The Garden

The central setting of the poem is, of course, the garden. In many ways the poem is a love letter to the setting. It describes the physical and philosophical beauties of the garden in great detail, allowing the reader to clearly imagine this setting. Yet it also remains in some senses vague: although it lists some of the particular plants and fruits the garden contains, we do not receive an entire geographic description or anything like a map of the garden's structures. This level of detail allows the garden to be clearly realized in the reader's mind, while also ensuring it can stand in for the symbol of the garden as an abstract idea.

The Garden of Eden

By representing, not just one earthly garden, but the concept of a natural space, the poem also flirts with the Garden of Eden as a setting. In the Abrahamic...