Beauty & Pride

Kevin Tan
Jan 31, 2021
8 min read

Updated: Apr 12, 2021

Secondary Research & Findings

Introduction of book

The book showcases the theory and concept of flowers in a different perspective. Flowers view as a form of beauty and pride in people’s achievement and success. It means that we have to appreciate and value those beautiful things around us that brings joy and happiness in life. No matter how bad we did, there’s always an alternative way in life.

Language of Flowers

Some of the killing idea of flowers which view in different context and perspective such as flowery poem, stories and play. These are the content which will relate and look wider to beauty and pride.

Flowery Poem: (secondary & primary research)

- Poem is "sentiments" particularly attention to ideas and feelings. According to some research, flowers and poetry can be a great combination of delivering out the message in the form of sentiments. (Passion Flowers, 2014). In addition to that, flowery words in poem can be categorize as a form of universal and versatile language. It embrace and offer us a way to empathise with one another. In its immediacy, poetry is a counsellor helping us to understand one another. Leading us away from hate to love, from violence to mercy and pity. To be said that, poetry is so important because it helps us to understand and appreciate the world around us. Poetry’s strength lies in its ability to shed a “sideways” light on the world, so the truth sneaks up on you, by Alice Osborn. (Osborn, n.d.)

Stories As Flowers: (secondary & primary research)

- In Christian Bible and stories, there were many different types of parable which talks and explain in the form of "expression" – in a flowery way and words. The word parable means, story which used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson, as told by Jesus in the Gospels. Flowers have also been used by religions as important icons from the Old Testament to our present period. Furthermore, flowers and plants view Christianity as the creation of God to express and share the goal of Creation with the citizens of divine goodness, reality and elegance. (Sacred Connection of Ornamental Flowers with Religious Symbols, 2015) Based on some feedback according to my primary research, flowers heightened one’s created the atmosphere for the story. For example, ‘a sea wildflowers dancing in the wild’, ‘the dizzy fragrance of roses in the air’, ‘beautiful sunflowers with their faces to the sun.’

The Play / Act: (secondary & primary research)

In a play / act, flowers can be view as a form of "imagination" which portrays hidden meaning and message behind it. Within the art of floriography, each flower has its own variation and colours to it, unique significance and symbolism. Certain flowers also take on a new sense based on the number issued - a single red rose for example, denotes love at first sight while a dozen red roses say be mine. (The Ultimate Guide To Flowers Meanings, n.d.) This to be said that different people have their own way of describing flowers as how they think and see about it. Based on some feedback according to my primary research, flowers do actually symbolise different emotion and set the mood of the scene. For instance, gifting flowers symbolise as a form of appreciation / family crest in olden days. Therefore, the creativity and idea of flowers plays an important role in anything that we do.

Poems:

Beauty & Pride

Beauty beauty blossom every way,

Nothing could stop from the way it blooms,

It is the values that sparks us up,

One must appreciate the creation around us.

Blossom in pride we see in success,

The great is the time to shine,

Positive the go always the choice,

Flowers is everything to us.

Meaning

- The poem is about cherish and values those beautiful things around us, in our daily life. It it always beautiful no matter how we see it. Learn to appreciate of what had given to us. This to be said that problems that cause in our life, we must learn on how to overcome it and find an alternative solution for it.

(Written by Kevin Tan)

Inspiration

- Snow White Magic Mirror Movie - Phrase "mirror mirror on the wall who is the fairest of them all".

- Dream Works Animation Bees Movies - Phrase "flowers blooms / open up".

- William Shakespeare poem on flowers (the message it conveys)

- The Flowers Poem by Rudyard Kipling

Flowers In The Garden

There’s a Garden in a special town,

Belongs to a special one,

They had many lilies with roses,

But they can’t find and figure it out,

Somehow they found something they don’t see,

A flower that can be special as it be,

Unknown colour, they say,

Wishing they could stay,

In the garden of flowers,

With special kind, they find,

Wishing they could keep,

Unknown with the lilies and roses.

Meaning

- The poem is about a beautiful garden that someone special has maintained. The roses and lilies are there, there was a special kind amongst these flowers. It is hard to find and figure this place out. They wanted to stay there once someone discovered it. Among the sea of roses and lilies, this special flower was an unknown colour and species. You'll want to stay there once you see it. (Shahzad, 2019)

(Written by Sarah Shahzad)

https://poemtheart.com/flowers-in-the-garden/

Shine Colour Shine

Nature blossom gain beautiness,

Everywhere we see is an attraction to us,

Colour colour multicolours,

It is your time to shine.

