Similizing the Brain to a Garden

¹
The brain a garden seems, full of delight,²
Whereon³ the sun of knowledge shineth bright,
Where fancy flows, and runs in bubbling streams,
Where flowers grow⁴ upon the banks of dreams,
Whereon the dew of sleepy eyes doth fall,                            5
Bathing each leaf, and every flower small.
There⁵ various thoughts as several flowers grow:
Some milk-white innocence, as⁶ lilies, show,
Fancies, as painted tulips’⁷ colors fixt,
By Nature’s pencil neatly⁸ intermixt;                                      10
Some as sweet roses, which are newly blown,
Others as tender buds, not yet full⁹ grown;
Some, as small violets, much¹⁰ sweetness bring.
Thus many fancies from the brain still spring.
Their wit, as butterflies, hot love¹¹ do make,                        15
On every flower fine their pleasure take,¹²
Dancing¹³ about each leaf in pleasant sort,
Passing¹⁴ their time away in amorous sport.
Like Cupids young, their painted wings display,
And with Apollo’s golden beams do¹⁵ play.                            20
Industrious pains¹⁶, as¹⁷ bees, suck out the sweet,
Wax of invention gather¹⁸ with their feet.
Then on the¹⁹ wings of fame fly to their hive,
Which from the wint’r of²⁰ death keeps them alive.
There birds of poetry sweet notes still sing,                          25
Which through the world, as through the air, do²¹ ring,
And on the branches of delight they²² sit,
Pruning their wings, which are with study wet,
Then to the cedars of high honor fly,
Yet rest not there, but mount up to the sky.                           30

This poem isn’t what I normally find enjoyable. It hits far too close to home. Because if you think about it a brain and thus the person it forms is like a garden. What seeds you plant, what flowers or poison you grow all depends on what you sow. In MacBeth, the title character is haunted by his choices. So much so that the entire play is rumoured to be cursed. As a person you are what you decide to be. The initial seeds are planted by your caregivers but then you are ceded gardenerhood and most tend your own garden.