Book Review: "Flower Crowns and Fearsome Things" by Amanda Lovelace
4/5 stars
Flower Crowns and Fearsome Things is my latest foray
into Amanda Lovelace’s fairytale and folklore-inspired poetry. While this
volume was on the shorter end, I still enjoyed it and found that many of its poems
resonated with me.
“Who said you can’t/Wear a flower crown/& still remain/A fearsome thing?”
The main mythology Flower Crowns and Fearsome Things draws
from is the story of Persephone (also known as Kore), the goddess of spring and
of the underworld. A complex and fascinating dichotomy, Persephone’s story is
one of my favorites from Greek mythology, and I was thrilled that Lovelace was
channeling Persephone in her poetry here.
The symbolism here is fairly obvious in that spring can be
associated with the traditional notion of femininity, that of being beautiful,
yet delicate. Yet, Persephone also has a tougher side of her, in that she helps
to oversee the underworld, no doubt getting a full look at death in all its
forms.
There’s a bunch of dualities here, whether it’s in Persephone
having her toes both in feminine and masculine realms (her husband, Hades, is
the king of the underworld and the primary god of death) and in the creation of
life and its death. She is part of the cycle from beginning to end.
“When they drag you through hell/Do not simply accept it/Do not just give in/Go on & reign over the very flames that were meant to be your end/Wear them as a crown”
I have really come to enjoy Lovelace’s modern-day take on
classical mythology and folklore. I think the main message here is that—surprise,
I know—women are complex people, defying the simple nature often ascribed to
them by misogynistic views of traditional femininity.
Happy reading!
--BookOwl
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