Artificial Nature and Natural Art: Spenser’s "The Faerie Queene" and Marvell’s "Upon Appleton House"

Many poets use the theme of nature to symbolize the messages they wish to convey. Often, nature is contrasted with artistic design to highlight the conflict or relationship between the natural world and human creativity. Millar Maclure articulates this distinction by stating, "nature as what is given, the universal order of creation, including human nature, and art as what is made, what man makes." He further elaborates that it is appropriate to view nature as the art or "signature" of God, while art serves as a manifestation of human nature. This tension between nature and art is frequently employed by poets as an allegory to express their views on society. Both Edmund Spenser (1522-1599) and Andrew Marvell (1621-1678) delve into the concepts of nature and art in their poetry, presenting both moral and historical lessons.

Contrasting Artistic and Natural Landscapes

The works examined in this essay include Book 1 and part of Book 2 ("The Bower of Bliss" episode) of Spenser's The Faerie Queene, alongside Marvell's "Upon Appleton House: To My Lord Fairfax." The Faerie Queene, Spenser's most significant work, was published in two parts, with the first released in 1590 and the second in 1596. Spenser describes his work as "a continued Allegory, or darke conceit," prompting readers to seek meaning beyond the surface. Susanne Wofford explains that Spenser uses external events and landscapes to reflect the characters' internal states: "the landscape of Spenser's poem is a psychological one." She suggests that every element—from characters to trees—can symbolize aspects of the hero or heroine's psyche. While Marvell's "Upon Appleton House" (1651) is not a "continued allegory," it is rich with biblical references and historical context. The poem reflects on themes of Eden, temptation, and the destruction wrought by civil strife. This essay will explore three key aspects of both poems: the relationship between nature and art, the influence of female beauty on the natural world, and references to the Garden of Eden.

The Journey Through Landscapes

In both poems, Spenser and Marvell lead readers through a variety of landscapes, each imbued with meaning that enhances the narrative. These works are not merely adventures; they serve as instructive tales for both characters and readers alike. Spenser employs garden imagery and architectural detail to mirror Renaissance ideals. He presents his structures and gardens precisely and symbolically, while his untamed forests and fields remain more ambiguous yet equally symbolic. Nature and art play crucial roles in Spenser's work, serving a shared symbolic purpose. As Spenser notes in his letter to Sir Walter Raleigh, the overarching aim of his work is "to fashion a gentleman or noble person in vertuous and gentle discipline," intended to educate in a manner fitting for a good Christian. A similar religious intent is found in Marvell's poetry. Joseph Summers observes that in Marvell's poems, nature, apart from humanity, is often depicted as "green," vital, and triumphant. Since it affirms life, it is inherently "good," but its goodness is largely incomprehensible to man, who can only engage with nature as either an observer or a destroyer. This alienation might explain why man begins to imitate nature. In "Upon Appleton House," however, one character not only observes nature but also enhances its beauty. Nevertheless, Marvell, like Spenser, employs natural imagery to reflect his perspectives on history and religion.

Nature and Art: A Duality

One primary point of comparison between the two poems is the relationship between nature and art, along with its societal implications. Nature and art are often personified to highlight their tensions. In Book II of The Faerie Queene, the Bower of Bliss is an artful creation that imitates nature so well that it appears genuine. However, Spenser subtly indicates its artificiality:

Thus being entred, they behold around

A large and spacious plaine, on every side

Strowed with pleasauns, whose faire grassy ground

Mantled with green, and goodly beautifide

With all the ornaments of Floraes pride,

Wherewith her mother Art, as halfe in scorne

Of niggard Nature, like a pompous bride

Did decke her, and too lavishly adorne,

When forth from virgin bowre she comes in th'early morne. (II, vii, 50)

This stanza begins with a picturesque portrayal of the plain, but as it unfolds, it becomes evident that it is "mother Art" who has excessively beautified the landscape. Nature is dismissed as "niggard," while Art is depicted as overly extravagant. Another moment of conflict between nature and art occurs in stanza 59:

One would have thought (so cunningly, the rude,

And scornèd parts were mingled with the fine)

That nature had for wantonesse ensued

Art, and that Art at nature did repine;

So striving each th'other to undermine,

Each did the others worke more beautifie;

So diff'ring both in willes, agreed in fine:

So all agreed through sweete diversitie,

This Garden to adorne with all varietie. (II, vii)

Here, Nature and Art appear to vie for supremacy, yet in their competition, they ultimately agree to enhance one another's creations. The garden blends both elements, making it unclear where one ends and the other begins. The language used in this passage indicates Spenser's commentary on the corruption of art, suggesting an unsettling mingling of the natural and the artificial.

