The Imperfect Paradise

The Imperfect Paradise

"If God had stopped work after the fifth day..." The first line of the poem goes to wonder about a world without man or woman where "the genius of creation"(line5) is nature and the landscape. The poem then goes on to ask whether or not God would "hunger for a human crowd?"(line11) or rest on his "bank of cloud"(line9). After reading the poem there are many aspects that give us the impression the speaker does not view man kind as a worthy dweller on earth. If we look at the title "The Imperfect Paradise" it seems to state what the world is now, and then the poem comes to be almost an opinion of a better world. When the speaker talks of nature and what life would be without man zee uses soft, beautiful imagery such as "..oak and lilac held exclusive sway" and "Over a kingdom made of stems and roots" These images make the world without man seem innocent and beautiful. However when talking of the creation of man the speaker starts to bring a sense of trouble and worry to the poem for God. The first time man is mentioned it is along side the serpent, or the devil, "And neither man nor serpent played a role"(line6). This allusion to eating the apple and creating sin ultimately is brought up and blames man for anything seemingly bad right from the beginning of the poem. In lines 9-10 God is given the image of laying back on a "bank of cloud", implying that he does not have to worry about man on earth. Yet once again the choice of words leads to a bitter impression of man when the speaker asks "Or would he hunger for a human crowd?"(line11) The idea of hunger makes man seem less beautiful and more needing, basically  unpleasant just as hunger is to a man. If you were to look at the last two line of the poem you would also get a bitter taste towards man from the word choice. When talked about "Which would a wise creator choose"(line13) be it nature or man. Nature is pictated with "green" and "budding leaf" while man is said to be a "strict contract". Throughout the poem it seems that the speaker is putting down mankind for bringing sin into the world and wreaking what would have been an otherwise perfect garden. This idea is brought out through the harsh and more negative words and allusions such as the serpent towards man when compared to the flowing and beautiful imagery of nature.