Question

Read the poem.

excerpt from "The Garden of Proserpine"
by Algernon Charles Swinburne




Part A

How does the imagery in the poem’s first stanza affect its meaning?

Responses

The first stanza paints a picture of the quiet and peaceful world that existed before mankind created technology and ruined it all.

The first stanza paints a picture of the quiet and peaceful world that existed before mankind created technology and ruined it all.

The images of “dead winds” and “spent waves,” combined with those of “the green field growing” and people “reaping” at “harvest-time,” help convey that the poem is about death and life.

The images of “dead winds” and “spent waves,” combined with those of “the green field growing” and people “reaping” at “harvest-time,” help convey that the poem is about death and life.

The imagery describes how the natural world will continue to grow and flourish, no matter what happens to mankind.

The imagery describes how the natural world will continue to grow and flourish, no matter what happens to mankind.

Many negative words—“dead,” “spent,” “riot,” “doubtful”—establish that the poem is talking about the sadness each person experiences in life. The poem is saying that all life is full of sadness and any potential happiness is only a dream.

Many negative words—“dead,” “spent,” “riot,” “doubtful”—establish that the poem is talking about the sadness each person experiences in life. The poem is saying that all life is full of sadness and any potential happiness is only a dream.
Question 2
Part B

How is the meaning described in Part A further expressed in the poem’s second stanza?

Responses

The speaker is critical of man’s “desires and dreams and powers” and suggests that man is powerless compared to nature.

The speaker is critical of man’s “desires and dreams and powers” and suggests that man is powerless compared to nature.

The speaker longs to be out in the natural world where restful sleep is possible and a new day is always dawning.

The speaker longs to be out in the natural world where restful sleep is possible and a new day is always dawning.

The “blown buds of barren flowers” that the speaker references in this stanza symbolize how death touches all living things.

The “blown buds of barren flowers” that the speaker references in this stanza symbolize how death touches all living things.

The speaker says he is tired of people and their bad decisions, which always ruin the happy things in life.

The speaker says he is tired of people and their bad decisions, which always ruin the happy things in life.

Answer 1

Part A — choose:
"The images of 'dead winds' and 'spent waves,' combined with those of 'the green field growing' and people 'reaping' at 'harvest-time,' help convey that the poem is about death and life."

Why: the stanza juxtaposes images of decay and of renewal, so the meaning centers on the cycle between death and living growth.

Part B — choose:
"The 'blown buds of barren flowers' that the speaker references in this stanza symbolize how death touches all living things."

Why: the second stanza reinforces the first stanza’s theme of transience by showing that even budding life becomes barren — death or sterility affects everything.