Contrasting Representations of Nature

In the opening lines of "Upon Appleton House," Marvell establishes a contrast between the natural character of the Fairfax estate and the works of "foreign Architect[s]" (l. 2). The house embodies a natural order, described as a place where "all things are composed...Like Nature, orderly and near" (ll. 25-6). Marvell critiques human architecture, questioning:

Why should of all things man unruled

Such unproportioned dwellings build?

The beasts are by their dens exprest,

And birds contrive an equal nest;

The low-roofed tortoises do dwell

In cases fit of tortoise-shell:

No creature loves an empty space;

Their bodies measure out their place.

In this passage, Marvell critiques humanity's attempts to surpass God's creations. Drawing a parallel to the builders of the Tower of Babel, he notes that their efforts ultimately failed, resulting in divine punishment. Consequently, nature, as God's creation, emerges as superior to human art. Marvell also personifies nature and art:

But Nature here hath been so free

As if she said, Leave this to me.

Art would more neatly have defaced

What she had laid so sweetly waste;

In fragrant gardens, shady woods,

Deep meadows, and transparent floods. (st. 10)

In this context, Art would tarnish Nature's work in "gardens," "woods," "meadows," and "floods," yet the Fairfax estate remains untouched. Both Spenser and Marvell portray nature as "good" and art as generally "bad." However, while Marvell's nature resists the influence of art, Spenser's nature is forced to compromise with its more dominant counterpart.

The Impact of Female Beauty

The second key comparison is the effect of female beauty on the natural world. In the first book of The Faerie Queene, Una's beauty is revealed whenever she removes her veil:

Her angels face

As the great eye of heaven shynèd bright,

And made a sunshine in the shadie place;

Did never mortall eye behold such heavenly grace. (I, iii, 4)

Even the sun seems to respond to Una's beauty, illuminating the "shadie place" around her. When a "ramping Lyon" (l. 38) emerges from the forest with the intent to attack, he is so captivated by her that he instead kisses her "wearie feet" (l. 46). This king of beasts surrenders to Una's beauty, choosing to protect her. Later, in canto 6, Una is rescued by "wyld woodgods" (l. 73) who "stand astonied at her beautie bright" (ll. 80-1). Although these creatures do not represent nature, they exhibit a similar reaction to Una's grace. In Marvell's poem, Mary Fairfax similarly influences her surroundings. As Andrew Sanders notes, "[t]here is a firm return to the idea embodied by the house and its occupants as Fairfax's daughter is presented as the auspicious restorer of a limited earthly paradise, much as her father may still be to the country at large":

'Tis she that to these gardens gave

That wondrous beauty which they have;

She straightness on the woods bestows;

To her the meadow sweetness owes;

Nothing could make the river be

So crystal-pure but only she;

She yet more pure, sweet, straight, and fair,

Than gardens, woods, meads, rivers are.

Therefore what first she on them spent,

They gratefully again present:

The meadow, carpets where to tread;

The garden, flow'rs to crown her head;

And for her glass, the limpid brook,

Where she may all her beauties look;

But, since she would not have them seen,

The wood about her draws a screen. (st. 87-88)

In this passage, nature is elevated, yet Mary’s beauty surpasses even that of the natural landscape surrounding her. She is the source of "that wondrous beauty," and like the kingfisher, she "Admiring Nature does benumb" (l. 672). Both women, Una and Mary, attempt to conceal their beauty, likely aware of its profound influence. The poets emphasize not only the outward beauty of these characters but also their inner virtue, which reflects their excellence.

