In Milton's description of the marriage of Adam and Eve in Paradise Lost, the entire Garden of Eden is seen to participate in the celebration of their union. Spousal and nature imagery are woven together, beauty and desire joined in the mystery of Adam's amazement at this gift of his “other self” newly received from God's hand. Says Adam of his wife,To the nuptial bowerI led her blushing like the morn: all heaven,And happy constellations on that hourShed their selectest influence; the earthGave sign of gratulation, and each hill;Joyous the birds; fresh gales and gentle airsWhispered it to the woods, and from their wingsFlung rose, flung odours from the spicy shrub,Disporting, till the amorous bird of nightSung spousal, and bid haste the evening starOn his hill top, to light the bridal lamp.Joyous birds, whispering breezes, welcoming stars—they all share in the couple's holy delight in each other and in God.
Laboring the Earth: Transnational Reflections on the Environmental History of Work
