In “The Garden of Love” by William
Blake, Blake is generally commenting on the orthodox church and the
observations he makes as a result of its presence. First off, the
title itself made me think of Adam and Eve, and the temptation they
experienced. These themes of temptation and natural desire come
alive in lines 1-2. Blake explains how he “saw what I never had
seen.” Besides the fact that some kind of physical change has
taken place to the area in which he used to play as a child, there
are some other things being acknowledged here. There are a few
instances throughout the poem in which he expresses his general
distaste toward the Church, and in his first two lines here, it
almost made me think of the invasion of Christianity onto these
lands, and the invasion of Christianity and religion in general onto the innocent, pure mind of a child. I might have been reading into
it too much, but maybe he is also hinting towards the transition from
childhood into the adult world of temptation and sin?
Moving along to Line 5 where Blake
makes the observation that the chapel doors were shut, I found
another instance where the theme of human access to to Christianity
is shown; he is expressing his dissatisfaction with organized
religion because of that inaccessibility. The doors are physically
shut, and read words such as “Thou shalt not” on the door. His
description of “priests in black gowns” completes the overall
image in my head of an area being described with negative dark
undertones, representing his unhappiness with Christianity.
The word use and imagery in lines 6-7
where he transitions from the description of the Garden of Love, and
describing flowers as “sweet” to describing the “grave filled
tomb stones” was an abrupt change in mood from light to dark.
Could this possibly nod at the “lightness” of the purity of
childhood being invaded by the darkness of progressing age and
discovery of sin? I would think so. As a child, who's mind is pure
and innocent and rid of bad things, he never realized he had all
along been playing in a graveyard.
In line 12, where he describes the
priests in black gowns making their rounds “and binding with briars
my joys and desires,” the image that came to mind of being “bound”
to something was another negative connotation in my opinion, and made
me think of the way people bind themselves to religion, and for
Blake, religion binding itself to an individual robs them of their
joys and desires, because they sacrifice themselves and their
happiness to a deity they have no idea how to access directly.
Lastly, the fact that Love was
capitalized could possibly reference Jesus Christ and the access
people have to him. Direct contact with God is impossible, so we
turn to a “Garden of Love” to communicate that Love indirectly. Overall, Blake's commentary on the Church, religion in general, changes, childhood and repression of desires really makes this short poem go a long way.
I think you're proposing an interesting idea by saying that the narrator is transitioning from childhood into the adult world of temptation and sin; that is what I thought too. I envisioned the narrator as a young individual who was ignorant to not only the truths behind the Orthodox church but to the world around him. I saw the gates/door of the Chapel to be shut as representing his own mind (its ignorance) being naïve and shut off from religion. In other words, he had known it existed, but worshipped it blindly. now he is able to see the church for its true nature: this dark, controlling force. The child's innocence can thus be seen as completely lost and forcefully replaced with sin and rational thought and questioning of the forces around him. Everything has suddenly become serious and obscure to him: he can no longer play in the green, the flowers have been replaced with graves, etc. It's quite sad and dark, really.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the "binding with briars my joys and desires" line goes, I envisioned Jesus being crucified for some reason...
What a great exchange you guys--I'm really excited to talk to both of you about this in class tomorrow. You both have hit on some excellent points. Gabriella, your connection between Christ and the briars is definitely on point. Always be suspicious of prickly foliage in Blake--he's deeply versed in religious imagery and frequently turns to it as a means of explaining his own imaginary mythos (which is straight up whacky!).
ReplyDeleteThe Chapel, as portrayed here by the speaker/Blake, commits a triple offense to the (child’s?) mind. It is described as simultaneously intrusive, exclusive, and punitive.
ReplyDeleteI remember when the drive-in theater 2 miles from my house closed down, and there is a sense of injury, like someone’s deliberately taking a part of your childhood from you. And the way the Chapel is “built in the midst,/Where I used to play in the green” (3-4) implies the speaker feels that sort of injury: the building isn’t on the edge, but exactly smack dab in the middle.
Furthermore, the lines “the gates of this Chapel were shut,/And Thou shalt not writ over the door” (5-6) create not only a physical, but a (social?) barrier through which access seems impossible.
Finally, there is the imposed penalty for breaking the “shalt-nots,” as the priests “bind…with briars” (12), creating not only restraints, but what seem very painful ones, where struggling only makes it worse.
I am interested in how you guys view the narrator as transitioning from childhood to adulthood. I did not pick up on that or read it that way; however, I do agree with Gabriella when she said that he was worshiping the church blindly. I think the last stanza is definitely the darkest and most interesting. To me, the line " And tomb-stones where flowers should be:" is saying that where creativity, aesthetics, and religion once bloomed there is now nothingness and coldness.
ReplyDeleteThe priests "walking their rounds" sounds more like guards in prison making their rounds to check on their prisoners. Blake is saying that where I once thought religion was a 'Garden of Love' it is now a prison sentence that he has received for worshiping so blindly.
Lastly the lines " and binding with briars, my joys & desires" goes back to the idea that he is bound from making his own decisions about his creativity and his religion. I think there is a play on the flowers from the previous stanza and the thorns from the final stanza. As to say that you can not have the proverbial rose without the thorn pricking you.
This poem makes my heart happy. Or maybe, William Blake makes my heart happy. On the surface, this poem is sad and mournful. The speaker goes to play out on the luscious Green and finds a Chapel that limits access to, presumably, only the most holy members. The redeeming line of this poem, though, is, "So I turn'd to the Garden of Love" (7). The speaker hints at the idea that the Chapel cannot restrict him, that he can find spirituality and connect to something Greater out in Nature! And this kind of connection is not exclusive.
ReplyDeleteOf course, the poem takes another sad turn when we realize that the speaker's Garden of Love is now a graveyard. Still, this poem alludes to the AWESOME idea that people don't need a Chapel to connect to something Greater--they can, and have been, connecting to their spiritual selves in the great outdoors.
Also, the orthodox church preventing people from entering is nonsense.