I presented him with an African violet, which I saw as symbolically useful, though I'm not sure the others understood the subtleties. {African violets must be watered from the bottom, not the top, and this, I believe, is analogous to the writing of sonnets in the twenty-first century.}
In Carol Shields' "Collected Stories," the protagonist offers an African violet as a symbolic gesture, though she doubts others grasp its deeper significance. This flower is particularly special because it requires specific care, needing to be watered from the bottom, which the author likens to the modern approach to writing sonnets. This analogy suggests that there are unconventional methods and underlying techniques in poetry that may not be immediately apparent.
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