The last stanza tells us that the flowers that once could be found in the garden have been replaced by graves and tomb-stones, and priests are walking through the garden. Here we can observe an epiphora (stanza one: “I went to the Garden of Love“; stanza two: “So I turn'd to the Garden of Love“) as well as a parallel syntax underlining the harmony and peaceful atmosphere, which has, however, gone by. This increasement in usage emphazises the growing dismay and disapprovement of the lyrical I. This would be a good one to start with. From my point of view, there is a reference to Jesus Christ, who was commanded to wear a crown of thornes by the soldiers of Pontius Pilatus before his crucifixion. I do not understand how the mean marks of this poem are anything lower a full 10. As he says in another one of his well-known poems, 'The Divine Image, ' the truly godly values are 'mercy, pity, peace and love.' 'The Garden' has been relegated to the wild heath with its dank weeds and rushes, the thistles and thorns of an unkempt wasteland-a garden gone to seed. - Publication as eBook and book Of course, the closed doors may be a fortuity, but the following line “And Thou shalt not (...)“ - which is Early Modern English for 'You shall not' - evokes quite a negative perception of the church, as it only seems to concentrate on its rules telling people what they are forbidden to do. Following the specific examples of flowers representing types of love, this poem paints a broader picture of flowers in a garden as the joys and desires of youth. When legalism takes over the Gospel! The center of this poem is the river. A depiction of false religion! Moreover, the image of a felicitious childhood of the lyrical I is created by the last part of the sentence. There used to be flowers in the garden. I have tried to concentrate here on the kind of questions you need to ask in analysing a poem, rather than on providing definite answers. Forget Hide and Seek..
'The Garden' has been relegated to the wild heath with its dank weeds and rushes, the thistles and thorns of an unkempt wasteland-a garden gone to seed. One of Blake's most characteristic poems, not as well known as others, such as 'The Tyger' or 'The Lamb, ' but perhaps even more important as a statement of his values. Songs of Innocence and of Experience study guide contains a biography of William Blake, literature essays, a complete e-text, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. Poems. (Englisches Seminar). Also the fact that the number of internal rhymes rises equally - there is none in the first stanza, one in the second one and two internal rhymes can be found in stanza three - is striking. He also was given a sceptre made of reed and a red cape. “the thistles and thorns of the waste” are a personification of chastity – the implication of “beguiled” is that these plants should be part of Love’s domain, but were cheated into being hard Love-less chastity. Blake captures very well, in actually a few words of a short poem. It was a place, therefore, of innocent, uninhibited sexual expression. Feel free to read, rate and comment on my work. According to the utterance of the lyrical I, these briars are the ones destroying its happiness. In fact, he was intensely religious. In stanza two the lines beginning with it are the ones with a 'negative' content; lines three and four sound rather idyllic again because there the lyrical turns to the garden itself again “That so many sweet flowers bore“. The meter turns out to be irregular as well: The first stanza makes use of an amphibrach (x x x), the second one of an anapaest (x x x). Let us turn to the “briars“: The briar is a plant of the family of the roses, meaning it has got thorns. GradeSaver, 31 May 2011 Web. Find and share the perfect poems. Jan. Well, to me this poem seems to be giving an example of how as a child, the innocence of not knowing is so powerful that it blinds us from reality and we create what we want. The last two lines - longer than the others, with pronounced internal rhymes - may be one of Blake's most dramatic and engaging images: 'binding with briars my joys and desires.' I will try to analyse and interprete the poem with special reference to Blake's opinion of religion and his critical attitude towards the Church of England, including the characteristics of Romantacism, and how this is represented in his poem with regards to its form, structure and language, including the usage of stylistic devices. Several things causing this feeling are enumerated: The garden has turned into a graveyard, the flowers which once flourished in the garden have gone and been replaced by tomb-stones and priests walking through the garden are “binding with briars“ the “joys and desires“ of the lyrical I. The first two quatrains follow Blake's typical ABCB rhyme scheme, with the final stanza breaking the rhyme to ABCD. Our world is craving for love, and still our leaders manage to destroy the wonderful garden of love that this world should be. three stanzas having four lines each. Looking back to the first stanza, one finds such an “And“ there as well. Wonderful poem from William Blake, ............a wonderful poem with the most vivid and picturesque imagery....super amazing ★, Still today so many religious leaders suffer from the Thou shalt not- disease instead of preaching the huge message of love. In stanza one we get to know about the fact that a chapel has been built at the place the lyrical I once played. I can see it all in my mind with my eyes closed, and why a church door would be locked and banned for any soul to enter.. He was, indeed, anti-institutional. Now death reigns supreme as granite tombstones replace flower beds and thorny briars bind his joys and desires. He felt that most institutional churches had become precisely the sort of legalistic bodies that Jesus himself spoke against so adamantly. Thanks: http: //www.poemhunter.com/jack-growden-2/. In this last stanza of the poem the development of anger has been completed, as there is nothing positive mentioned, but it seems to be harsh and energetic. Following the specific examples of flowers representing types of love, this poem paints a broader picture of flowers in a garden as the joys and desires of youth. - Completely free - with ISBN One can thus assume that the lines beginning with an “And“ are meant to create a 'negative' atmosphere, expressing the dismay of the lyrical I. Hope it helps, it's just what i got from it. The words used contain a combination of voiced and voiceless stops (“grave”, “priests”, “black gowns”, “briars”) making them sound harder, which underlines the disapprovement of the lyrical I and the melanchony expressed as well. A striking stylistic device is the anaphora in the first two lines (“And“ is repeated at the beginning of them): An anaphora usually has the function to emphasize the word(s) being repeated; hence, what is so special about the connector “And“? A structure has been built where once a beautiful garden flourished, a place where God is seen in all His natural beauty. The alliteration “binding with briars“ as well as the internal rhyme “briars“ - “desires“ attracts the reader's attention to the prohibited happiness of the lyrical I. Blake employed copperplate engravings and watercolors to illustrate his own work as well as that of the Book of Job and Dante's 'Divine Comedy.' He shows me His love in the plants out there, where everything's lovely and everything's fair. View our essays for Songs of Innocence and of Experience…, Introduction to Songs of Innocence and of Experience, Songs of Innocence and of Experience Bibliography, View the lesson plan for Songs of Innocence and of Experience…, Read the E-Text for Songs of Innocence and of Experience…, View Wikipedia Entries for Songs of Innocence and of Experience…. By this 'equipment' Jesus was mocked as the “King of Jews“, as especially the crown did not represent monarchic power and wealth, but was meant to deride him. Personally, I wish that Blake's poems were taught in all churches, mosques, synagogues, and other religious institutions as well as in schools and families. There is no consistent rhyme scheme, as only two end rhymes can be observed: Line two and four of the first and second stanza rhyme (“seen“ - “green“; “door“ - “bore“), so there is a cross rhyme; all in all the rhyme scheme is the following: abcb (stanza one) / abcb (stanza two) / abcd (stanza three).