THE GARDEN OF LOVE

I went to the garden of love and saw what I never had seen, a chapel was built in the midst where I used to play on the green. And the gates of this chapel were shut, And “Thou shalt not” writ over the door. So I turned to the garden of love, that so many flowers bore, and I saw it was filled with graves and tombstones where flowers should be, and priests in black gowns were walking their rounds and binding with briars my joys and desires.

These words were not originally written in prose; they are words from a poem structured poetically by the late 18^th century poet William Blake, The Garden of Love. Romantic poetry was dominated by the theme of love in all its facets. From the first generation romantics to the poetry of Shelley, Lord Byron and John Keats, love was a predominant feature. The Garden of Love was written to express Blake’s belief of the naturalness of sexuality and how organised religion, especially the orthodox Christian church, caused the repression of natural desire and stifled spontaneity. This was an extremely brave stance to take in a period when the church was so dominant and powerful. Blake’s indignation is evident from the words “…what I had never seen”. It is interesting that he says that he has “never” seen it, considering that he must have grown up as a child and young adult as being quite aware of the bigoted attitude of the church towards sexuality. It could be that he is speaking from the point of view of the innocent who has just entered the world of experience. This transition would have left him in a state of shock and sadness at how his previous freedom had been suddenly fettered and restrained by the church. The chapel was built in the middle, where he used to play, on the “green”.  The “green” has a special connotation here, as it mirrors the contrary poem, The Ecchoing Green. ( Read here.) This shows how “green” represents the previous, innocent freedom. To add to this, there is the obvious word “play” suggesting childhood. Refer to his Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience here.

Here is the poem in its original poetic structure:

I went to the Garden of Love,
And saw what I never had seen:
A Chapel was built in the midst,
Where I used to play on the green.
 And the gates of this Chapel were shut,
And Thou shalt not. writ over the door;
So I turn'd to the Garden of Love,
That so many sweet flowers bore.
 And I saw it was filled with graves,
And tomb-stones where flowers should be:
And Priests in black gowns, were walking their rounds,
And binding with briars, my joys & desires.

 

Tomorrow I’ll be looking at other First Generation Romantics.