Saturday, January 11, 2014

Adam, well may we labour still to dress this garden


...still to tend Plant, Herb and Flour,
Our pleasant task enjoyn'd, but till more hands
Aid us, the work under our labour grows,
Luxurious by restraint; what we by day
Lop overgrown, or prune, or prop, or bind, 
One night or two with wanton growth derides
Tending to wilde. Thou therefore now advise
Or hear what to my minde first thoughts present,
Let us divide our labours, thou where choice
Leads thee, or where most needs, whether to wind 
The Woodbine round this Arbour, or direct
The clasping Ivie where to climb, while I
In yonder Spring of Roses intermixt
With Myrtle, find what to redress till Noon:
For while so near each other thus all day 
Our taske we choose, what wonder if so near
Looks intervene and smiles, or object new
Casual discourse draw on, which intermits
Our dayes work brought to little, though begun
Early, and th' hour of Supper comes unearn'd. 

-John Milton, Paradise Lost

9 comments:

Chip Ahoy said...

How very odd to tend a plant, herb and flour, and not flower.

Because flour is powder that comes from the seeds of a plant and the other things are garden things and so are flowers.

Wikipedia says he was born on Bread St., so right there Milton should know better.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

There's a guy who lives in the house behind us who looks exactly like that farmer dude.

He's an engineer, though. Drives a little pickup.

His wife lost a bunch of weight but now she's fat again.

chickelit said...

Chip Ahoy said...
How very odd to tend a plant, herb and flour, and not flower.

Not odd, Chip. Milton just lived and wrote before the Great Clarification.

MamaM said...

When a self described dolt and logic challenged bag of goo turns turtle to post a non gooey, non doltish, deep, and rather complex poem by Milton, a polemicist, regarding the tending of a garden, the questions that come up for me are "Why? What is this about? and What would prompt someone covered in girl cooties to invite a crowd to gather around the window and take another look at the landscape of original sin and human purpose?"

Whatever's involved with the duality present in the doltish, non doltish material being presented, I'm up for the game of searching for light in the levity as long as my awareness and considerations do not have to be papered over, denied, or ignored in the name of nice. Which brings the whole matter at hand back to an old Favorite, one that is older than the hills, the Garden and whatever other chaos, order, blessed or accursed ground exists; and that is the beyond time awareness of the power and value of Truth and Grace.

Curiously enough, the ending of this epic poem contains a line befitting recent experiences in blogland and life:
Thus they in mutual accusation spent
The fruitless hours, but neither self-condemning;
And of their vain contest appeared no end.

deborah said...

"as long as my awareness and considerations do not have to be papered over, denied, or ignored in the name of nice."

I'm not sure what you are getting at here. Will you please clarify your meaning?

MamaM said...

When it comes to fishing, deborah, I consider you to be in the master class category. Me, I'm still learning to resist the bait.

If you're willing to clarify what you mean by the doltish/non doltish dichotomy in the material being presented under your name, I'd consider responding with more clarity on my end.

Until then, the answer is no.

Milton's poem was a wonderful find. I was unfamiliar with that great ending and probably wouldn't have found it if it were not for your post. It was much appreciated!

deborah said...

"If you're willing to clarify what you mean by the doltish/non doltish dichotomy in the material being presented under your name"

Please forgive, but I guess I'm out of practice from our days of fun word play at Trooper's. If you're referring to my use of the work dolt in my reply to Haz in the How Are Ya? thread, and playfully calling myself goo-headed and be-cootied in talking with ARM, I throw myself on the mercy of the court of over-colloquialization. Please don't throw me in the briar patch!

"regarding the tending of a garden, the questions that come up for me are "Why? What is this about? and What would prompt someone covered in girl cooties to invite a crowd to gather around the window and take another look at the landscape of original sin and human purpose?"

It's a beautiful passage. My purpose is not to examine the bitterness following the Fall, but to call attention to the beauty surrounding the still 'innocent.'

Your ending quotation unfortunately, is all too apt.

MamaM said...

Your ending quotation unfortunately, is all too apt.

On this we agree! It's fun to find common ground,very garden like, almost playful, if it weren't for that darned talking snake with the forked tongue that hangs around. It's more subtle dangerous than a pitched fork in the hands of a determined and duty driven farmer.

As for you being out of practice from our fun days of word play at the other-other-other place, you still sound plenty practiced to my ears, but maybe that's grace!

Along with my lack of awareness regarding the poem's end, I didn't know Milton was a polemicist either. So I've that to thank you for too! Your return opened new windows of understanding and I'm grateful.

deborah said...

I'm grateful that you're grateful :)