The Garden of Love

William Blake

William Blake portrait

1757 to 1827

Poem Image

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.

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