Point of View

“The Witch’s Garden” is told from a close third-person point of view of an omniscient narrator. This is the “storyteller” voice often used in ballads or folk tale-influenced poetry, positioning the poem within this traveling narrative tradition. The narrator describes the main character’s actions through a mix of personal and academic detail. They share properties of the plants explored throughout the poem, as well as what these plants mean to the elderly woman making use of them. In a way the narrator seems to be passing on sacred knowledge that may have otherwise died with the woman, allowing these folk magical practices to continue.

Language and Meaning

This poem uses primarily accessible language with a strong focus on European folklore. The opening lines are almost childlike in their simplicity. Images like “foxglove fingers” and “spindly ragwort” (Lines 2, 3) bring to mind 19th- and 20th-century...