Cummings Study Guide

......."Cherry-Ripe" (or "There is a Garden in Her Face") is a lyric poem with three six-line stanzas. The London firm of Thomas Snodham published it in 1617 in a collection entitled The Third and Fourth Booke of Ayres.

Summary
.......
.......The speaker says the face of a young woman he admires is like a garden. Her skin is the hue of lilies, save for her cheeks. There, roses bloom. And her lips are cherry red. They enclose a double row of pearls (her teeth). When she laughs, he sees these pearls contrasted with her lips. No man may kiss her until she says "Cherry ripe!"

Meaning of "Cherry-Ripe"

.......London fruit vendors were famous for the cry "cherry ripe!" This verbal advertisement meant, of course, that the vendors were selling ripe cherries. Robert Herrick (1591-1674) also wrote a poem entitled "Cherry-Ripe." The phrase caught on in modern times, and food producers now make cherry-ripe cakes, candy bars, cupcakes, and similar products.

Text of the Poem

There is a garden in her face
Where roses and white lilies grow;
A heav'nly paradise is that place
Wherein all pleasant fruits do flow.
There cherries grow which none may buy,
Till "Cherry-ripe" themselves do cry.

Those cherries fairly do enclose
Of orient pearl a double row,
Which when her lovely laughter shows,
They look like rose-buds fill'd with snow;
Yet them nor peer nor prince can buy,
Till "Cherry-ripe" themselves do cry.

Her eyes like angels watch them still,
Her brows like bended bows do stand,
Threat'ning with piercing frowns to kill
All that attempt with eye or hand
Those sacred cherries to come nigh,
Till "Cherry-ripe" themselves do cry.

.......The young lady stands fast against any man who dares to prevail upon her for a kiss. Only when she meets a man who pleases her—perhaps her future husband—will she say "cherry-ripe," meaning he is allowed to court her and kiss her.

End Rhyme

.......The rhyme scheme of the poem is ababcc, as in the first stanza:

.......The meter of the poem is iambic tetrameter, as in the first two lines.

........1.................2...............3.................4
Where ROS..|..es AND..|..white LIL..|..ies GROW.

.......Campion relies mostly on metaphors and similes to develop his imagery. For definitions of figures of speech, see Literary Terms.

Metaphors

The speaker uses metaphors to compare

• the young lady's face to a garden
• her cheeks to roses
• her complexion to lilies
• her face to paradise
• her lips to cherries
• her lips to street vendors shouting "cherry ripe" to sell their cherries
• her teeth to pearls
• her frowns to arrows

The speaker uses similes to compare

• her lips and teeth to rosebuds filled with snow
• her eyes to angels
• her eyebrows to the bent bows of archers

.......Following are examples of other figures of speech in the poem. For definitions of figures of speech, see Literary Terms.

Alliteration

Which when her lovely laughter shows (line 9)

Her brows like bended bows do stand (line 14)

• Write a poem that imitates the rhyme scheme and stanza pattern of "Cherry-Ripe." The topic is open.
• Write a short essay explaining the difference between a lyric poem and a ballad.
• What is the meaning of orient (line 8)? The word has more than one meaning.
• What is the meaning of nigh (line 17)?

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