Re: Poem Analysis
Author: Gabrielle (---.cc2.jnb6.alter.net)
Date: 02-21-04 06:38


Poet = Andrew Marvell (1621-1678)
Poem=The Garden.
Interpret the phrase "How vainly men temselves amaze, to wim th epalm , th eoak , the bays."


The Garden
by Andrew Marvell

How vainly men themselves amaze
To win the Palm, the Oke, or Bayes;
And their uncessant Labours see
Crown'd from some single Herb or Tree,
Whose short and narrow verged Shade
Does prudently their Toyles upbraid;
While all Flow'rs and all Trees do close
To weave the Garlands of repose.

Fair quiet, have I found thee here,
And Innocence thy Sister dear!
Mistaken long, I sought you then
In busie Companies of Men.
Your sacred Plants, if here below,
Only among the Plants will grow.
Society is all but rude,
To this delicious Solitude.

No white nor red was ever seen
So am'rous as this lovely green.
Fond Lovers, cruel as their Flame,
Cut in these Trees their Mistress name.
Little, Alas, they know, or heed,
How far these Beauties Hers exceed!
Fair Trees! where s'eer you barkes I wound,
No Name shall but your own be found.

When we have run our Passions heat,
Love hither makes his best retreat.
The Gods, that mortal Beauty chase,
Apollo hunted Daphne so,
Only that She might Laurel grow.
And Pan did after Syrinx speed,
Not as a Nymph, but for a Reed.

What wond'rous Life in this I lead!
Ripe Apples drop about my head;
The Luscious Clusters of the Vine
Upon my Mouth do crush their Wine;
The Nectaren, and curious Peach,
Into my hands themselves do reach;
Stumbling on Melons, as I pass,
Insnar'd with Flow'rs, I fall on Grass.

Mean while the Mind, from pleasure less,
Withdraws into its happiness:
The Mind, that Ocean where each kind
Does streight its own resemblance find;
Yet it creates, transcending these,
Far other Worlds, and other Seas;
Annihilating all that's made
To a green Thought in a green Shade.

Here at the Fountains sliding foot,
Or at some Fruit-tress mossy root,
Casting the Bodies Vest aside,
My Soul into the boughs does glide:
There like a Bird it sits, and sings,
Then whets, and combs its silver Wings;
And, till prepar'd for longer flight,
Waves in its Plumes the various Light.

Such was that happy Garden-state,
While Man there walk'd without a Mate:
After a Place so pure, and sweet,
What other Help could yet be meet!
But 'twas beyond a Mortal's share
To wander solitary there:
Two Paradises 'twere in one
To live in Paradise alone.

How well the skilful Gardner drew
Of flow'rs and herbes this Dial new;
Where from above the milder Sun
Does through a fragrant Zodiack run;
And, as it works, th' industrious Bee
Computes its time as well as we.
How could such sweet and wholsome Hours
Be reckon'd but with herbs and flow'rs!


Basically what he's saying in those lines and throughout the poem is that God made nature and women beautiful so we men would seek them out. But at the same time we make vain fools of ourselves in the process.

Les

The palm, the oak and the bay (laurel) were awards for bravery in the army of ancient Rome.

Right, and 'amaze' shows as bewilder or perplex in my dictionary. I don't see the beautifully made man & woman reference myself; it seems merely another 'nature' poem, about a peaceful garden, that is.

Marvell would take some heat from present day critics, what with word reversals to secure rhymes and insertion of 'do' or 'does' to get a needed extra beat to fill out the meter.

And, he takes some liberties with his mythology:

Apollo hunted Daphne so,
Only that She might Laurel grow.
And Pan did after Syrinx speed,
Not as a Nymph, but for a Reed.

making it appear that the ladies became fauna for love's sake. Actually, they turned into plants to escape their pursuers.

But, to answer the original question, men endeavor to win those awards (when instead they should be contemplating the beauty of nature).

Did I write fauna? Yikes! Should be flora. Or better yet, vegetation.

sorry les, you're wrong. the palm refers to achievement in military, the oak refers to civic achievement, and the bay to poetic achievement. its talking about how ridiculous it is for these men to do naught but spend their time striving for recognition in the aforementioned subjects.

British Columbia, Audrey?

Les

>the palm refers to ... military, the oak ... civic ..., and the bay to poetic achievement.

Aha. I do see one internet reference supporting that idea, but I would be interested in more - any other cites?

try the Norton Anthology of Poetry, 14th edition Ox Uni Press, agrees with this interpretation.

I will rush right out.