What place should the church have in one's life? This has been a debated question for many decades. In William Blake's poem, "The Garden of Love", Blake declares his hatred toward the church, and claims that it has unlawfully used its powerful and vicious hand to do wrong upon society.

The first stanza describes the contentment that God bestowed upon man: 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 (1-4). The Garden of Love here represents God's pure love in its most natural form. God's love in this unadulterated form, opened up the writers eyes, thereby allowing him to have a personal relationship with his creator. The garden was untainted by man's hand; hence it was love in its most perfect and pure form. Although there was a chapel built next to the garden, the writer indicates that he decided to play in the green grass, God's creation. The color Green sign

Blake despises the fact that the church came in stole what God has given man. The garden itself represents all that is holy and pure. The writer feels as if man has no place to change the ordinances and rules that God has established. Man is unholy and corrupt, and should not be able to alter Gods perfect and divine plan. He despised the fact that the church would willfully exploit God for it's own malicious intent.

ifies the innocence of the writer at this point in his life, and implies that he has yet to let the church impede his relationship with God. Blake uses rigid language to help the reader paint an evil picture of the mighty church moving in and pushing God out of the way. One can almost see the Physical church muscling in and taking over the luscious green grass; much like a tiger pouncing on its prey.

In the second stanza, Blake describes how the church forced it's beliefs on the individual: And the gates of this chapel were shut, / And "Thou shall not" writ over the door; / so I turn'd to the Garden of Love, / That so many

Some common words found in the essay are:
God Blake, Garden Love, God Physical, Love Blake, Mundt Man's, garden love, relationship god, William Blake's, garden love /, priests black gowns, black gowns, god blake, love /, church trying, green grass, god church, priests black, personal relationship,
Approximate Word count = 703
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)