Many poets draw on the theme of nature to symbolize the message they are trying to convey. In many cases, nature is juxtaposed with artistic design to emphasize the conflict or relationship between the natural and human worlds. Millar Maclure clarifies the distinction between nature and art as follows: "nature as that which is given, the universal order of creation, including human nature, and art as that which is made, that which man makes" . He further explains, "it is also correct to speak of nature as the art or 'signature' of God, and of art as the distinctive quality or evidence of man's nature." This conflict between nature and art is often conceived as an allegory by poetry authors to communicate their opinion about society. Both Edmund Spenser (1522-1599) and Andrew Marvell (1621-1678) explore the idea of ​​nature (and art) in their poetry, to present a moral as well as a historical lesson. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay The works compared in this essay are Book 1 and part of Book 2 (episode "The Bower of Bliss") of The Faerie Queene by Spenser, and “Upon Appleton House: To My Lord Fairfax” by Marvell. The Faerie Queene, Spenser's longest and most important work, was published in two parts, the first in 1590 and the second in 1596. He himself describes his work as "a continuous allegory, or dark concept", thus alerting the reader to look beyond the text's literal meaning. Susanne Wofford explains that Spenser uses external events and places to convey the characters' internal consciousness; "The landscape of Spenser's poetry is psychological: many of its places and clichés represent spiritual or emotional aspects of the characters themselves. Learning to read Spenser's poetry," he writes, "is to learn that everything - a person in a story, a house, a tree or a giant - can represent an aspect of the hero or heroine's psyche." Although Marvell's "Upon Appleton House" (1651) is not a "continuing allegory," it is full of allegories referring to England and with a deep relationship to the Scriptures. "In the rich symbolism of the poem, biblical events - Eden, the first temptation, the Fall, the desert experience of the Israelites - find echoes in the experience of the Fairfax family, the speaker, in the history of the English Reformation, and in the wanton destruction of recent civil wars." In this essay I will mainly examine three aspects of both poems: the relationship between nature and art, the effect of female beauty on nature, and the reference to the Garden of Eden. a journey through various landscapes and scenarios, each of which carries a different meaning and contributes to the unfolding of the plot. These works are not only adventurous, but they are also educational, both for the characters and for the reader. Spenser uses the imagery of gardens and buildings with the intent of reflecting "the pictorial and architectural display of the Renaissance. His architecture and horticulture are presented precisely and symbolically while his wild forests, groves, plains and pastures remain vague (if no less symbolic)." Both nature and art are prominent in Spenser's work and both serve the same symbolic purpose. “The general purpose therefore of the whole book,” writes Spenser in his letter to Sir Walter Raleigh, which accompanied the first edition of The Faerie Queene, “is to fashion a gentleman or noble person by virtuous and gentle discipline.” It is therefore intended to educate in an honorable and noteworthy way, worthy of a good Christian. The same religious character and intention can be found in Marvell's poetry. JosephSummers states that in Marvell's "poems" nature, separated from man, is usually 'green', vital, fruitful and triumphant. It is, as part of the divine plan, "good", but its goodness is neither available nor completely understandable for man... After his alienation with the exit from Eden, man can live in nature only as an observer or destroyer. " This may be one of the reasons why man begins to imitate nature. In "Upon Appleton House", however, there is a person who not only observes nature, but is also capable of enhancing its beauty. And yet, Marvell, like Spenser, uses natural imagery to express his view of history and religion. The first point of comparison in these two poems is the relationship between nature and art, and its implications for society are often personified to emphasize the tension that exists between them In Book II of The Faerie Queene, the Bower of Bliss is an ingenious place that has imitated nature to the point of seeming real, but the author gives clear hints regarding its artifice: spacious plain, on every side strewn with pleasures, whose fair grassy ground cloaked in green, and fair beauty with all the ornaments of Flora's pride, with which her mother Art, as half in contempt of the avaricious nature, like a pompous bride the adorned, and too generously, When he comes out of the virgin Bowre comes early in the morning. (II, vii, 50) This stanza begins with a picturesque description of the plain, but as the verses progress it becomes clear that it is not the work of "Nature", but it is "mother Art" who has embellished it all "too generously ". Nature was rejected by Art as "stingy", and made the plain seem like a "pompous bride", which, in the end, is too much of a good thing. Another scene of conflict between nature and art can be found in stanza 59: It might have been thought (so cunningly, the rude parts, and the despised parts were