straggled
"Straggled the purple wild sweet pea."
Main Entry: 1strag·gle
Pronunciation: 'stra-g&l
Function: intransitive verb
Inflected Form(s): strag·gled; strag·gling /-g(&-)li[ng]/
Etymology: Middle English straglen
Date: 15th century
1 : to wander from the direct course or way : ROVE, STRAY
2 : to trail off from others of its kind <little cabins straggling off
into the woods>
- strag·gler /-g(&-)l&r/ noun
In this line of the poem straggled is referring to,
to wander from the direct course or way. "Straggled the purple wild sweet
pea," means that the sweet pea is growing all spread out in no one particular
area. It is just growing between the sand and the pieces of drift wood that
have been washed up onto the property from the ocean. I think that this is
the interpretation of that line because it makes sense that the sweet pea
is growing in random order between the pieces of debris and such after the
ocean water has washed over it many times.
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