Adam's Song

Earthly love is among the most potent forces in “Adam’s Song,” and the human ability to communicate and represent that love is presented as an alternative to the despair caused by humanity’s expulsion from the Garden of Eden. Importantly, Adam’s defense “against his own damnation” does not defend either him or Eve except by presenting their earthly affection towards one another (Line 13). The idea behind the song, in fact, seems to depend on love as a force both contrary and opposite to that of damnation.

The speaker’s indication that “Nothing has changed” since Eve’s time (Line 9) and that Adam’s song is still sung by men in the contemporary era suggests that the power of love to defend against damnation is not limited to the Garden of Eden. In fact, the song and the affection that it demonstrates seems to present the world outside of the garden as a preferable alternative. The poem presents the garden as a place of predators, conflict—where “death com[es] out of the trees” (Line 17). The garden, after Eve’s transgression, is formally chaotic and “lost to vipers” (Line 11). The world outside of the garden, by contrast, appears stable through Walcott’s use of rhyme (See: Literary Devices). The implicit suggestion is that the postlapsarian world crafted from human freewill is the true paradise, and whatever has been lost in the Fall can be made up through valuable human connections.

This means that one should forgive the adulterer. When the speaker argues that Eve’s actions either make “everyone guilty or Eve innocent” (Line 8), they are presenting two potential and contrary outcomes. If Eve is innocent, it is logically impossible that everyone could be guilty. Therefore, the forgiveness that comes along with love has the power to extinguish the guilt and sin associated with the Fall of Mankind. This theme parallels Christ’s overarching message about the power of love which ultimately resulted in him sacrificing himself to free humanity from sin.