THE GARDEN OF LOVE-William Blake
I went to the Garden of Love
And saw what I never had seen:
A Chapel was built in the midst,
Where I used to play on the green.
And the gates of this Chapel were shut,
and Thou shalt not. writ over the door;
So I turn’d to the Garden of Love,
That so many sweet flowers bore.
And I saw it was filled with graves,
And tomb-stones where flowers should be:
And Priests in black gowns were walking their rounds,
And binding with briars my joys & desires.
, THE GARDEN OF LOVE
Questions and answers
Stanza 1:
1. How does the rhythm of line 2 support the speaker's tone?
The rhythm puts the stress on ‘saw’. ‘never’ and ‘seen’, suggesting the
speaker’s shock/disappointment/disbelief in seeing what he sees now,
which had never before been there/ the unexpected/shocking change in
the garden.
2. Why is the word Chapel (line 3) capitalized?
“Chapel” is capitalized because it represents an institution of authority, in
this case the Church (of England)
3. What does the word “midst” (line 3) mean in the context of the stanza?
In this context it means ‘in the middle’.
4. What is the function of the colon in line 2?
The line that follows the colon provides a description of what comes
immediately before it/explains what it is that the speaker sees.
5. Based on the diction of these opening 4 lines, how does the speaker imply
that religion and love don't go together?
The speaker states that he ‘never had seen’ the chapel in there before, but
the garden was historically known to him as the garden of love. Therefore
the love he associates with the garden is separate from/does not include
the idea of religion.
6. How do we know that the poet is surprised with the changes that have
taken place in the garden that he visits?
He says that when he went to the Garden he ‘saw what I never had seen’
which implies that this was a surprise to him.
I went to the Garden of Love
And saw what I never had seen:
A Chapel was built in the midst,
Where I used to play on the green.
And the gates of this Chapel were shut,
and Thou shalt not. writ over the door;
So I turn’d to the Garden of Love,
That so many sweet flowers bore.
And I saw it was filled with graves,
And tomb-stones where flowers should be:
And Priests in black gowns were walking their rounds,
And binding with briars my joys & desires.
, THE GARDEN OF LOVE
Questions and answers
Stanza 1:
1. How does the rhythm of line 2 support the speaker's tone?
The rhythm puts the stress on ‘saw’. ‘never’ and ‘seen’, suggesting the
speaker’s shock/disappointment/disbelief in seeing what he sees now,
which had never before been there/ the unexpected/shocking change in
the garden.
2. Why is the word Chapel (line 3) capitalized?
“Chapel” is capitalized because it represents an institution of authority, in
this case the Church (of England)
3. What does the word “midst” (line 3) mean in the context of the stanza?
In this context it means ‘in the middle’.
4. What is the function of the colon in line 2?
The line that follows the colon provides a description of what comes
immediately before it/explains what it is that the speaker sees.
5. Based on the diction of these opening 4 lines, how does the speaker imply
that religion and love don't go together?
The speaker states that he ‘never had seen’ the chapel in there before, but
the garden was historically known to him as the garden of love. Therefore
the love he associates with the garden is separate from/does not include
the idea of religion.
6. How do we know that the poet is surprised with the changes that have
taken place in the garden that he visits?
He says that when he went to the Garden he ‘saw what I never had seen’
which implies that this was a surprise to him.
