Strawberry Thief
Rent from DeepDyve- Strawberry Thief
Furnishing textile
William Morris (1883)
That the Victorians hate emptiness is plainfrom the doubling of wings, clusters offlowers, berries bunched
in twos and threes—open space frighteningas an orchard after dark. The night is dyedindigo (on pillows,
cotton drapes), fruit tinted madder-red,bleach sharpening the border. But beyondthe printed cloth,
now displayed at the Victoria & AlbertMuseum, hangs the real story—a kitchengarden unguarded,
Morris watching as birds strip sweetnessfrom the stems. After, the only virtue isadornment of the plot—
that the artist can draw berries back on thenaked patch, what little emptiness held byyellow beaks. [End Page 97]
Jehanne Dubrow is the author of four poetry collections, including most recently Red Army Red and Stateside (both Northwestern UP). She is the director of the Rose O’Neill Literary House and an assistant professor of creative writing at Washington College.
