Colie, Rosalie L. "Marvell's `Bermudas' and the Puritan Paradise.” Renaissance News 10.2 (1957): 75-79. JSTOR. Web. 2 Dec. 2015. .
Colie makes the argument that the Bermudas that Marvell refers to in his poem does not exist on a physical plane, but rather on a metaphysical one. This can be evidenced by the fact that “the hogs, the summer-flies, the cockroaches have all vanished” (79) from the island, which in reality, they are present in the real-life Bermuda, but not present in the Garden of Eden. She cites the fact that Marvell became acquainted with John Oxenbridge who gave him his connection to the Bermudas despite never having gone there, as well as the fact that Oxenbridge was a Puritan minister; therefore, he could have been a factor that influenced Marvell’s use of religious references in his poem. She also stated that Oxenbridge was “a contributor to Puritan expansionist propaganda” (76), which could explain why the last twelve lines of the poem had to do with praising God and spreading religion. I agree with Colie’s argument because Marvell’s poem does contain many religious references, as well as elements of Bermuda that seem to be not of this world which only serves to reinforce the fact that the Bermuda that Marvell spoke of is not real, but mythical. I believe this source will be beneficial to my paper because it supports my thesis …show more content…
He questions why it is the rowers are rowing and why they are trying to go to the paradise. He says that the rowers “row not in order to propel the boat, but to keep time with their singing” and they seem “So focused on the material riches (e.g. the ambergris of line 28) and the carnal comforts so provocatively and forcefully impressed upon them”, these serve to show that the rowers were religious, but they were still human who could be both tempted and
Colie makes the argument that the Bermudas that Marvell refers to in his poem does not exist on a physical plane, but rather on a metaphysical one. This can be evidenced by the fact that “the hogs, the summer-flies, the cockroaches have all vanished” (79) from the island, which in reality, they are present in the real-life Bermuda, but not present in the Garden of Eden. She cites the fact that Marvell became acquainted with John Oxenbridge who gave him his connection to the Bermudas despite never having gone there, as well as the fact that Oxenbridge was a Puritan minister; therefore, he could have been a factor that influenced Marvell’s use of religious references in his poem. She also stated that Oxenbridge was “a contributor to Puritan expansionist propaganda” (76), which could explain why the last twelve lines of the poem had to do with praising God and spreading religion. I agree with Colie’s argument because Marvell’s poem does contain many religious references, as well as elements of Bermuda that seem to be not of this world which only serves to reinforce the fact that the Bermuda that Marvell spoke of is not real, but mythical. I believe this source will be beneficial to my paper because it supports my thesis …show more content…
He questions why it is the rowers are rowing and why they are trying to go to the paradise. He says that the rowers “row not in order to propel the boat, but to keep time with their singing” and they seem “So focused on the material riches (e.g. the ambergris of line 28) and the carnal comforts so provocatively and forcefully impressed upon them”, these serve to show that the rowers were religious, but they were still human who could be both tempted and