“In the Garden” –Lawrence Raab

1. “In the Garden” –Lawrence Raab By: James O’Malley

2. Biography • Birth Date: May 8, 1946 • From Pittsfield, MA. • Family- Married to Judith Ann Michaels, Daughter: Jennifer • Professor- teaches English and Poetry • Currently continues to read poetry

3. Symbols • Garden=Heaven • Adam and Eve=Parents • Flowers=Children • Change in Seasons=Growth of Life

4. Explication • Before the Fall Adam and Eve tended the garden, Pruning and ordering, And when they slept The lavish trees and shrubs grew Just enough to require attention • Adam and Eve watch over the children as they grow. • Like flowers the spirits and emotions of kids need to be trimmed and taken care of.

5. Explication • They didn’t call it work. It was what they did, Being part of a plan They couldn’t see the shape of. But they must have felt How pleased God was to observe them. One day was what they had, the same day, • It’s not a job to raise kids but a way of life. • God is happy with what Adam and Eve (Parents in general) are doing with children.

6. Explication • In which they worked separately. At night did they dream? I think They could not have dreamt, Since the past was the same As the future—neither hope Nor despair, only tendrils • Life is stuck in time • Man separates from Female

7. Explication • And branches, the heaviness Of flowers leaning over the path That led from the man to the woman And which, each day, needed to be cleared. • Children start to become adults • Still needed their parents throughout their life, on certain occasions.

8. Literary Terms • Before the Fall Symbols: Adam and Eve, Garden, Trees, and flowers. Adam and Eve tended the garden, Pruning and ordering, And when they slept Feminine Rhyme: words that rhyme using -ing The lavish trees and shrubs grew Just enough to require attention • They didn’t call it work. It was what they did, Enjambment: the running on of thought from a couplet without syntactical break. Being part of a plan They couldn’t see the shape of. But they must have felt How pleased God was to observe them. Simile: a comparison between two things, using like or as. One day was what they had, the same day, • In which they worked separately. At night did they dream? I think They could not have dreamt, Since the past was the same As the future—neither hope Nor despair, only tendrils • And branches, the heaviness Of flowers leaning over the path That led from the man to the woman And which, each day, needed to be cleared.

9. Personal Analysis 1. • Adam and Eve are parents that raise their children through life. 2. • Adam and Eve- Man vs. Female • Work together at first but then split up • Flowers are obstructions between the man and women

10. Critical Analysis • “…they [Raab’s poems] perfectly capture the persistent inner voice that provides a play-by-play account of one’s life…” (Seaman). • “Lawrence Raab’s gracefully haunting poems explore the fine lines of our temporal lives, between distance and intimacy, limits and possibilities, present and past…” (“Lawrence Raab”). • “Free-verse poet Lawrence Raab has published six volumes of his work, which uses simple, everyday language to explore a wide range of large, complicated issues” (“Lawrence Raab”).

11. Works Cited • Donna, Seaman. “New and Selected Poems.” Visible Signs. 99.15 (28 Apr. 2003). 2 pp. 4 Apr. 2013 <http://search.proquest.com/docview/234498547/13DB8CBC9744E 693493/6?acountd> • “Lawrence Raab.” Contemporary Authors Online. (28 Oct. 2003). 3 pp. 16 Apr. 2013 • “Lawrence Raab.” The Poetry Foundation. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Apr. 2013. <http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/lawrence-raab> • Google Images