What’s Up With the Title?

You've got to hand it to H.D.: she puts her money where her mouth is. She tells you that the poem's called "Sea Rose" and then writes a poem all about…a sea rose.

Sure, it's not an intriguing or ironic or all-out silly as, say, Shel Silverstein's classic, "Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me Too." Then again, we can't all be rock-stars of children's poetry. But, like most of H.D.'s work, this poem doesn't work through fancy terms or clever allusions. It's a stripped-down, delicate exploration of a single subject matter. Hey, sometimes less is more, and right from the beginning, that's just what this title helps us to see.