1. In the Garden –Lawrence Raab By: James OMalley

2. Biography Birth Date: May 8, 1946 From Pittsfield, MA. Family- Married to Judith Ann Michaels, Daughter: Jennifer Professor- teaches English and Poetry Currently continues to read poetry

3. Symbols Garden=Heaven Adam and Eve=Parents Flowers=Children Change in Seasons=Growth of Life

4. Explication Before the Fall Adam and Eve tended the garden, Pruning and ordering, And when they slept The lavish trees and shrubs grew Just enough to require attention Adam and Eve watch over the children as they grow. Like flowers the spirits and emotions of kids need to be trimmed and taken care of.

5. Explication They didnt call it work. It was what they did, Being part of a plan They couldnt see the shape of. But they must have felt How pleased God was to observe them. One day was what they had, the same day, Its not a job to raise kids but a way of life. God is happy with what Adam and Eve (Parents in general) are doing with children.

6. Explication In which they worked separately. At night did they dream? I think They could not have dreamt, Since the past was the same As the futureneither hope Nor despair, only tendrils Life is stuck in time Man separates from Female

7. Explication And branches, the heaviness Of flowers leaning over the path That led from the man to the woman And which, each day, needed to be cleared. Children start to become adults Still needed their parents throughout their life, on certain occasions.

8. Literary Terms Before the Fall Symbols: Adam and Eve, Garden, Trees, and flowers. Adam and Eve tended the garden, Pruning and ordering, And when they slept Feminine Rhyme: words that rhyme using -ing The lavish trees and shrubs grew Just enough to require attention They didnt call it work. It was what they did, Enjambment: the running on of thought from a couplet without syntactical break. Being part of a plan They couldnt see the shape of. But they must have felt How pleased God was to observe them. Simile: a comparison between two things, using like or as. One day was what they had, the same day, In which they worked separately. At night did they dream? I think They could not have dreamt, Since the past was the same As the futureneither hope Nor despair, only tendrils And branches, the heaviness Of flowers leaning over the path That led from the man to the woman And which, each day, needed to be cleared.

9. Personal Analysis 1. Adam and Eve are parents that raise their children through life. 2. Adam and Eve- Man vs. Female Work together at first but then split up Flowers are obstructions between the man and women

10. Critical Analysis …they [Raabs poems] perfectly capture the persistent inner voice that provides a play-by-play account of ones life… (Seaman). Lawrence Raabs gracefully haunting poems explore the fine lines of our temporal lives, between distance and intimacy, limits and possibilities, present and past… (Lawrence Raab). Free-verse poet Lawrence Raab has published six volumes of his work, which uses simple, everyday language to explore a wide range of large, complicated issues (Lawrence Raab).

11. Works Cited Donna, Seaman. New and Selected Poems. Visible Signs. 99.15 (28 Apr. 2003). 2 pp. 4 Apr. 2013 http://search.proquest.com/docview/234498547/13DB8CBC9744E 693493/6?acountd Lawrence Raab. Contemporary Authors Online. (28 Oct. 2003). 3 pp. 16 Apr. 2013 Lawrence Raab. The Poetry Foundation. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Apr. 2013. http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/lawrence-raab Google Images