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Photography by Kirstie Young

Think | Blackberries and Poetry

Iona Bower September 1, 2024

Blackberry season is such a memorable and brief time of the year, perhaps it’s no wonder writers and poets love a good blackberry metaphor…

Imbued with myth and symbolic meaning, the humble blackberry crops up frequently in both prose and poetry, as heavy with metaphor as the thorny branches are heavy with fruit. (See? It’s impossible to avoid!) The roots of blackberry symbolism go back to the Bible and beyond. The mortal who tried to ride Pegasus to Olympus in Greek myth falls into a thorny bush and is blinded. Similarly, Satan himself was said to have fallen into a blackberry bush when he was cast out of heaven. Christ’s crown of thorns is also said in some cultures to have been woven of blackberry branches. It’s easy to see why the blackberry has become linked with ideas of sin, or pursuing pleasure and of ultimate downfall. If you want to taste those sweet and juicy berries, you have to prepare to be scratched or, worse, find that when you get them home they’ve gone over and taste sour. Sad times. If you enjoy a blackberry metaphor as much as we do, here are a few thorny verses you might like to have a read of…

If you like the idea of blackberries as a dark, menacing presence try…

Blackberrying by Sylvia Plath

“Nobody in the lane and nothing, nothing but blackberries. Blackberries on either side…” she begins, and you can imagine the dark berries, glowing… growing and watching the narrator with their beady blackberry eyes. She describes them as “big as the ball of my thumb and dumb as eyes”, having clearly underestimated their malevolent genius as they reel her in. “Fat with blood red juices. These they squander on my fingers. I had not asked for such a blood sisterhood. They must love me.” Run, Sylvia!! Run from the blackberries, we scream silently. 

If you enjoy blackberries as a metaphor for the fragility of life try…

Blackberry Picking by Seamus Heaney

“Late August, given heavy rain and sun for a full week, the blackberries would ripen” and Heaney and his family would gleefully collect them, their palms “sticky as Bluebeard’s”. You can almost feel the disappointment coming, can’t you?... “Once off the bush the fruit fermented, the sweet flesh would turn sour. I always felt like crying. It wasn’t fair that all the lovely canfuls smelt of rot. Each year I hoped they’d keep, knew they would not.” Ah… that’s life for you, Seamus, and especially the fleeting life of blackberries. 

If blackberries for you are a symbol of sensory overload and greed try…

August by Mary Oliver

Oliver describes spending “all day among the high branches, reaching my ripped arms, thinking of nothing, cramming the black honey of summer into my mouth.” You go for it, Mary. Don’t wait to take them home for crumble; blackberries are best scoffed greedily enjoyed in the moment. 

If you like to dance with the devil when blackberrying, you might like…

Blackberry Eating by Galway Kinnell

Kinnell gives the distinct impression of entering a pact with Satan as he makes his way among the brambles: “the stalks very prickly, a penalty they earn for knowing the black art of blackberry-making.” And like others before him (well, mainly like Eve in the Garden of Eden) he loses his innocence to the lure of fruit. “The ripest berries” he insists “fall almost unbidden to my tongue.” Yeah, you keep telling yourself that, Galway. That’s what all Satan’s Blackberry Minions say.  

If blackberries symbolise deep and real love for you, try…

The Heart Under Your Heart by Craig Arnold

Blackberries here represent the very real, unswerving sort of love that exists when you know someone completely, with all their thorns and foibles. Arnold tells us “The heart under your heart is not the one you share so readily so full of pleasantry & tenderness. it is a single blackberry at the heart of a bramble.” We’ll raise a jug of custard to that. 

You’ll find more blackberrying nostalgia in our feature ‘Down Memory Lanes’ in our September issue, which is on sale now.

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In Think Tags issue 147, blackberries, poetry
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Photography: istock

Photography: istock

Folklore | Blackberries

Iona Bower August 22, 2020

This beautiful blackberries image is from our August issue, where we’re celebrating the beginning of blackberrying season.

Make the most of them now, though; folklore has it that you shouldn’t eat blackberries after Michaelmas Day (September 29th).

When St Michael, for whom the day is named, battled Lucifer and kicked him out of heaven, Lucifer landed in hell, on a thorny blackberry bush. So angry was he, that he cursed the blackberry bush and ensured its berries would taste foul from St Michaelmas Day onwards.

We’re unsure why the poor blackberry bush suffered the blame for Lucifer’s thorny and sore behind rather than St Michael, but it sounds like a good reason to us to get picking your blackberries now. Don’t forget to freeze a few so you can make them into a blackberry pie for St Michaelmas Day and stick it to Lucifer with your delicious early autumn blackberries.

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Photography: Kirstie Young

Photography: Kirstie Young

Eat | Blackberry and goats' cheese flatbreads

Iona Bower August 31, 2019

Crumble certainly has its place but if you’re looking for something a little different for your blackberry glut, look no further than this simple September starter, side or light lunch to share

This combination straddles the sweet and savoury worlds and is all the better for it. Sweet and sharp blackberries pair well with creamy goat’s cheese, thinly sliced onions tip it towards savoury while the final drizzle of honey pulls it back to a harmonious and very seasonal whole.

Makes 4

500g strong white flour
2 tsp salt
1 tsp instant yeast
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
½ red onion, finely sliced
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
150g soft goat’s cheese, cut into discs
400g blackberries, gently crushed with a fork
1 tbsp fresh or dried thyme
2 tbsp runny honey

1 Put the flour, salt and yeast in a large bowl. Pour over 325ml warm water and the olive oil, and mix to a soft dough. Tip out onto a floured surface and knead for 10 mins, then transfer to a clean bowl, cover with a tea towel and set aside to rise for about 2 hours, or until doubled in size.

2 Meanwhile, put the red onion in a small bowl with the vinegar, mix together and leave to marinate.

3 Once the dough has risen, set a baking tray upside down on a high shelf in the oven and preheat to 240C/Fan 220C/Gas 9.

4 Sprinkle a handful of flour on your work surface and roll out a quarter of the dough as thinly as you can. Sprinkle another handful of flour on the heated baking tray, transfer the dough to the tray and bake for 6 mins.

5 Drain the onion and pat dry with kitchen roll. Remove the flatbread from the oven and scatter over a quarter of the cheese, a quarter of the blackberries, a quarter of the onion and a quarter of the thyme. Return to the oven for about 7 mins.

6 Drizzle the flatbread with a little honey and eat immediately. Repeat with the remaining dough and ingredients to make four flatbreads. Cook’s note: If you have a special pizza oven or a pizza stone, you may be able to put the topping onto the raw dough and cook it all together, but most standard ovens won’t get hot enough to make flatbreads without soggy bottoms unless you cook the base a little first.

This recipe is by Lia Leendertz and is part of our Finders Keepers series on foraging. You can find the rest of the recipes for blackberries and elderberries in our September issue. We’ve got everything from elderberry lemonade to roast blackberry fool!

Get hold of your copy of this month's The Simple Things - buy, download or subscribe

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In Eating Tags foraging, finders keepers, blackberries, blackberry, september, simple things, issue 87, flatbreads
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Feb 27, 2025
Feb 27, 2025

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The Simple Things is published by Iceberg Press

The Simple Things

Taking time to live well

We celebrate slowing down, enjoying what you have, making the most of where you live, enjoying the company of of friends and family, and feeding them well. We like to grow some of our own vegetables, visit local markets, rummage for vintage finds, and decorate our home with the plunder. We love being outdoors and enjoy the satisfaction that comes with a job well done.

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