Alex Lu

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The Endurance of the January Dandelion: What McClellan's Flower Teaches Us About the Human Spirit Alex Lu

Every frostbitten winter morning, I think of the poem “A January Dandelion”. It is so deceptively simple, a dandelion frozen to death by the late winter cold. Yet somehow, I continue circling back to it, forever mulling its timeless words. In his lines, George McClellan is able to capture something touching and meaningful even in the mundane. Through its nuanced depiction of a tiny flower, George Marion McClellan’s poem reveals the timeless struggles of the human heart through the winter of life. The poem is set in Nashville, in a scene of dead winter and January snow. The setting is innocuous, yet it lends a deeper meaning to “A January Dandelion”. The desolate streets, covered in “powdered blast[s] of January snow,” contrast with the vitality of the bright Dandelion, which continues its bloom despite the chill (McClellan). Even in these first few lines, before the poem even mentions its subject, there is already a premonition that the Dandelion does not belong here. In the cold, faceless streets of the city and in the midst of a blizzard, a dandelion has as much chance of surviving as in the gelid reaches of the South Pole. Furthermore, it is January, no time for a spring flower. These details show that the Dandelion is an explorer, a journeyer into an inhospitable and foreign land. The description of the snow covering the streets “[l]ike desert sand” further suggests that the Dandelion’s fate is sealed before it has even bloomed (McClellan). With no water, no companions, and no sunlight, McClellan shows the reader the futility of the Dandelion’s early growth.

The description of the Dandelion ridicules its foolishness in daring to bloom in January. McClellan points out the folly in “freezing on [a] slender stem,” when several months were all that stood between the Dandelion and spring. In the real world, it is also a warning to not “be misled/[b] y a few warm days” (McClellan). In McClellan’s time, the poem may have forewarned the dark days of the two world wars ahead, or of the societal problems in the early years of the twentieth century. However, it remains relevant a century later, as a symbol for the harsh reality that invariably follows hollow hopes. No matter what the case or crisis, McClellan’s poem is a word to the unprepared, hoping for the best and unseeing of the

worst. He seeks to warn the reader of the imminent threat of tragedy when things are done without regards to the consequences. In addition, it is also an urgent critique of the shortsightedness of our society and the devastating results. He implies that if we follow the words of others mindlessly, we may end up like the Dandelion, left to take the brunt of the punishing winds.

The Dandelion is also a social metaphor for the inexperienced and naive person. It reveals the vulnerability of someone entering into the vast society of life, unsure of how to step and when to trust. Just like the Dandelion, many young people have to take a fall before they realize the norms and restrictions of society. McClellan suggests that there is a time to bloom, and a time to stay buried underground “in [the] natural bed”, waiting for the right chance (McClellan). As an African-American poet in the early twentieth century, McClellan likely understood the brutal awakening the Dandelion faced; in an unforgiving world, especially for him, he faced the isolation and bitter snows alone in a similar way. Furthermore, the theme of unrequited love, seen in the case of the Dandelion when it bloomed for nothing, may hint at boundaries that prevented people in his time from seeking their true purpose and passions (McClellan). In many ways, the Dandelion was a reflection of the racism and alienation McClellan and many others experienced and continue to experience.

In spite of the Dandelion’s uninformed and fatal decision, the poem also portrays the Dandelion in a sympathetic light. Instead of being described as a weed, the Dandelion is described as a “yellow-coated gem” (McClellan). In many ways, this is a metaphor for the scarcity of hope in everyday life. There are many people who complain about everything that goes wrong, but too few who are willing to embrace the feather-wings of hope. And although the author does not seem to agree with the Dandelion’s decision to bloom early, he implies that the Dandelion’s action is noble and necessary in a way as well. He describes the Dandelion as having a “common boon” with many, and relates the Dandelion’s brilliance in the midst of a stark winter to a heart “bloomed by the touch of love’s warm breath” (McClellan). This association with love further strengthens the symbol of the Dandelion as a symbol of valiant foolishness, but also of optimism in the face of despair. The Dandelion, despite snow being sifted into its heart, still does not die, even though it is wounded. This mirrors the mind-

set of people who refuse to give up through the darkest times, and, in the present, of doctors and essential workers who show their brave dandelion face to the world to help keep hope alive. The Dandelion also mirrors the perseverance of humans to keep loving, even through betrayal and heartbreak. Though the heart may contain “blast and death” after trauma, the Dandelion’s heart “[s]till may beat,” even after all the injustice that it has experienced (McClellan). In all these ways, the Dandelion is a reflection of McClellan’s own struggles to find meaning and love in a world that did not want to offer him the bare necessities of existence. The Dandelion may have failed, but McClellan hints that perhaps there is still some reason to flower, as spring always follows winter.

Despite its folly, the Dandelion is a symbol of hope and perseverance in the face of difficulty. It is a message that despite its shortcomings, we as a society can bloom and thrive, even under the icy fingertips of freezing January snow. It is a sign that even amid the bleakest days, when all was lost, someone was willing to stand up, speak out, even if it meant certain destruction. And the January Dandelion, too, is a harbinger of more dandelions to come, a forerunner bravely sacrificing their tender stem to allow the rest to open their bright yellow flowers. I can always see many puffy balls of white in my yard every summer, and can feel the tenacity with which dandelion roots cling to the muddy ground. It is a testament to their strength and their selflessness; the dandelions grow where no other grass can, and their roots pave the way for others to thrive where the ground was once barren. Now when I look to the streets, I see no silence, but life in its brimming richness and intensity. Despite COVID and the other difficulties we have faced in the last year, we still loved, grew, and opened our yellow petals. In spite of his writing’s reflection of the unforgiving cold of society, McClellan still wrote works of incredible power and beauty that brought their own warmth to the world.

Although the poem ends on a somber note for this January Dandelion, it also ends with a promise, a destiny. It calls on me, and everyone, to imagine “all the blooming life that might have been” (McClellan). These words can be applied anywhere, everywhere. Just like the teeming parachutes of the Dandelion, they spread hope for a better future, the possibility of a “yellow-coated gem” where there once was “chilling snow” (McClellan). It is a call to action, to make that future a reality, not just another “January