Balancing Spirituality with Humanity in Andrew Marvell's;The Garden

Andrew Marvell seeks a sort of spiritual hermitage in his poem "The Garden." With a plethora of varied images, he embraces nature in its unadulterated form, as he creates his own Garden of Eden. Weaving together allusions to both love and sacred poetry, Marvell worships the garden for its beauty, yet, also uses it as a place from which he propels himself towards the heavens. He creates distinctions between wholesome purity, and the love of man and the demigods, which he mocks within the text. The garden and its contents come to represent paradise before the fall of Adam, and Marvell shuns man's resultant world, "annihilating all that's made" since the corruption of humanity (47). He seeks the solitude with which he believes he can erase the mark of man, and reduce himself to "a green thought in a green shade," and begin to realize the garden's innocence (48). Yet, he struggles to balance his own humanity with his spirituality. Ironically, Marvell can never achieve his desires in this world because he is in fact mortal, and innately embodies everything he disdains in man.

The religious tones in the text are patently evident, although Marvell often intertwines allusions to traditional love poetry. Personifying the garden, he grants it many characters as it moves between multiple roles. He finds that its "innocence" (10) is his "sister dear" (10), yet later addresses it as a lover, saying "how far her beauties hers exceed" (22). Marvell attempts to distinguish this love from that of man, as "no red nor white" (17) of Petrarchan love can compare to the "lovely green" (18). Yet, he is clearly connected to humanity in the text, as human lovers are "cruel as their flame" (19) and he "ha[s] run [his] "passion's heat" (25). Even as he declares dramatically that he shall only carve the tree's own name into its bark, he aligns himself with those who "cut in these trees" (20), as he himself will "wound" (22) them. In a consistently simply rhymed poem, the words "wound" (22) and "found" (23) are the most deliberate out of few slant rhymes, serving to emphasize the inconsistency of his statement. This inconsistency continues, as he seeks out this peaceful garden, yet is "ensnared with flowers," reminiscent of an enchanting mistress (40). The fruit seems to come towards him, and the diction is sensual with the "luscious clusters" (35) that "crush their wine" "upon his mouth" (36). It is as if the garden is seducing him, and as he "stumble[es]" (39) and "fall[s]" (40), the entire image is remarkably suggestive of a drunken stupor. Yet, it is important to note that Marvell acknowledges a difference between man and mortality, which in fact triumphs over the demigods. Apollo and Pan chase "mortal beauty" (27) in the nymphs, but ironically, the mortal nymphs physically transform into those "sacred plants" (13). Marvell attempts to emulate this mortal transcendence into purity, but has trouble reconciling with his own humanity.

There is an abrupt shift from the physical love poetry of the first half, towards that which focuses on both the mind and spirituality. Marvell finds difficulty in accepting the innocent bliss of Eden, and his diction bespeaks an uneasiness as "the mind" (41) "withdraws into its happiness" (42). Yet, he continues to be inconsistent, and employs a metaphor for the mind as it is an ocean, that "creates" (45) "far other worlds, and other seas" (46), "transcending" (45) others who are essentially all alike. Although he attempts to rely wholly on a "green thought in a green shade" (48), Marvell must paradoxically create "other worlds, and other seas" (46) in order to annihilate "all that's made" (47). Even the "green shade" (48) is limited, as it is earlier described to be "short and narrow" (5). The text persists in maintaining a human aspect in spirituality, and when "[his] soul" (52) takes flight as "a bird" (53) with "silver wings" (54), suggestive of a holy dove, he unexpectedly "whets" (54), alluding to his previous stanza concerning the mind. Marvell acknowledges the impossible aspect of attaining "that happy garden state" (57), as it "'twas beyond a mortal's share/ To wander solitary there" (60-61), in spite of his obsession with "this delicious solitude" (16). Marvell is tainted with man's original sin, and thus, cannot escape the constraints of mortality.

Despite an obvious disdain towards man, Marvell cannot break away from those innate human characteristics. The text is constantly shifting and riddled with paradoxes as to man's relationship with this garden. Marvell alternately separates himself from the general mankind of his poem in direct contrasts, and seems to align himself with mortality. There is an underlying tone of reluctance, even as he is patently eager to seek that spiritual solitude of paradise. Undeniably, he desires to be pure like this garden, yet, cannot reconcile this with his human desires, especially those of the mind. Marvell cannot achieve this state of garden bliss because he is gifted, or cursed, with the logic of humanity.