Examine critically the ways in which nature is perceived in the poetry of Andrew Marvel.

In the Garden, the speaker goes on to praise the solitude and quiet of his retreat into the garden, believing that he was mistaken to have once sought “Fair Quiet’ and “Innocence” among the “busy companies of men.” He also associates his private retreat with a holy experience, stating that the “sacred plants” of quiet and innocence can only grow amongst the organic plants in the garden. In other words, the material surrounding of the garden makes room in the speaker's heart and mind for the cultivation of spiritual values, which life in society has forced him to disregard.

In "Coy Mistres", the speaker then uses the metaphor of a “vegetable love” to suggest a slow and steady growth that might increase to vast proportions, perhaps encoding a phallic suggestion. This would allow him to praise his lady’s features – eyes, forehead, breasts, and heart – in increments of hundreds and even thousands of years, which he says that the lady clearly deserves due to her superior stature. H