this poem is no exception.
During “Love Should Grow Up Like an Wild Iris in the Fields,” Susan Griffin challenges her readers to reconsider why they so frequently enslave themselves to the tyranny of monotony rather than appreciate love’s simplicity. Griffin employs two images in her poem when talking about love: a flower and an eye’s iris. Her comparisons are not only compelling but also accurate.
Susan Griffin believes that love should be free and natural, like a flower in a field, rather than caged and forced, like an iris in an eye.
The first few lines of Susan Griffin’s poem “Love Should Grow up Like an Wild Iris in the Fields” immediately introduce the reader to her views on love. Griffin writes: “Why does love grow / like an Iris in the eye? / It is because we insist / that it be so.”(lines 1-4). Susan Griffin suggests that the reason love often feels suffocating is because we force it to be something that it is not. We try to control love, when really it should be free to grow and blossom naturally.
The image of the iris, a type of flower, growing in the eye is a powerful one. It suggests that love is something that can be easily hidden away, or kept hidden, without anyone really noticing. The fact that the iris is a flower also adds to the metaphor, as flowers are often seen as symbols of love. Griffin uses this image to suggest that love should be allowed to grow freely, like a flower in a field, rather than being kept hidden away and controlled.
Love should be natural, like wildflowers. Love needs attention and care, without worry about where the next “rainfall” will come from. Trust that love will provide its own sustenance .
Susan Griffin’s poem, “Love Should Grow up Like an Wild Iris in the Fields”, is a beautiful ode to this type of love. She writes:
“Love should grow up like an wild iris in the fields,
unplanned and free,
not withering in too much shade,
or burning in too much sun.”
This Susan Griffin poem speaks to the idea that love should be natural and effortless. It shouldn’t be something that we have to worry about or plan for. Instead, it should just be something that grows naturally. And like any plant or flower, it needs the right conditions to thrive. It can’t be too hot or too cold, too wet or too dry. But if we can just find that perfect balance, then love will flourish.
Susan Griffin’s poem is a reminder that love is something that should be allowed to grow naturally. We shouldn’t try to force it or control it. Instead, we should just let it be and see what happens. Who knows, maybe we’ll be surprised by the results.
In Susan Griffin’s poem, “Love Should Grow up Like an Wild Iris in the Fields”, love is portrayed as a strong and determined force that can grow in even the most unlikely places. Love refuses to take the easy path and instead chooses to live in kitchens alongside irritated cooks, dirty walls and screaming infants with impatient mothers. It would be much easier for love if it could simply grow unimpeded in a field like an iris, but love persists despite these difficulties.
Griffin opens her poem with a description of what love should be: “Love should grow up like an wild iris in the fields / Love should have no fear / Love should be free.” Here, Griffin paints a picture of love as something that is carefree and easy. It grows naturally and effortlessly, without any concern or worry. This image stands in stark contrast to the second stanza, where Griffin describes love as it actually is: “Instead love decides to live in kitchens / alongside irritated cooks, dirty walls / and screaming infants with impatient mothers.”
Thus, love often manifests in tumultuous environments rife with frustration and disagreement. In the first verse Griffin paints a picture of a flower in a field using descriptive language. readers can easily visualize the scene.
Susan Griffin uses language to not only describe the iris, but also the emotions associated with the flower. The imagery in this verse sets up the rest of the poem which focuses on love and its ability to grow in difficult environments.
Griffin employs various literary elements throughout the poem to underscore the importance of true love. The strategic use of imagery, symbolism, and other literary tools allows Griffin to communicate that love is not always joyous and blissful as it’s commonly thought to be; instead,love is often broken by the problems we face in our everyday lives. A key metaphor used throughout the poem compares a wild iris to love.
She talks about how love should be free and not bound by society’s expectations. Susan Griffin also speaks about how love is often broken and not as perfect as we make it out to be. She uses many literary devices to help support her idea that love should not have to conform to society’s standards, but rather be something that is pure and free.
I think that the Susan Griffin poem is important because it helps remind us that love does not have to be perfect to be real. It can be messy and complicated, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth fighting for. I think a lot of people give up on love because they expect it to look a certain way, and when it doesn’t meet those expectations, they feel like they’ve failed. But Susan Griffin’s poem reminds us that love is worth fighting for, even when it’s not easy.
I also think that the poem is important because it speaks to the idea that we should all be free to love who we want, without judgement from others. Too often, people are judged for who they love, and that shouldn’t be the case. We should all be free to love freely, without judgement or discrimination. Susan Griffin’s poem reminds us of this important idea.