In order to achieve this goal, it will be necessary to relate his pastoral poetry to the period in which it was created, namely to the middle decades of AD. First, we will examine the songs that most conform to the traditional principles of the genre, and it will be seen that they also strike a characteristic note. I am also aware of the influence of historical factors on the poem as well as Marvell's personal circumstances at the time he wrote it.
I also bring out the echoes of the Golden Age and its inscription in the long-standing tradition of the philosopher's garden, the garden 'fit for contemplation'. In the study that follows, if there is an impulse in my treatment of Marvell's pastoral poetry that takes precedence over others, it is, as mentioned, the impulse to highlight Marvell's role as an innovator who pushed the boundaries of the pastoral genre . He contributed both Greek and Latin poems to the collection of verse presented in honor of the birth of Charles I's daughter in 1637.
His knowledge of the classical pastoral tradition in Greek and Latin poetry was complemented by a familiarity with the strong English pastoral tradition. Events of the war he missed made a deep impression and he renewed friendship with several Royalist-minded men.
Chapter 2
It showed an artlessness against which one could question the city's sophistication. It was the contrast between the busy, practical life of the city, manifested in the sophisticated outlook of the citizens, and the world of dreams. Many of the sixteenth-century rectorials were set to music, and this trend was continued in the seventeenth century by court musicians such as Henry Lawes.
There was every opportunity for Marvell to become familiar with and gain insight into the various facets of pastoral work. His knowledge of European languages and his appreciation of the richness of his own English heritage complemented his mastery of the classical antecedents. It is the contention of many critics that the classical and neoclassical movements in pastoral poetry fell into oblivion in the eighteenth century, when fundamental changes in conditions on the land changed the relationship between the inhabitants of the city and the countryside.
Land enclosure meant less emphasis on pastoral work and there were fewer individual smallholdings. To adapt his concept of immortalization through the "transformation" of classical pastoral poetry, McKeon has turned to the notion of.
Chapter 3
The classical names, Endymion and Cynthia, are used to represent the bride and groom, and these names in turn evoke the legend of the shepherd and the. The setting in both poems is conventionally pastoral, there is dialogue, and the contrast between the rural setting and the sophistication of the marriage is clear. In the second song, the setting of the idyllic pastoral scene is tempered by the fact that the marriage took place in November - a time when flowers do not bloom.
Certain colors are not mentioned in the image of the "Scutcheon", but the mind immediately pictures the bright green grass and the riot of colors of the flowers. shepherdess who cares for her sheep and desires Damon. Furthermore, Marvell uses the structure of the poem to heighten the conflict between them. To Damon, Pan represents Christ; for Clorinda he is the "great Pan" of the ancient world.
The focus on country people in Ametas and Thestylis making Hay-Ropes is a facet of the pastoral genre, as is the dialogue and the classical names, but there is a marked departure from the usual theme in that Marvell does not. The poem exhibits enough of the essence to place it in the classical pastoral genre, but Marvell's changes are significant: greater realism in the depiction of Ametas and Thestylis and the weaving of. It embodies the Arcadian innocence in the character of the nymph, there are many classical allusions, and the setting is reminiscent of the flowers and sunshine of the Golden Age.
The shooting of the faun is the mindless action of men bent on destruction. In this first part of the poem, Marvell shows a sensitivity to, and understanding of, grief. The confusion of emotion and the distressed bewilderment of the nymph is shown in the way she is torn between her Christian upbringing which tells her to forgive, and her sense of justice which condemns such wanton action.
The next section of the poem (beginning at line 25) shows a quieter sadness and a pastoral love story unfolds. The emphasis on the whiteness of the faun and the lilies and the redness of the roses gives an intensity to the description of the faun. The horror of the Civil War casts a shadow over Arcadia in The Nymph laments the death of her Faun.
Chapter 4
When Marvell moves to the garden of Appleton House (stanza XXXVII), Fairfax's military history is reflected in battle imagery. It would have been an enclosed area separate from the rest of the grounds, and the plan was a variation of the common area. Michael Long very aptly describes the garden section of the poem as "a festival of homo poeticus" (204).
The meadows appear to be an abyss that separates the house and the secluded garden from the wilderness of the forest. He uses the seascape to reveal the hidden mysteries, the unsuspected possibilities, of the scene. Then the boundless depths of the sea are invoked, and the men who dive through the grass are hidden in a.
But Grasshoppers are Gyants there: (XLVII 3- 4) There is a departure here from the close view and. the particularity of the classical pastoral. Furthermore, there is the symbolic status of the shroud as a personification of death or time. The nightingale provides the traditional music in the grove, and the homing pigeons are reminiscent of classic pastoral lovers.
In the last two lines of the stanza, the poet gives the bird judgment, and this leads to a philosophizing. A comparable distillation of everything into a thought being is found in stanza VI of The Garden. In the midst of all the emotions and sensual joy, Marvell does not completely lose his grip on the practical.
God says, "The most pointed rejection of the world and the most imaginative celebration of retirement values occur, of course, in the Garden." Then a new dimension opens up: the denial of active life extends to include the denial of all human society in the garden. From the sensual pleasures cataloged in stanza V. Marvell advances to the highest plane of the mind.
Asserting the same point, Pierre Legouis, rejecting Frank Kermode's interpretation of the lines. The comparison to Paradise in stanza VIII emphasizes the purity and elevation of the poet's garden experience.
Chapter 5 The Mower Poems
In other words, Wilcher suggests that a rudimentary, albeit submerged, narrative is inscribed in the very sequence of the Mower poems. There is a significant departure from tradition in the Lawn mower against gardens in that the lawn mower itself. The tension in the lawnmower's position is striking, because the meadows he works in lie between the garden and the forest, between the wild and the wild.
This does not apply to the garden of The Mower against Gardens where the walled fence has been installed. The cultivated colors and forced scents of the flowers in the Mower poem are reminiscent of the painted disguise and heightened coloration of a woman bent on a secret rendezvous in a garden. suitable for love. Because the reaper is aware of the advanced world, he is. It is likely that he has knowledge of new ways and discoveries.
The Reaper against Gardens, but it also appears in the three other Reaper poems. In The Mower against Gardens, all things considered, the mower is still in control of himself and his situation. Being closely associated with the open country, the work of the mower in the meadows exposes him especially to the heat of the sun; nor can he escape to the cool groves of the.
She not only rejects the mower, but also the fields where he works. In the last two stanzas, the narrator of the frame resumes the narrative and tells how the mower accidentally cut his ankle. Amid the seriousness of the mower's damage, a bitter, indeed, satirical note, not often. encountered in traditional pastoral, is entered in the line:.
In The Mower to the Glo-Worms, Marvell once again lets the lawnmower speak for itself. The empathy between pastoral personality and landscape that formed the basis of the rural people's vitality and identity is no longer operative for the lawnmower. The lawnmower's territory lies between the wild hills and forests and the cultivated gardens and the lawnmower.
But it is precisely in the songs of Kosc that we find the appearance of classical pastoral in a new tone, so to speak. In The Reaper Poems, Marvell delves into human emotion and bestows more upon his rural protagonist.
