Versedays: Camomile Tea by Katherine Mansfield

A warm cup of chamomile tea with the flowers from which it is made. Image Credit: Sciencedaily

Every morning, for breakfast, I have a cup of green tea along with whatever I eat. A particular favorite of mine among all the different flavors of green tea is chamomile. It has such a distinct yet mild fragrance that it lingers in your senses long after you have drunk it. Plus, chamomile is reported to have relaxing properties. Perhaps Katherine Mansfield recognizes this in her poem “Camomile Tea.”

Camomile Tea

by

Katherine Mansfield

Outside the sky is light with stars;
There's a hollow roaring from the sea.
And, alas! for the little almond flowers,
The wind is shaking the almond tree.

How little I thought, a year ago,
In the horrible cottage upon the Lee
That he and I should be sitting so
And sipping a cup of camomile tea.

Light as feathers the witches fly,
The horn of the moon is plain to see;
By a firefly under a jonquil flower
A goblin toasts a bumble-bee.

We might be fifty, we might be five,
So snug, so compact, so wise are we!
Under the kitchen-table leg
My knee is pressing against his knee.

Our shutters are shut, the fire is low,
The tap is dripping peacefully;
The saucepan shadows on the wall
Are black and round and plain to see.

Mansfield paints a lazy, dulcet night where she sips on chamomile tea while she unwinds by the kitchen table. The imagery is deliciously charming and the scene, enchanting. I couldn’t find any reviews for this poem but I caught a line somewhere by someone, which said that the poem hints at domestic bliss. Indeed, it might be so, as Mansfield relishes the feeling of being “so snug, so compact…” To less discerning beings like me, the poem exudes a sense of peace and quiet. It is like a painting of a cottage by the sea, with fireflies for company and the stars for light. Oh, and don’t forget the tea.