Poetry Ch. 4 Imagery (1)

"A strain of the earth's sweet being in the beginning
In Eden garden. -Have, get, before it cloy," Pg. 774

"Spring" by Gerald Manley Hopkins contains an alliteration to the Garden of Eden. I believe that this allusion also connects to the girl and boy mentioned in later lines. From the allusion to the Garden of Eden, readers can deduce that the girl and boy are Eve and Adam. The allusion to the Garden of Eden creates a comparison between the innocence of Adam and Eve at the beginning before they ate from the tree of knowledge and the innocence of springtime. Both are beautiful and uncorrupted. I think that the allusion helps us make a connection to how the author views spring because he alludes to an event that most people are familiar with. "Long and lovely and lush; Thrush's eggs look little low heavens." This quote is an alliteration that focuses the reader to the harmonious sounds and sights of spring. The alliteration and allusion work together to emphasize the harmonious innocence of spring.