Although the speaker is less than thrilled with the "filigree" of hair ribbons, she still makes the choice to refer to women as flowers (line 4). Talking about women as flowers immediately evokes delicate thoughts in readers that appear contrary to what the speaker said a few lines earlier. However, looking deeper into the lines that read “…nor weave / A flower with thy strength,” readers see that the speaker uses contrast to describe the uniqueness of femininity (lines 3-4). Here the speaker suggests that yes, women are kind, but they are also very capable and resilient, just like flowers that resist rain and wind. Just like men, women can endure and handle situations. So the "flowery" quality of women is simply an added advantage that men of those times should not have exuded at all according to
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