Garden of Eden (Allegory)
Lanyer draws parallels between Cooke-ham and the Garden of Eden. In the book of Genesis in the Old Testament of the Bible, Adam and Eve are banished from their idyllic paradise after committing the original sin (eating the forbidden fruit of the tree of knowledge) and falling from God’s glory. Likewise, the speaker dwells with Margaret and Anne Clifford in an estate thriving with botanical splendor and Christian virtue, then sees the decline of the space as they leave. Lanyer suggests, however, that it is not sin but rather social structures (e.g., class, marriage, property) that cause her and the Cliffords to leave their garden.
Philomela (Motif, Symbol, Allegory)
The poem alludes to Philomela twice, evoking both the nightingale and the mythical Athenian princess who turned into the bird after being raped and mutilated by her brother-in-law Tereus. In the myth, Philomela has her tongue cut out, attempts to tell the story of her assault by illustrating it in her tapestries, then is murdered along with her sister Procne. In the poem, the singing nightingale welcomes the countess upon her arrival, but as she leaves, fails to win her attention with a song that “procur[es] no pity” (Line 190). (Could the word “procure” be a subtle nod to the name “Procne”?) The subtext of the Philomela myth perhaps allegorizes the failure of female community at Cooke-ham. The nightingale may also symbolize the anxiety the poet feels as her countess’s songbird, commissioned to weave out a poem (like Philomela at her loom) yet fearing her work might be unsuccessful.
Embraces (Motif)
There are multiple embraces in the poem: at Cooke-ham, trees “[e]mbrace[] each other” (Line 24), streams are “embraced” “by the glorious sun” (Line 28), and an oak tree “spread[s] his arms abroad” as if to embrace the countess (Line 61). The motif of physical touch is continued by the “chaste, yet loving kiss” bestowed from the countess to the oak tree. These moments of bodily touch contrast the physically distanced relationship between the countess and Lanyer, who never hug or kiss, and even find themselves separated into different “frame[s]” (Line 104) of the world. Yet the speaker, as she narrates in Lines 162–168, is jealous of the oak tree. The tension invites readers to consider the different forms of intimacy that are explored and/or left unexplored in the poem. Is the poet using Cooke-ham’s trees and streams to embrace the countess by proxy?