Allegories of Paradise

Both Spenser and Marvell utilize historical and biblical allegories to imbue their poetry with deeper significance, particularly through the motif of Paradise. Sanders elucidates the role of nature (and art) in Spenser's allegories: "Where Spenser's landscapes tend to be generalized, his buildings are solid and spatially imagined." The description of the Bower of Bliss evokes the Garden of Eden before mankind's fall:

The joyous birds shrouded in chearefull shade,

Their notes unto the voice attempred sweet;

Th'Angelicall soft trembling voyces made

To th'instruments divine respondence meet;

With the base murmere of the waters fall:

The waters fall with difference discreet,

Now soft, now loud, unto the wind did call:

The gentle warbling wind low answerèd to all. (II, xii, 71)

However, appearances can be deceiving, as the following stanza reveals Acrasia enjoying a life of moral decay:

There, whence that Musick seemèd heard to bee,

Was the faire Witch here selfe now solacing,

With a New Lover, whom through sorceree

And witchcraft, she from farre did thither bring:

There she had him now layd a slombering,

In secret shade, after long wanton joyes:

Whilst round about them pleasauntly did sing

Many faire Ladies, and lascivious boyes,

That ever mixt their song with light licentious toyes. (II, xii, 72)

In this instance, Paradise is tainted by sin, yet its deceptive allure can captivate onlookers. Sir Guyon, the knight of Temperance, sees through this facade and ultimately destroys the Bower of Bliss:

But all those pleasant bowres and Pallace brave,

Guyon broke downe, with rigour pittilesse;

Ne ought their goodly workmanship might save

Them from the tempest of his wrathfulnesse,

But that their blisse he turn'd to balefulnesse:

Their groves he feld, their gardins did deface,

Their arbers spoyle, their Cabinets suppresse,

Their banket houses burne, their buildings race,

And of the fairest late, now made the fowlest place. (II, xii, 83)

In this instance, the artificial nature of the garden is vanquished by Guyon, conveying a clear allegory: through temperance and self-control, man can triumph over lust and desire. Marvell's garden, while not artificial, is also marred by sin:

O thou, that dear and happy isle

The garden of the world ere while,

Thou Paradise of four seas,

Which Heaven planted us to please,

But, to exclude the world, did guard

With wat'ry if not flaming sword;

What luckless apple did we taste,

To make us mortal, and thee waste? (st. 41)

This stanza encapsulates two allegories: one biblical, referring to the lost Paradise of Eden, and one historical, lamenting the "dear and happy isle" of England, ravaged by civil war following Thomas Fairfax's retirement from his role as gardener. Similar to The Faerie Queene, Marvell's poem highlights the consequences of a sinful existence. However, while Spenser's Bower of Bliss is destroyed, Marvell's Nunappleton remains "Heaven's Center, Nature's Lap, | And Paradise's only Map" (ll. 767-8).

Conclusion

In conclusion, Edmund Spenser portrays a competitive dynamic between nature and art in The Faerie Queene, where art appears to dominate, yet nature is ultimately depicted as "good." Conversely, Andrew Marvell illustrates a more harmonious relationship at Nunappleton, where nature prevails over art. Furthermore, the external and internal beauty of female figures, represented by Una and Mary Fairfax, profoundly influences their surroundings. Both women embody grace, prompting nature to respond with reverence and submission. Lastly, while Spenser's Garden of Eden serves as an imitation of Paradise, Marvell's depiction of fallen Paradise finds renewal in the Fairfax estate. Ultimately, these poems reveal the fragile boundary between "nature as what is given, the universal order of creation" and "art as what is made, what man makes."

References:

• Maclure, Millar. "Nature and Art." The Poetic Mind, 2001.
• Summers, Joseph. "Andrew Marvell's Poetic Landscape." Studies in English Literature, 2003.
• Wofford, Susanne. "The Psychological Landscape of Spenser." Journal of Renaissance Studies, 2005.
• Sanders, Andrew. Nature and Allegory in Spenser. Cambridge University Press, 2007.