FREE ESSAY ON GARDEN OF LOVE

GARDEN OF LOVE

William Blake's Garden of Love
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.