Summary
Summary poetry analysis and notes on the poem The Garden of Love
- Course
- Institution
A complete analysis of the poem, Garden of Love. Includes lexicon and line-by-line analysis.
[Show more]
Seller
Follow
msnmarx
Content preview
The Garden of LoveWilliam Blake
, THE GARDEN OF LOVE
William Blake
PRE-READING ACTIVITY
Which place can you remember vividly from your childhood?
Why do people like gardens?
Which garden is the most historically famous garden?
What is organised religion?
READING ACTIVITY
Poem: The Garden of Love
Poet: William Blake was born in London in 1757 and died in 1827. He
was a poet, artist and mystic, and his poetry is amongst the most lyrical
and prophetic in the English tradition. In 1789, he published a collection
of poems, Songs of Innocence, in which he explains his belief in the
ever-resent love and understanding God and he expresses a child‟s
ability to reach out to life. Five years later he published Songs of
Experience. In marked contrast to his earlier works, the poet discusses
the injustices of society. The poems are characterised by a sense of
gloom, mystery and the power of evil. „The Garden of Love‟ forms part
of this collection.
Theme: The poem deals with the way in which, according to the poet, our
natural instincts and capacity for joy are restricted or even destroyed by
institutions such as the Church. The Church teaches that worldly joys
and pleasures are evil and that we should focus on the possibility of life
after death. (In the late eighteenth century the Church had great power
and influence over British Society and Blake objects to the fact that it
places limits on man‟s joys and desires.
Type: Lyric Poem
Structure: This poem consists of three stanzas of four lines each. The stanzas are
used to focus attention on different issues: The first stanza tells us of
the speaker‟s discovery; the second reveals the speaker‟s feelings
about the building but expresses hope for consolation to be found in
the garden; the third stanza describes the speaker‟s disappointment
that this, too, has undergone drastic change. The rhyme scheme
makes use of end-rhymes in the first two stanzas, using the pattern of
a-b-c-b, d-e-f-e. The poet uses internal rhyme with „gowns‟ and „rounds‟
in line 11, and „briars‟ and „desires‟ in line 12.
2
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller msnmarx. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for $2.98. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
Can Stuvia be trusted?
4.6 stars on Google & Trustpilot (+1000 reviews)
76658 documents were sold in the last 30 days
Founded in 2010, the go-to place to buy study notes for 14 years now