THOUGHTS IN A GARDEN
by Andrew Marvell
(Summary & Analysis)
Andrew
Marvell was the poet of the age of Milton. The general literary characteristics
of this age are: civil war, the puritan movement, want of vitality and
concreteness, want of the spirit of unity, dominance of critical and
intellectual spirit and the decay of drama.
Andrew
Marvell’s poems are the finest flowers of serious verse. In his poems there are
metaphysical imageries. His rhythms are flexible and his melody delicate. He
loved the nature and the freshness of the gardens. He is a poet of senses, humanity,
purity and beauty.
‘Thoughts
in a garden’ presents the beauty of untouched nature in the form of garden.
Marvell narrates all the pleasures, i.e. physical, mental and spiritual, in
this poem.
This
poem is of 72 lines which are divided into 9 stanzas each of 8 lines. Each
stanza is written in 4 rhyming couplets (aa, bb, cc, dd). The poem is written
in flexible rhythm. Most of the lines are of 8 syllables and are of three
metrical feet. The adjectives are in abundance, the style is delicate, and the
language is sensuous.
In
the first stanza the poet proves the vanity of man’s incessant labor, for some
single herb or tree. The poet further compares the beauty of the garden with
the beauty of mortals in the next two stanzas. In the fourth stanza he gives
two examples from Greek mythology to establish the importance of the garden.
The next stanza is devoted to the sensuous pleasures. In the sixth stanza he
describes the pleasures of mind and spiritual pleasure finds place in the
seventh stanza. The last two stanzas suggest the story of Adam and Eve in the
Garden of Eden and also the wholesome hours which could be enjoyed in the
garden.
The
poet starts his poem by proving the vanity of man’s labor, to win some single
herb or tree, in an athletic field because what he gets cannot upbraid his
labor. According to him, in the garden, all the flowers and trees together can
be a place of retreat for him and for this he needs not to do any labor.
In
the second stanza he says, that the ‘fair quiet’ and her dear sister, ‘innocence’
are found here in the garden. They are not found in the busy companies of men
but here in the garden. He says, that the society of men does not understand
the taste of this delicious solitude, which is found in this garden.
In
the third stanza the poet compares the mortal beauty with the beauty of the
garden and found that the white color of the skin and the red lips are not as
loving as the green color of the garden. He condemns those lovers who…. “Cut in
these trees their mistress’ names”. He also wants to wound the barks of the
trees but to write the names of the trees only.
In
the next stanza the poet gives two examples from the Greek myth. Here the races
of Apollo and Pan after Daphne and Syrinx respectively ended in trees.
The
poet further describes the pleasure of senses, which one can have in the
garden. He occupies our senses, when he speaks us of ripe apples, luscious
clusters of vine, curious peach, melons and flowers.
According
to the poet, in the garden, the mind takes its own pleasure by recreating, what
our senses have already created. He says that the picture of the mind is always
better than the picture of senses.
In
the following stanza, he says, that in the garden, his soul takes its own
pleasure, because it finds the place suitable for preparing itself for longer
flight. Garden is the place where the soul gets vivid knowledge of ‘the life
after death’.
In
the second last stanza of the poem the poet recalls the state of Adam in the
Garden of Eden and considers it a blissful state. He says that till Adam was
alone in the garden he was enjoying two paradises in the Garden of Eden.
In
the last stanza of the poem the poet considers the garden, a new dial of herbs
and flowers, because the person in the garden does not measure the time in
minutes or hours, but these wholesome hours are reckoned with the changing
herbs and flowers with the seasons. In all he wants to say that the wholesome
hours of the garden can only be measured with herbs and flowers.
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