“Rhodora” by Emerson is about a purple flower of the rhododendron family. Unlike its sister plant, Rhododendron ponticum, Rhodora grows near swamps or infertile, acidic soil. Rhodora has no leaves and its flowers emerge directly from the stem. Rhodora grows in solitude, far from other flowers considered immensely beautiful. “La Rhodora” contemplates the beauty of a simple flower and its effect on its surroundings. In the poem, Emerson's speaker discovers that nature is beautiful and needs no excuse to exist. This is achieved through the use of imagery, personification, apostrophe, and metaphor. The speaker begins by using descriptive diction to illustrate the Rhodora and its effect on the surrounding environment. The Rhodora is seen not just as a flower, but as the focal point of the entire scene. The Rhodora is described fresh in line 2. In lines 3 and 4, the speaker is amazed at the Rhodora's loneliness. It spreads its leafless flowers in a damp corner, or in a lonely crevice of the woods. Rhodora likes the desert, which is a metaphor for a pla...