Blake: Songs of Experience: The Garden of Love:

Question 1

Plot summary:

What is the plot summary?

Answer 1

The poem shows a speaker returning to a once joyful garden, now overshadowed by a chapel and graves.

The poem critiques how organised religion has replaced natural love and freedom with repression, symbolising the loss of innocence and the oppressive nature of societal institutions.

Question 2

Quotes:

Key Quotes (CLUE: There are 2)

Answer 2

‘The gates of this chapel were shut (…) thou shalt not’ - Juxtaposes the freedom in stanza 1. and taking God’s words and turning it to be restrictive - turning it for evil and oppression.

‘Binding with briars my joys and desires’ - plosive - rhyming couplets - alliteration -semantic field of death, misery and impurities and this juxtaposes the hopeful imagery in previous stanza - shows the church to be restrictive. ‘Play on the green’

Question 3

Form and Structure:

What is the form/structure like?

Answer 3

The poem is written with three stanza’s with an ABAB rhyme scheme.

The regular rhythm and structure emphasise the speaker’s sense of loss and regret as they reflect on the transformation of the garden from a place of freedom to one of repression, symbolised by the chapel.

Question 4

Themes:

Key themes e.g. repression and control

Answer 4

Symbolised by the chapel and graves, representing how organised religion and societal institutions suppress natural love and desires.

Showing how love, once free and natural, becomes constrained and sorrowful due to religious and societal forces.

Question 5

Themes:

Key themes e.g. critique of religion:

Answer 5

Blake critiques how organised religion, particularly the church, replaces personal freedom and natural joy with rigid rules, symbolised by the garden’s transformation.

Question 6

Context:

What is the context of Blake?

Answer 6

Blake critiques organised religion’s repression of natural love and freedom.

Written during the late 18th century, it contrasts innocence with the corrupting forces of adulthood, symbolising how religious institutions replace natural joy with control and sorrow.

The poem reflects Blake’s desire for a return to untainted, natural experiences.

Question 7

Other poems it could link to:

What other poems could it link to?

Answer 7

“Holy Thursday (SOE)” – Critiques organised religion’s exploitation, mirroring the repression in The Garden of Love.

“The Chimney Sweeper (SOI)” – Critiques societal and religious oppression.