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Saturday, February 19, 2005 In the “Garden of Love”, Blake tells a story in which the speaker visits the place he used to play in as a child and discovers a chapel there. By using a simple narrative, Blake flashes out the juxtaposition of childhood innocence and adult experience. Indeed he amplifies the intrusive and oppressive Church, and institutionalization of religion with the use of form; in three stanzas, he is able to express his contempt and disgust for the Church in an ingénue manner.In the first stanza, the “Garden of Love” suggests a biblical allusion to the Garden of Eden; a place where pure love emanating from God to man, and innocence can be found. Hence this garden is like a sanctuary where the speaker can seek solace from the harsh realities of the world around him. Besides it is also a source of “joy and desires” for him. This imagery evokes positive images in the reader but turns awry when the speaker chances upon a chapel in the second line. The “Chapel” is a reference to the Church which imposes itself into the speaker’s private “Garden of Love”, a metaphorical reference to a place in the speaker’s heart. In addition, the alliteration and accents on “saw” and “seen” in the second line cues the reader to the shock of the speaker upon witnessing the destruction of the last vestige of pure joys and innocence in his heart. It also alerts the reader to a shift in the speaker’s perspective, from a naïve and carefree child’s to a disgruntled and stigmatized adult’s. Thus this sound in the first stanza is significant in creating a turning point for the story in which the Church has usurped this sanctuary in Blake’s heart. The theme of an intrusive Church is further elaborated on in the second stanza through the use of the imagery: “Thou shalt not.” All three words are stressed and slow down the rhythm of the poem. In fact, these three lines make up the beginning of each of the Ten Commandments. This is to signify that the speaker is disgusted at the Church for imposing rules and dictating every aspects of the Christian life. Notwithstanding, the Church even dictates the will of God and claims moral high ground over any issues in the society. All these have led to the killing of pleasures and passions the speaker used to have as a child. “The gates of this Chapel were shut” in the same stanza drives a schism between the hoi polloi and God. The individual is robbed of a personal relationship with God [Christianity in essence] even after the establishment of a new covenant when Jesus Christ was crucified. Horrifyingly, the Walk with God in the “Garden of Love” is halted by the intrusion of the Church in the sanctuary and the imagery of the shut gates has the effect of erecting a barrier between man and God, as if Christianity is an esoteric religion. The speaker then has no choice but to resort to his own understanding of the world, built on the memories of his childhood: “So I . . . Garden of Love/That . . . sweet flowers bore.” Moreover in a final coup de grace, the oppressive Church drives the lethal stake into the speaker’s heart because even what is left of the garden is “filled with graves” and “tombstones”, and invaded by “priests in black gowns.” These images paint a grim and bleak picture in which the speaker finds that the garden has degenerated into a dystopia and he can no longer find a return to innocence and pure love. On top of this, the priests who are like the custodians of the Ten Commandments, keep guard over the Chapel and prevent the common man from gaining a personal knowledge of God. Lastly, the internal rhyme in the last two lines further emphasizes the on-going oppression of the Church which has no signs of abating. Indeed the assonance on “gowns” and “rounds” points to the routine operation of the priests and signifies that the damnation of the garden will not cease. Furthermore the addition of an extra fourth accent in the last two lines gives a closure effect and the speaker is resigned to his fate. The extra fourth accent also signifies that the Holy Trinity is now desecrated by the Church [ironically] and the “briars”, in allusion to the Crown of Thorns, suggest that the Church is bent on making man suffer from their sins and trapping them in a living Hell forever. In conclusion Blake wrote this poem in protest to the Church of England’s stranglehold over the populace. The form he employs is highly creative and integral to portraying the Church as a monolithic and oppressive institution. 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 sweet 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 briers my joys and desires. ~William Blake |
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seems like salvation
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salvation (noun) The saving of the soul; the deliverance from sin and its consequences, and admission to eternal bliss, wrought for man by the atonement of Christ. |