Water-Lilies
Where the water-lilies go
To and fro,
Rocking in the ripples of the water,
Lazy on a leaf lies the Lake King’s daughter,
And the faint winds shake her.
Who will come and take her?
I will! I Will!
Keep still! Keep Still!
Sleeping on a leaf lies the Lake King’s daughter…..
Then the wind comes skipping
To the lilies on the water;
And the kind winds wake her.
Now who will take her?
With a laugh she is slipping
Through the lilies on the water.
Wait. Wait
Too late, too late!
Only the water-lilies go
To and fro,
Dipping, dipping,
To the ripples of the water.
Alan Alexander Milne was born in London in January of 1882, and died in January of 1956. Alan Alexander Milne was best known for writing the Winnie the Pooh books and children poems (Wikipedia). One f the poems that Alan Alexander Milne wrote was Water Lilies; it was written in 1924 (Wikipedia).
This poem is made up of twenty one lines. The rhythm scheme of this poem is AABBCCDDBEBCCEBFFAAEB. Since this poem was originally written for children I think this poem can be read in a happy go lucky kind of tone. But in my opinion I think that the poem should be read in a snide or sneaky kind of tone.
In this poem the poem is being told in third person. In the poem there are water lilies on the lake and the Lake King’s daughter is sleeping on one of the lilies. Then the person reading the poem asks who will come and take the Lake King’s daughter away, someone replies that they will. Then for a second time the person that is reading the poem ask who will come and take the Lake King’s daughter and someone laughs and the next thing that the reader knows there is an empty lily floating on the lake.
In the poem Water -lilies ne word that is repeated a few times is the word “Lilies” and “Water-lilies” to me since the Lake King’s daughter is going to sleep there it has to represents safety or home. Since a safety is a representation of home this Lake was somewhere that no one was going to touch the King’s Daughter. Another symbol in this poem is the wind; to me the wind represents cold and loneliness and that would represents either death or disappearance
In my opinion what I think that is actually happening in this poem is the Lake King’s daughter, which seems to a fairy or something that is small because she has to be able to fit on a lily. Then it seems as though there are two or more people that is watching her resting on a lily by the bank of the lake in some bushes. It seems as though that these two people are watching her in like a creepy kind of way like the way a stalker would watch its prey. Then one of the stalkers asks the other one who “Who will come and take her?”(A.A Milne). To me when this is said it’s as though the first stalker is saying there is no one that would dare to even try and take the kings daughter. But the two stalkers continue to watch the Lake Kings daughter and the first stalker asks again who will come and take the King’s daughter but by the first stalker finishes speaking the second stalker laughs and doesn’t waste any time and goes to captures the Lake King’s Daughter. When he does this it is like a wish come true and he’s is just boasting that he is not afraid to capture the King’s Daughter.
