앤드류 마블의 목가시에 나타난 자연과 존 밀턴의 『실낙원』에 나타난 자연 비교

Abstract

Andrew Marvell and John Milton share in common the mystical idea that nature is the mirror which illuminates man's purposes and emotions. This argument can be established by the fact that both Marvell and Milton consider their nature as the resource which provides not only classical otium but physical and mental satisfaction as well. They also think that man has the ability to be in harmony with nature, let alone to be shut out of it. According to Marvell, man can come by physical satisfaction and mental repose from nature through the compliant life with it and proceed to 'Paradise Within'. He believes that there are purity and sacred power in nature and thus man can communicate with God through Christian meditation, retreating to nature. In other words, Marvell's nature does not depend on man, plays an active and subjective role, and has absolute perfectness in itself. In contrast with Marvell's attitude toward nature, Milton describes nature as passive nature, also known as 'Paradise Regained' which can be achieved through man's contrition only. This sort of nature is far from a perfect world, because man's labor is a prior prerequisite for Milton's nature. In Paradise Lost man's labor can give vitality and joy to life, stimulating man's creativeness. And it can also be used as an allusion to mental growth By means of enamelled images, Marvell and Milton try in common to describe more perfect and happier nature than that of the classical poets of the Golden Age. And moreover they each apply their own particular conceptional image into nature, let alone non-visual images. Marvell revives perfect nature which mingles a red and white world, known as a sensuous and secular one, and a green world, known as a mental and pure one, together. Milton, using olfactory images, tries to describe an exotic world and routine experiences remote from the earthly world.