The tone we see are the full of joy,

Mesmerised by the full of it,

Heaven of glory, your view for it,

Colours is the one behind of it.

Meaning

- The poem is about flowers (true colours) caught our attention by the looks of it, pretty and beautiful in all ways and forms. We need to explore the nature to know more on the insight of flowers. The creation and wonders of God.

(Written by Kevin Tan)

Inspiration

- Trolls Movie - True Colours by Anna Kendrick & Justin Timberlake

- Joyful Joyful We Adore Thee lyrics

- The Madrigal of Sorrow Poem by Charles Baudelaire

- Welcome To Hogwarts by Amelie

Flowers By The Sea

When over the flowery, sharp pasture's

edge, unseen, the salt ocean

lifts its form—chicory and daisies

tied, released, seem hardly flowers alone

but color and the movement—or the shape

perhaps—of restlessness, whereas

the sea is circled and sways

peacefully upon its plantlike stem.

Meaning

https://allpoetry.com/Flowers-By-The-Sea

Stories In Parable:

- Based from a christian bible, a verse from Saint Joseph Lily is related with flowers, which portrays different "expression" to it. Note that the word Lily is flower. This is the biblical passage from Saint Joseph Lily - "The lily is associated with Saint Joseph, spouse of Mary. Passage - "The just man shall blossom like the lily" is applied to Saint Joseph in the liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church for his feast-day, March 19. Thus, in religious art the lily is used as an emblem of St. Joseph, and similarly in religious flower symbolism the names "St. Joseph's Staff" and "St. Joseph's Lily" have been applied to a number of flowers - depending on the region." (St Joseph Lili, n.d.)

Picture reference: https://www.theodysseyonline.com/this-is-why-st-joseph-is-my-new-favorite-saint

https://evergreene.com/projects/co-cathedral-of-st-joseph-brooklyn-ny/

- The story is about the "Trials & Temptations". A bible verse from James chapter 1:10-11. “But the rich should take pride in their humiliation–since they will pass away like a wild flower. For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich will fade away even while they go about their business. For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich will fade away even while they go about their business.” (Hawkins, n.d.)

Plays, Movie & Act As Flowers:

- Based from a disney movie "Beauty & The Beast", a rose symbolizes love, but this one is dying–just like the Beast's hopes for true love. However, it symbolizes more than just love. (Elsie, 2017). The moral of story is that we should value inward characteristics such as kindness over other superficial qualities. It shows that "Beauty" valued the inward characteristics of "Beast" and fell in love with him despite his outward appearances. (Beauty & The Beast: Fairy Tale: Moral & Analysis, n.d.) Thus, using flowers to portrays the meaning beyond the context as a form of "imagination."

https://weheartit.com/entry/141200872

https://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/rose-water-and-other-natural-tonics?utm_medium=Email&utm_source=ExactTarget&utm_campaign=&epik=dj0yJnU9cGFNY0VPVzNTR29BQnJyQk9RSnRQcmdiSno3aGtnc0EmcD0wJm49UFp2NzhoUUJtaXg0Z2VQVDBfZzdoUSZ0PUFBQUFBR0FaQkp3

- Based from William Shakespeare's plays, he uses the knowledge of flowers to portrays the messages in the play that holds hidden meanings to it. In this picture (scene) the girl handing out flowers to people as a result of being mad, she used the flowers to express feelings that she could not otherwise say out loud. (Hewett, n.d.) Therefore, flowers plays an important in emotion and feeling as well.

Rosemary: "There's rosemary, that's for remembrance; pray you, love, remember;" (Shakespeare, IV.5.173). Ophelia hands Laertes, the rosemary, to her brother. "Even when selected, the leaves of a rosemary plant hold the "scent of plants for an impressively long time, it was a symbol of remembrance and was often offered as a quiet way of saying "Remember me" (Olsen). In this situation, Ophelia makes it clear that the rosemary she is handing to her brother is for the very purpose that it is significant for. (Hewett, n.d.)

"There's fennel for you, and columbines; there's ruse for you, and here's some for me, we may call it herb of grace o' Sundays: O, you must wear your rue with difference" (Shakespeare, IV.5. 178-181) Fennel: Fennel "stands for flattery"(Shakespeare).

