Wednesday, March 31, 2010
The sanctity of nature in "Forsaken Garden"
The author of "A Forsaken Garden" had a lifelong disdain for the crown of England as well as the church. These feelings as well as his alcoholism probably held back Swineburn from a term as Poet Laureate. Because of this I would suggest a reading of this poem as a piece that rejects the manmade institutions of the world. I believe the poem argues that all things associated with humanity, even death and love, are temporary. Swineburn also had a great love of the sea that he cultivated as a youth and this poem is very representative of that mariner's spirit and the feeling that the natural world and the sea in particular will outlive and outlast all things.
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I understand your interpretation of the poem, but I think it is a little too simplistic. I think Swineburn is directly associating love with nature rather than humanity. He compares the romance to the beautiful flowers that are now decrepit; in reality, the natural world in its entirety has not outlived all things.
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