mingled with the beautiful ones) That nature had from wantonness derived Art , and that the Art of nature regretted; Thus, each endeavoring to weaken the other, each made the other more beautiful; so different both in their wills, they agreed in the end: so they all agreed through sweet diversity, to adorn this garden with every variety. (II, vii) Nature and Art seem to compete to determine who is the better creator, but because of this battle no one notices the "crude and despised part" that is "mingled at the end." Although they are not of the same opinion, they end up agreeing in a "sweet difference". Where, fundamentally, nature should reign, there is a mix between nature and art, and it is not clear where one begins and where the other ends. All the creatures and objects in this garden "like" something about nature, "as if" they belong there and "seem" authentic, but they simply "resemble" the natural world. Words like these dominate this passage of the Bower of Bliss, and with these Spenser alludes to the corruption of art, the unnatural, the wicked. In the opening lines of “Upon Appleton House,” Marvell contrasts the natural character of the Fairfax house with the works of “Foreign Architect[s]” (l. 2). Nature governs this house which is not ostentation, but a place where "all things are composed... Like nature, ordered and close" (ll. 25-6). In stanza 2, Marvell compares human architecture to natural design: Why of all things should ungoverned man build such disproportionate dwellings? The beasts spread out in their holes, and the birds build a similar nest; shell:No creature loves empty space;Their bodies measure their place.Like the builders of the Tower of Babel, man seeks to surpass the work of God, and "thinks the world to be united" (l. 24 ) ). The first group, of course, failed miserably in their mission and GodHe punished them for thinking they could measure up to Him. Consequently, nature, God's creation, is superior to human art. Marvell also personifies nature and art in his poetry: But nature here was so free as if she said: Leave this to me. Art would more plainly disfigure what she had so sweetly cast the desert; in fragrant gardens, shady groves, deep meadows and transparent floods. (st. 10) Given the chance, Art will contaminate Nature's work in "gardens," "woods," "meadows," and "floods," but none of this happens on the Fairfax estate. Like Spenser, Marvell describes nature as "good" and art generally as "bad", but while Marvell's nature is able to oppose the forces of art, Spenser's nature must compromise with the dominant character of art. the effect of female beauty on its natural environment. In the first book of The Faerie Queene, Una's beauty is revealed whenever she removes the veil from her face: Her angel face While the great eye of heaven shone bright, And made the sun shine in the shadowy place; adorn. (I, iii, 4) It seems that even the sun is affected by Una's "angel face" as it illuminates the "shady place" where Una rests. When a "rampant Lyon" (l. 38) rushes "out of the thickest wood" (l. 37) with the evident intention of devouring her, he too is amazed at the sight of her and instead of attacking her, the beast kisses "the his tired feet." " (l. 46). The lion, the king of the animal kingdom, surrenders to Una and decides to protect her during her journey. This wild forest creature rejects his innate nature when he comes face to face with this "heavenly grace ". Later, in canto 6, Una is saved from Sans Lou by a group of "wyldwood gods" (l. 73) who "are amazed by her luminous beauty, | In their eyes rude, unworthy of such a painful situation" (ll. 80-1). They too "kiss her feet" (l. 108) and "worship her, like Queen", but when she tries to put an end to the their idolatry towards him, “they, his Axis, would worship Fayn” (l. 171). Although these mystical creatures do not represent nature in this poem, they show the same natural reaction of nature to its beauty and grace similarly, Mary Fairfax influences her natural environment in Marvell's poem. At the end of the poem, Andrew Sanders writes, "[t]here is a firm return to the idea embodied by the house and its occupants as Fairfax's daughter is presented as the auspicious restorer of a limited earthly paradise, just as her father may yet be of the countryside at large": "It is she who has given these gardens what wondrous beauty they have; She gives straightness to the woods; She owes the sweetness of the meadow to her; Nothing could make the river so pure as crystal but she; She even more pure, sweet, straight and beautiful, than gardens, woods, meadows, rivers. Therefore what he once spent on them, they gratefully present again: the lawn, the carpets to walk on; the garden, the flowers to crown her head; and for her glass, the clear stream, where she can look at all its beauties; but, since she would not have seen them, the wood around her draws a screen. (st. 87-88)Nature is exalted throughout the poem, but Mary's beauty even surpasses Nunappleton's natural beauty. In fact, she is the cause of "that wonderful beauty", and like the kingfisher, "admiring nature numbs" (l. 672); that is, she controls the elements around her. Both Mary and Una try to hide their appearances from the outside world, probably because they know the power that resides within it. It is not only the external beauty of these women that interests poets; their inner beauty reveals that they are indeed moderate and excellent creatures. Both Spenser and.