Stanzas from the Grande Chartreuse

Flowers, herbs, and gardens are a recurring motif in the poem. In the first stanza, for example, the Alpine valley is “thick” with crocuses, a six-petalled, lush flower which comes in many colors (Line 2). Crocuses are a native species in the region the speaker is travelling; their description is factually correct. On a deeper, symbolic level, they reflect the speaker’s (briefly) happy state of mind and the simple harmony of nature, since the flowers are thriving in their natural habitat. The flower motif disappears after the first stanza, reappearing only in Line 55, with fragrant herbs flowering in the monastery’s garden. Again, the reference to gardens, blooming, and flowers occurs in the context of a brief, contained moment of joy. Absorbed in their task of tending to plants, the monks are happy; the garden is their one moment of delight in an otherwise harsh daily routine. The garden is associated with “cheerful tasks beneath the sun” (Line 60), a sharp contrast to the “humid corridors” (Line 34) of the life of the monks inside the monastery. Thus, a garden represents a fleeting moment of wholesome joy.

The garden symbolism returns for a third and final time in the poem’s final stanza, but this time the garden—which is not referenced explicitly—is shaded.