This failure of the "sea" flowers is not a critique of their shortcomings, but rather a rejection of our patriarchal and misogynistic culture that perpetuates harmful, sexist, and restrictive norms. The “sea” flowers in H.D.'s work are usually placed in opposition to the garden or decorative variety, as imagery and context reveal how the “sea” version of the flower fails to live up to classic gender expectations. This poem, like the other flower poems in the series, questions why traits of resilience in suffering and oppression, grit, and experience are not admired as much in women as purity and aesthetic perfection. Like " Sea Rose" and "Sea Lily," also from Sea Garden, it is cutting-edge in turning the feminization of flowers into a socio-political manifesto. “ Sea Violet" is part of H.D.'s first collection, Sea Garden (1916), a book of poems in which she examines themes of gender, sexuality, conformity, and value through the metaphor and symbolism of flowers.
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