The Garden of Love by William Blake 1757—1827
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.
William Blake wrote and published “The Garden of Love” in 1794 as part of his collection Songs of Experience. In it he recalls a time past when he, probably as a child or adolescent, played carefree in a garden. It used to be green and there were flowers and it was a place where he could express himself with joy and live out his dreams.
Upon revisiting this garden years later, he finds a church has been built where the green grass once grew and Priests in black robes were patrolling the ground enforcing the ‘Thou shalt not…’ laws. Graves, which might be symbolic of people now dead in soul but who once were living, breathing, laughing beings, have replaced flowers and the thorns of legalism and religiosity are choking to death any joy there might have been.
More than two hundred years after this poem was written, we still contend with the same problem. People in leadership using their positions and knowledge to manipulate and intimidate congregations often twisting God’s Word for their own ends.
Jesus warns in Matthew 23 against the poison of legalism and religiosity that stifles and destroys the joy we should have in Him. His joy is our strength (Neh.8:10) and we should maintain our childlikeness of faith (Matt.19:14) if we wish to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
The happiness of his childhood that should have stayed with William Blake and been part of his adult life but was stolen by an unfeeling church. Woe be the church elders and leaders who destroy that joy and peace and faith with man-made rules and regulations.