Canker Rose: "The canker galls the infants of the spring / Too oft before their buttons be disclosed" (Shakespeare, 1.3.39-40). The scent of a canker rose is "not as sweet"(Olsen) as a red rose and it "could not be usefully distilled"(Olsen) into water and oils. Therefore, because of its inferior variety, the rose was named after "a kind of garden pest, the canker worm"(Olsen). Laertes is warning Ophelia of her relationship with Hamlet. He is warning her of the lusty desire as a canker worm that may "gall (break the skin)/which would hollow out her heart before it broke the surface"(shakespeare navigators). This gives imagery of disease working its way from the inside out.

Reference & Citation

"Passion flowers", (2014 September 16) Retrieved from https://www.passionflowers.biz/flowers-and-poetry-can-be-a-powerful-combination/#:~:text=As%20the%20subject%20of%20the,%E2%80%9CWind%20and%20Window%20Flower%E2%80%9D

Osboen (n.d.) found that "Why Is Poetry Important to Our World Today?" Retrieved from https://aliceosborn.com/why-is-poetry-important-to-our-world-today/

Sacred Connection of Ornamental Flowers with Religious Symbols (2015 March 29) Retrieved from Faculty of Horticulture. University of Agricultural Science and Veterinary Medicine Cluj – Napoca, Mănăştur St., No. 3 – 5, 400327 Cluj-Napoca, Romania

The Ultimate Guide To Flowers Meanings (n.d.) Retrieved from https://www.interflora.co.uk/content/flower-meanings/

Shahzad (2019 October 14) found that "Flowers In The Garden" Retrieved from https://poemtheart.com/flowers-in-the-garden/

St Joseph Lily (n.d.) Retrieved from https://udayton.edu/imri/mary/s/saint-joseph-lily.php#:~:text=Joseph%2C%20spouse%20of%20Mary%2C%20through,for%20his%20feastday%2C%20March%2019.

Hawkins (n.d.) found that "Preaching From The Book of James" Retrieved from https://preachingsource.com/journal/preaching-from-the-book-of-james/

Elsie (2017 April 13) found that "The Hidden Vanitas Symbolism in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast" Retrieved from https://teaandinksociety.com/vanitas-symbolism/#:~:text=A%20rose%20symbolizes%20love%2C%20but,those%20used%20in%20vanitas%20paintings

Beauty & The Beast: Fairy Tale: Moral & Analysis (n.d.) Retrieved from https://study.com/academy/lesson/beauty-the-beast-fairy-tale-moral-analysis.html

Romans (2021 January 9) found that "Flower Quotes From Shakespeare, Explained" Retrieved from https://owlcation.com/humanities/Flower-Quotes-Shakespeare

Hewett, (n.d.) found that "Symbolic Meaning of Flowers" Retrieved from https://symbolicmeaningofflowers.weebly.com/use-of-flowers-in-hamlet.html#:~:text=In%20Shakespeare's%20play%20Hamlet%2C%20Shakespeare,most%20significantly%20in%20Act%20IV.

Observation, Reference & Questionnaire

Insight About Flowers

Over the weekend 30th January, I did some observation around my garden and park regarding the colours of every flowers and characteristic of it. Based from the picture, it shows that every flowers has their own uniqueness and identity of it. The beauty of nature is everywhere around us. Colours in flowers also important because it has its own vibrant sense of their attractiveness towards it. This shows we have to appreciate those beautiful things around us.

Movie Reference

Over The Moon Movie - flowers portrays difference meaning and outcome. A young Chinese girl, Fei Fei, follows Over the Moon, who grows up listening to her mother tell the tale of Chang'e, the goddess of Chinese mythology, waiting on the moon for her true love. Unless the gift is found, the spell set and her love once again in her arms, she refuses to help the children get home.

https://usustatesman.com/over-the-moon-a-breathtaking-celebration-of-asian-culture/#:~:text=%E2%80%9COver%20the%20Moon%E2%80%9D%20follows%20a,true%20love%20on%20the%20moon.&text=She%20refuses%20to%20help%20the,once%20again%20in%20her%20arms.

Coco Movie - It is said that the characteristic scent of the flowers guides the ghosts back to the land of the living. Just in time for the festival, the flowers bloom and are used for decorating altars. When visiting Mexico, filmmakers from Coco saw marigold petals spread in cemeteries and used them to make altar crosses.

https://abc7.com/the-language-of-coco-pixar-movies-new-walt-disney-world/2524370/#:~:text=The%20distinctive%20smell%20of%20the,to%20make%20crosses%20in%20altars.

People's Opinion - Survey