This poem is obviously a negative claim about the church, stating that it transforms love into death. The "Garden of Love" (1) seems to not only represent love as its name indicates, but also innocence since the poem's speaker used to "play" in it, implying that he was a child (4). With this in mind, one also might venture that the garden represents purity. The church, represented by a "Chapel," is depicted as having been built on top of the garden, thus destroying a significant part of it (3). The Chapel's presence is entirely negative, its doors being "shut," indicating that outsiders are unwelcome (5). It also only tells passersby only what they "shalt not" do and does not preach any positive or hopeful gospel (6). Now, where there were once flowers in the Garden, there are only graves (10). The speaker's "joys & desires" (12) are being tied up in thorns by ominous, black-clothed clergymen, implying that some aspect of the church sucks all the happiness and motivation out of life (11).
I was vividly reminded of Blake's other poem "London" which is also a criticism of the church, accusing it of neglecting those truly in need, particularly soldiers who are broken after war. This poem also criticizes the wealth of the church.
Blake had very radical religious beliefs for his time, writing his own mythologies in probably quite inflammatory imitation of the Bible. He also believed in "free love," a movement which began in the 1820s and claimed that marriage is slavery. It promoted prostitution and homosexuality, though I'm not sure if this was back in Blake's time or if these are newer developments since the movement is still in motion (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Blake#Religious_views). This might directly connect with the final line of "The Garden of Love" in which the church deprives him of his joys and desires by telling him "thou shalt not." Blake himself wrote as one of his "Proverbs of Hell,""As the catterpiller [sic] chooses the fairest leaves to lay her eggs on, so the priest lays his curse on the fairest joys." (Wikipedia).
After reading about the "free love" aspect of this poem in your post my interpretation of this poem completely changed. It makes me question whether the speaker himself feels outcasted for his desires, and it makes me wonder what his desires were. As you stated, I also agree that he is speaking out against the church since he clearly stated how things "should be." Moreover, I believe the tombstones may represent the people that are outcasted for their contradicting ideals of love from this particular time. This particular reading of them poem was somewhat eerie as others stated but I think it is more somber similar to the authors perspective of the odds that are against him. Thank you for this insight!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome! I hadn't actually known 'til now that Blake was so anti-establishment besides his dislike of the church as an organization. It was a learning moment for me as well.
DeleteOne clarification here: the "free-love" movement has laid claim to Blake (as it has claimed Wollstonecraft and Godwin, both of whom also argue against the constraints of marriage and its corruption of ideal intellectual exchanges). However, I would not say that he participated in this movement; it is much more to the point to say that he rejected all forms of arbitrary power and unequal relations between humans, marriage being one of them along with slavery, child labor, and so on.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the clarification. From reading his writings a lot in the past, I'm not surprised to hear that he didn't participate in the movement; he seems more sentimental than radical (besides his clear anti-church sentiments).
Delete