Garden Of Love By Blake Essay, Research Paper

In William Blake’s Garden of Love, published in 1794, the speaker shows that

from day one of any persons life, nothing remains uniform. That life is always

in a state of change, disarray, and inconsistency. The speaker tries to do this

by bringing you to a state of being and realization of the church, nature, and

sentimental meaning. He accomplishes this task thoroughly by using many

different poetic forms such as symbolism allusions and imagery. The speakers

main objective is to show lives inevitable changes. That life no matter how one

may remember, whether it be as a child, adult, or elder, that it will not remain

constant. In Blake’s poem Garden of Love the speaker shows this by telling of a

life experience. He tells of a Garden, beautiful and pure, "That so many

sweet flowers bore;" (8), and how it was a place of sanctuary for him in

his youth. This allusion of his Garden of Love is that of Edenic imagery. He see

his garden as a place of peace, where nature, God, and him, are one; such as the

Garden of Eden. By using this imagery he shows that even from day one of human

existence, that things evolve and mutate. That through individuals actions of

what they think may be virtuous and moral, may indeed be an act of devastation

and destruction. As a result, the Garden of Eden and the Garden of Love became

extinct and untouchable for all. The speaker portrays this by stating, "And

binding with briars my joys and desires" (12). The speaker feels that the

equilibrium which existed between them and all that lived in the garden became

nothing but a memory. A retrospection of the way life used to be; a taboo

feeling that used to breathe freely through their veins. He continues his story

by telling of his expedition back to his garden later in life, only to find out

that his Garden of Love had "… tomb-stones where flowers should be:"

(10), and that it had been taken over by the church. This visual and internal

image helps to, very straight forwardly, represent death. The death of his

feelings, the death of his peaceful environment, the death of his, and others,

lives. This radical internal imagery remarkably aids in the feeling of pain and

hurt that the speaker felt when he saw what had happened to his "Garden of

Love." Furthermore, the "flowers" are a form of female sexual

imagery. The flowers now replaced with graves has a very brutal and harsh

connotation. The symbolic meaning of loosing a loved one, or loved ones. His

life is no longer filled with love, but with death. Perhaps the death of his

wife, mother, of female friend. Whatever the case may be, the speaker has lost

someone of great and dear importance to him, and no one is there for him, not

even the church. He states, "And the gates of this Chapel were shut,"

(5), insinuating that the church had not helped or comforted him, but destroyed

this equilibrium of peace that used to be present in this environment. In

addition, organized church did not help people of all types. It shows that

religion is segregating, and only concerned with the well-being of itself, and

not others. In line (12), "And binding with briars my joys and

desires", it has the allusion to Christ on the cross. The briars, a thorny

rose type bush, represents the crown of thorns worn on Christ head. That somehow

Christ’s love was now turning to death, and he had no one to turn to, except his

God, for comfort. Like the speaker, that found joy in his garden, he can now

only seek the compassion of his own God, nature.