The Garden of Love

• "Binding" "Briars" "Desires"

  • assonance of 'I' sound
  • slows down the pace, denoting the speaker's reluctance to accept the changes
• "Gates" "Shut" "Shalt not" "Writ"

  • consonance
  • focused on binding and negativity
  • connoting how the poet feels negatively about organised religion
• "A chapel was built in the midst where I used to play on the green."

  • organised religion ruined what he once loved
  • connoting that organised religion is not natural
• "Thou shalt not writ over the door."

  • he cannot enter - organised religion is not welcoming
• Written by William Blake who was a Romantic poet (interested in youth, innocence and nature) and was devoutly religious - but criticized organised religion.
• Written in 1790s
• SYNOPSIS

  The speaker goes to a place known as the Garden of Love where he used to visit and play as a child but it is different now - full of graves and closed to the public.
• All lines are end stopped which reflects a subtle sense of resignation and acceptance and adds to the simplicity of the poem - makes the message clear to audience.
• LINKS TO GATSBY

  • "green" is used to describe the speaker's past, similar to the "green light" that represents Gatsby's past with Daisy
  • Similarly to Blake, Gatsby wants to turn back time to make his relationship with Daisy what it was before - both struggle with the passing of time