The Garden of Love

William Blake 1757 (Soho) – 1827 (London)



I laid me down upon a bank,
   Where Love lay sleeping;
 I heard among the rushes dank
   Weeping, weeping.
 
 Then I went to the heath and the wild,
   To the thistles and thorns of the waste;
 And they told me how they were beguiled,
   Driven out, and compelled to the chaste.
 
 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 turned to the Garden of Love
   That so many sweet flowers bore.
 
 And I saw it was filled with graves,
   And tombstones where flowers should be;
 And priests in black gowns were walking their rounds,
   And binding with briars my joys and desires.

Font size:
Collection  PDF     
 

Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 26, 2023

42 sec read
457

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABAB CDCD EFXF XGEG XXXX
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 747
Words 144
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4

William Blake

William Blake was an English poet, painter and printmaker. more…

All William Blake poems | William Blake Books

25 fans

Discuss the poem The Garden of Love with the community...

0 Comments

    Translation

    Find a translation for this poem in other languages:

    Select another language:

    • - Select -
    • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
    • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
    • Español (Spanish)
    • Esperanto (Esperanto)
    • 日本語 (Japanese)
    • Português (Portuguese)
    • Deutsch (German)
    • العربية (Arabic)
    • Français (French)
    • Русский (Russian)
    • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
    • 한국어 (Korean)
    • עברית (Hebrew)
    • Gaeilge (Irish)
    • Українська (Ukrainian)
    • اردو (Urdu)
    • Magyar (Hungarian)
    • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
    • Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Italiano (Italian)
    • தமிழ் (Tamil)
    • Türkçe (Turkish)
    • తెలుగు (Telugu)
    • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
    • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
    • Čeština (Czech)
    • Polski (Polish)
    • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Românește (Romanian)
    • Nederlands (Dutch)
    • Ελληνικά (Greek)
    • Latinum (Latin)
    • Svenska (Swedish)
    • Dansk (Danish)
    • Suomi (Finnish)
    • فارسی (Persian)
    • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
    • հայերեն (Armenian)
    • Norsk (Norwegian)
    • English (English)

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this poem to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "The Garden of Love" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/39173/the-garden-of-love>.

    Become a member!

    Join our community of poets and poetry lovers to share your work and offer feedback and encouragement to writers all over the world!

    March 2024

    Poetry Contest

    Join our monthly contest for an opportunity to win cash prizes and attain global acclaim for your talent.
    3
    days
    18
    hours
    1
    minute

    Special Program

    Earn Rewards!

    Unlock exciting rewards such as a free mug and free contest pass by commenting on fellow members' poems today!

    Browse Poetry.com

    Quiz

    Are you a poetry master?

    »
    "He was like a rainy Tuesday" is an example of ________.
    A analogy
    B simile
    C idiom
    D metaphor