Kate S.

Mr. Schnair
English II
5-29-17
Academic Final 2017

At the end of the 18th century, life was changing. The French had killed their
king, machines began to rise, and the world was shifting. Against this backdrop
British poet and artist William Blake came into his own, producing some of his best
known works. Blake too, was symbolic of the periods revolutionary thinking,
whether in the sense of his new artistic engineering, the Romanticist movement he
helped define, or the outspoken, maverick ideas that came to life in his work.
Foremost among those was a favored topic of Blakes: criticizing the powerful
Catholic Church. In his poem The GARDEN of LOVE, the chapel and garden of Love
are used as metaphors to illustrate and further Blakes agenda against the Church
and its teachings.
In particular, the metaphor of the Chapel was used to show Blakes negative
opinions on the Catholic Church. In the poem, the first thing Blake sees of the
Chapel is that is has taken over where he used to play as a child. Already, this
symbolizes one of Blakes favored themes -innocence- stating that by building over
this place, the church has essentially built over his childhood, not leaving any of its
innocence or joy behind. In the very next line, Blake proceeds to mention that the
Chapel gates were shut; an allusion to the fact that Christianity here represented
by the Chapel was closed off as well. Blake then expands this meaning of closed
by stating, And Thou shalt not, writ over the door, (Line 6). This quote implies that
the Church is not only physically prohibiting access, but that the religion itself bars
what people could do. And thou shalt not does not emphasize choice or freedom;
instead it is simply an order to obey and not try, for everything is forbidden. Not
only that, but the phrasing used in this line is reminiscent of one of Christianitys
central texts: that of the Ten Commandments. This was a deliberate decision on
Blakes part. By making a reference to the Ten Commandments, a document that
lays out the very foundation of Christianitys principles, hes adding yet another
layer of significance to the Chapels order: it is almost as if he is trying to say that
the spirit of prohibition and discouragement are at the core of Christianity itself. All
in all, this single line says a lot about how Blake saw religion: he viewed it as
domineering and narrow-minded.
The Garden of Love itself was also used as a metaphor to show Blakes stance
on the Church. Originally he describes the Garden of Love as an open, beautiful
space that was filled with flowers. In the poem, however, as soon as Blake revisits
the garden after the Chapel was built a change was evident. Instead of where
flowers should be the garden was filled with graves Blakes way of showing that
the Church brings only death and gloom, not life and vibrancy (Line 10). This view is
supported in Blakes accompanying illustration. There, the priest gestures to an
open tomb while praying, almost inviting the reader to join him in religion and
death. Blake remarks on other physical changes that have been made to the Garden
as well. The only plants now noted there are thorns, mentioned as belonging to the
priests. Of this, Blake writes, And binding with briars, my joys and desires. (Line
12). This is one of the most important passages in the entire poem (so much so that
Blake nearly made it its own line in the illustration by careful branch placement) as
it sums up Blakes message: the Church is holding him back, along with all that is
good. In a sense, the briars could even be likened to chains, imprisoning Blakes
love and feelings in the Churchs jail.
Some may argue that this opinion of Blakes poem reads too far into the text,
and that it was never his original intention to argue so vehemently against
Catholicism and the Church simply because to do so would have had serious
repercussions in Industrial England. Blake, however, was a rebel in many ways. As
mentioned in the introduction, he often chose not to follow the conventional
standards of his time. Based on that description of his character alone, Blakes
decision to outspokenly critisize Christianity would make sense; most of Europe still
followed the religion devoutly. Besides, expression of this theme is not limited to
just this poem. Many of Blakes works are threaded through with attacks on his
current society and its religion. In the end though, it is his own words that provide
the best evidence against this countering opinion. Blake is very clear in his
language throughout the poem. He chose to make an impact in order to be heard,
rather than to mince his words and be silenced. In this way, Blake is in a sense
breaking free from his metaphorical briars: by speaking his mind, the Church no
longer has any power over him.
In the poem The GARDEN of LOVE William Blake uses the Chapel and
Garden of Love as metaphors to show his views on the Catholic Church. Throughout
the piece, he in various ways highlights the orders restrictive and controlling
nature, using his writing as the medium. In doing so, Blake shows the true power of
writing: that anything even unpopular and revolutionary ideas can and will be
given their chance to shine in words.