Seizing the "bounty of this virtuous tree": the sexual underpinnings of Jeffersonian pastoralism in Brother to Dragons.(Robert Penn Warren)(Critical Essay) From: The Southern Literary Journal | Date: March 22, 2002| Author: Shaheen, Aaron | COPYRIGHT 2002 University of North Carolina Press. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan.  All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group.Copyright information

   "For never did thy beauty since the day 
   I saw thee first and wedded thee, adorned 
   With all perfections, so inflame my sense 
   With ardor to enjoy thee, fairer now 
   Than ever--bounty of this virtuous tree." 
 
   --from Paradise Lost, Book IX 

Adam's words to Eve upon eating the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge serve as a constant reminder that we cannot discuss original sin without mention of sexuality. For no sooner do Adam and Eve eat of the fru...