# Harebell — Poetry character guide

> Harebell in Poetry by George MacDonald.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** The Foolish Harebell, A harebell, the Harebell, The Harebell

**First appearance:** 0005-a-book-of-dreams

## Snapshot

A personified harebell that trembles at its life's node, learning from scarlet pimpernel and primrose that God's thought is root and stem.

## Who they are

The Harebell is the foolish flower of these poems, trembling at its life's node and confessing to the potter that it is only clay. Its distinctive tension is between fear of lack and the brimming cup given in place of a sip—it bemoans a lost piece of gold only to wake with visions of pimpernel and primrose speaking messages of power and grace. It matters because its humility becomes the book's clearest lesson that every flower's root is God's own breast, and that the poorest loss can be exchanged for the richest gain.

## In the story

### [Blessed Are the Meek, for They Shall Inherit the Earth](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_8_se/chapters/blessed-are-the-meek-for-they-shall-inherit-the-earth)

Mentioned as part of the natural world that contributes to the divine revelation.

### [A Story of the Sea-Shore](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_8_se/chapters/a-story-of-the-sea-shore)

Mentioned as part of the landscape: 'The large harebells in families stood along the grassy borders.'

### [The Foolish Harebell](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_8_se/chapters/the-foolish-harebell)

The foolish harebell who complains of weariness and rejects help, only to regret it too late.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_8_se/characters/harebell
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_8_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_8_se/characters