Narcissus

Part of Speech: Proper Noun

Definition: A bulbous Eurasian plant of a genus that includes the daffodil, especially (in gardening) one with flowers that have white or pale outer petals and a shallow orange or yellow cup in the center

Source: Oxford Dictionary

Found in Rita Dove’s Poem “Persephone, Falling” – Line 1: “One narcissus among the  ordinary beautiful”

The definition of the word Narcissus helped me understand what Rita Dove was trying to say within the first line of the poem. She says: “One narcissus among the ordinary beautiful.” The “narcissus” was the flower that caught her attention. It stood out to her. As the lines goes on it states: “.. Flowers/One unlike all the others” which brings me back to the point that she is on a search for something greater. This helps me understand the poem because she is not specifically referencing to a flower itself, it is being used metaphorically to resemble a person.