The Mower Against Gardens

"The Mower Against Gardens," a poem by W. H. Auden, explores the idea of resisting the urge to control and domesticate nature. Auden uses the metaphor of a mower to symbolize human attempts to shape and tidy gardens, which can reflect broader societal desires for order and perfection. The poem suggests that such efforts may be misguided, and that true beauty and meaning might lie in accepting nature’s unpredictability. It invites reflection on the balance between human intervention and respecting the natural world’s inherent complexity.