Presentation 2
The Paradoxical Allusions to the Garden of Eden as Indicative of the=20 Transient Nature of Paradise in Anne Finch’s "from The = Petition for=20 Absolute Retreat"
November 29, 1999
In the poem "from The Petition for Absolute Retreat" Anne = Finch=20 appeals to Fate for a re-creation of a kind of Garden of Eden for her = own=20 purposes of escape. Through a series of paradoxes, Finch illustrates the = transient nature of such a Paradise and foreshadows its inevitable = demise. The=20 goal of my presentation is to analyze the paradoxical images in the poem = in=20 relation to series of obvious and not so obvious allusions to the = beginning of=20 Genesis.
In the opening stanza, Finch appeals to fate for an "unshaken = liberty" (7)=20 defined as a impenetrable retreat, or one not open to invasion, because = of its=20 "paths so lost, and trees so high." (4) The paths are meant to deter the = invaders, but wouldn’t she be equally lost in them? While lost on = a winding=20 path, there is no real liberty to be found. You are not free to go where = you=20 want because you don’t know where you are or in what direction to = go. Similarly,=20 the high trees in the image remind me of bars on a topless cage or posts = that=20 form a fence. Here, the voice of the poem, in pursuit of liberty, cages = herself.=20
In the third Stanza, Finch asks for "wholesome fare" as her = nourishment while=20 in this paradise. Eden is then directly implicated in these requests. = "Courteous=20 Fate! Then give me there/ Only plain and wholesome fare;/ Fruits indeed = (would=20 heaven bestow),/ All that did in Eden grow,/ All but the forbidden = Tree,/ Would=20 be coveted by me." (31-36) Here the poem’s voice implies that she = would not have=20 made the same mistake that Eve does in Genesis. I thought this a = rather=20 interesting implication when juxtaposed with her later description of = the=20 husband that would join her in her Eden. He "slights, by [her] humble = side, Fame=20 and splendour, wealth and pride." (114-115) But is her side indeed = humble? Or is=20 it really quite the opposite? Here the voice of the poem calls herself = humble=20 while subtly implying she would not repeat the mistake of original sin,=20 certainly not a humble implication.
In the same stanza, we find what I believe to be an allusion to the = snake in=20 Genesis which serves a primary role in the destruction of = Paradise.=20 "Whilst, creeping near the humble ground,/ Should the strawberry be = found,/=20 Springing whereso’er I strayed/ Through those windings and that = shade." (45-48)=20 In Genesis, one passage reads, "And God said, Let us make man in = our=20 image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish and = the sea,=20 and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over the earth, = and over=20 every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth." (1:26) Then after = the=20 serpent convinces Eve to eat fruit from the Tree of life, it reads, "And = the=20 Lord God said unto the serpent, Because though hast done this, thou art = cursed=20 above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon they belly = shalt thou=20 go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life." (3:14) The = parallel=20 between the strawberry and the serpent is clear to me here. In most = simplistic=20 terms, both "creep" and reside low to the ground.
A distinct impression of a temporary suspension of time, which is = followed up=20 in the next stanza, is given by the image of "Grapes so crowded up/ As = breaking=20 through there native cup." (38-39) It’s only a matter of time = until the grapes=20 burst through their skin. They can’t last in its current state; = the transient=20 nature of the grapes’ ripeness represents the impermanence of the = retreat that=20 Finch has conjured up.
In the following stanza, number four, the voice rejects fashion and = seeks=20 clothing only for protection from the elements. "For my garments: let = them be/=20 What may with the time agree;/ Warm, when Phoebus does retire,/ And is=20 ill-supplied by fire" (48-51) The lines then shift immediately to spring = and=20 summer, skipping over winter in one or two lines. The stanza does not = then=20 describe a complete temporal cycle. Phoebus retires for only one line = and then=20 the stanza moves from a presumably warm May to the description sun rays = about=20 which she says, "When they do too fiercely beat,/ Let me find some close = retreat,/ Where they have no passage made/ Through those windings, and = that=20 shade." (103-106) The voice of the poem has therefore moved from hiding = from=20 society in the first stanza to hiding from the sun in the fourth. Fall = and=20 winter are not described but rapidly glossed over; the passage of time = and the=20 seasons as they naturally occur are therefore distorted.
This suspension or distortion of time is indicative of the transient = nature=20 of the Paradise. It continues in the fifth stanza, as poet describes the = time of=20 Adam and Eve: "When but two the earth possessed,/ ’Twas their = happiest days, and=20 best;/ They by business, nor by wars,/ Thy by no domestic cares,/ From = each=20 other e’er were drawn,/ But in some grove or flowery lawn/ Spent = the swiftly=20 flying time," (115-121) Here the time passes rapidly, but the greenery = around=20 them seems to be permanently in bloom.
The allusion to Adam and Eve’s naked splendor in this stanza = are readily=20 apparent. In Genesis, it says, "And they were both naked, the man = and his=20 wife, and were not ashamed." (2:25) This passage is echoed in the = imagery of the=20 "Birds [that] have dropped their winter plumes," (55) and "the lily=20 full-displayed." (56) Conceptually, this makes the "hiding" of this and = the=20 first stanza anachronistic. Adam and Eve hide only after they have eaten = the=20 fruit because in doing so they acquire the knowledge that they are naked = and=20 they hide from God because they are ashamed. By eating the fruit, which = leads to=20 the end of their time in the Garden of Eden, they learn to be ashamed = and, in a=20 way, seek the windings and the shade of poem.
The final stanza of the poem reverses a traditional Adam and Eve = dynamic.=20 When God takes the rib out of Adam and creates Eve, Adam says, "This is = now bone=20 of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because = she was=20 taken out of Man." (3:32) In the poem, the narrator asks for, "A partner = suited=20 to my mind." (109) Eve was suited to or really from Adam’s flesh = and not to his=20 mind, while here we have a presumably female figure asking for a mate = suited to=20 her mind.
The demise of this dreamed up retreat comes in lines 125 to 128 with = the=20 appearance of Satan: "Rage, and jealousy, and hate,/ Transports of his = fallen=20 state/ (When by Satan’s wiles betrayed),/ Fly those windings, and = that shade!"=20
In conclusion, we see that Finch sought a retreat from society in the = form of=20 an Eden-like Paradise. The impermanence of the paradise is alluded to = through=20 Genesis imagery. Most important is the paradox of a retreat, and = the=20 liberty it provides, described in terms of hiding. Adam and Eve hide = from God=20 only after Eve has committed the Original Sin when their time in = Paradise is=20 rapidly nearing completion. Finch seeks a retreat in the form of = windings and=20 shade, but Paradise, in the biblical sense at least, was only available=20 permanently during the time that Adam and Eve were exposed without = fearing=20 exposure and completely innocent. The repetitive use of the image of = windings=20 and shade emphasizes that Finch’s retreat and the idea of hiding = are=20 inextricably linked, making her retreat impossible and only a temporary=20 phenomenon, much like the Garden of Eden.