Rebuilding The Vanished Garden

W.S.Merwin(1927-)is one of the representatives of new surrealism poetry movement in America.The researches on his poems at home and abroad are mainly from such perspectives as the ecological criticism,zoopoetics and psychoanalysis of Lacanian theory.Some scholars also explore the images of shadow and animal in his poems and some make a detailed study on the influences of Chinese Zen thought and Taoism on him.However,few studies on the garden image in his poems are explored to illustrate the relationship between man and nature,leaving room for the thesis' s study.Through careful reading,the thesis writer finds the image of garden reoccurs frequently in Merwin's middle and later stage of writing;besides,Merwin also builds a garden in his life.The garden not only refers to garden itself but nature in a broad sense.The thesis writer thinks that these poems with the image of garden and Merwin's garden practice expresses that his pursuit for the harmonious relationship between man and nature in three stages: to recollect,to denounce and to reestablish.Therefore,this thesis intends to explore Merwin's thinking on the relationship between man and nature by applying the idea of ecological holism of Leopold's land ethic,based on the analysis of his poems and practice.Such thinking is represented in Merwin's reminiscence of the harmonious relationship between man and nature in the past,denunciation of current imbalance of the harmonious relationship between man and nature and his desire for reestablishment of the harmonious relationship between man and nature.The thesis consists of introduction,main body and conclusion.In the introduction,the thesis writer briefly outlines W.S.Merwin's works and literature reviews on him both at home and abroad.Besides,the thesis statement,the terminology,the theory introduction and the thesis structure are also included in this part as well.The main body is made up of three parts.The first chapter discusses Merwin's reminiscence of the harmonious relationship between man and nature in the past,which is represented in his memories of the oldgarden and pastoral life.The first part mainly analyzes Merwin's recollection of the old garden in his poems,containing his memory of cultivating and appreciating the scenery in the old garden,which expresses the intimate relation between man and nature.The second part analyzes Merwin's recalling of pastoral life in France,including his memory of simple lifestyle and pastoral scenery,which implies the closeness between man and nature.The second chapter explores Merwin's denouncement of the current imbalance of the harmonious relationship between man and nature.Firstly the chapter will criticize the destruction to the harmony between man and nature owing to anthropocentrism,including the cutting of trees and blind expansion of city.Secondly the chapter will denounce the damage to human and nature because of the disappearance of the“garden”,including the loss of man's spirit and the warning of world's extinction,which intensifies the deteriorated relation between man and nature.The third chapter will discuss Merwin's desire for reestablishment of the harmonious relationship between man and nature in his poems and practice.The first part is to analyze Merwin's hope to reestablish the harmonious relation between man and nature in his poems,including his longing for the garden and his planting trees in the garden,which displays his vision for the harmony between human and nature.The second part explains Merwin's desire for building the harmony between man and nature in his practice.He builds a garden in life to take responsibility for protecting the natural environment and put the ecological concept into practice.The thesis draws a conclusion that through Merwin's portrait of the image of garden in his poems and his garden practice in life,Merwin expresses his thinking on the relationship between man and nature in an ecological unity.He also reveals his concern about the environmental deterioration today.This thesis has both academic and realistic significance,namely the image of garden is a creative topic to explore Merwin's ecological thought.Its realistic significance lies in the fact that adapting to the awareness of environmental protection and the construction of ecological civilization,this thesis can help to inspire people's awareness of environmental protection.