I had no time to Hate－1
Because
The Grave would hinder Me－
And Life was not so
Ample I
Could finish－Enmity－
Nor had I time to Love－7
But since
Some Industry must be－
The little Toil of Love－
I thought
Be large enough for Me－
Because
The Grave would hinder Me－
And Life was not so
Ample I
Could finish－Enmity－
Nor had I time to Love－7
But since
Some Industry must be－
The little Toil of Love－
I thought
Be large enough for Me－
(F.763/J.478)
[1] no time to Hate:: she was busy in her trench.
[3] Grave:: a trench for earthing up potatoes and other roots (OED grave n.1 4).
[4] Life:: the life of her root plants.
[6] Enmity:: the hostility towards the weed, virgin's bower in line ten.
[7] to Love:: to do things she loves.
[9] Industry:: the hard work to remove weeds.
[10] Love:: the old name of Traveller's Joy or Virgin's Bower (OED n.1 14).
[12] large:: the effort to clear weeds.
Why clematis has received the name of "traveller's joy" is, because it decks and adorns "waies and hedges where people travel." Its other name, virgin's-bower, is simple enough; for what could be more appropriate to the young, gentle, dreamy girl, who haunts "bowers," than that chastest and most elegant, purest and most fragrant flower, the clematis? ─ The National Magazine, Volume 4 (1858)