Summary

This poem serves as the prologue for the novel. The poem discusses the revolt of nature. After the Biblical fall, nature has risen up to create a second Eden with the destruction of humanity.

Analysis

Atwood’s opening poem has two line stanzas. This sets it apart from the rest of the poems in this novel which all have four line stanzas. This suggests that it has added importance. It comes first and is written in a different format than the other poems.

Throughout the novel, Atwood uses capitalization for emphasis. In this poem she has capitalized: “Garden,” “Spoilers,” “Water,” “Birds,” “Trees,” “Life,” “Gardeners.” Capitalizing these words suggests an emphasis on nature, as most of these are nature words. The odd word out is "Spoilers." This references humanity. They are the spoilers of the Garden and had to be thrown out before the...