Garden of Love by William Blake - Essay Example

Meter and Rhythm in the Poem "Garden Of Love" by William Blake Brief Biography of William Blake On November 28, 1757 William Blake was born in Carnaby Market, London. The child was first home-schooled but later attended an art school for four years. In 1772 Blake was apprenticed at the age of 15 to James Basire to learn the engraving arts and in 1779 became a student of the Royal Academy for six years. Blake made his living as an engraver who also could do original designs.1 Blake was a passionate devotee of the French Revolution, and also took an interest in the religious doctrine of Emmanuel Swedenborg, whichBlake later attacked in The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (1790). At the age of 25 Blake married Catherine Boucher, and in 1785 he opened a print shop that failed and left him to eke out a miserable living with inadequate numbers of orders for designs and engravings. During the Napoleonic Wars not many people in England could afford the high cost of contracting the work of an engraver. In 1804 Blake was charged with sedition but was acquitted, because a drunk had wrongly accused him. In 1809 his single art exhibition of sixteen works went unnoticed by everyone except a lone critic who criticized it fiercely. Blake's literary work was so highly influenced by the politics of his time that it most likely hurt his success as an engraver. In the last years of his life, Blake met a group of young artists whose appreciation for his work eased his growing destitution. William Blake died on August 12, 1827.2 Poem lyrics of The Garden of Love by William Blake. 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 tombstones where flowers should be: And Priests in black gowns, were walking their rounds, And binding with briars, my joys and desires.3 Introduction to the theme of the Garden of Love Introduction to William Blake and the theme of the Garden of Love The poem is found in the anthology Songs of Innocence and of Experience. William Blake was so little recognized in his lifetime that the author only managed to write and sell his poetry intermittently over his professional career, and his poetic work was essentially little known or regarded by his contemporaries. Blake at first only wrote poetry in his spare time. Though Blake acquired some repute as an engraver and an artist, those who recognized his genius still commonly believed him to be somewhat eccentric in his own time.4 The Garden of Love, speaks from a first person viewpoint to set the individual's early experience of the spiritual loveliness of the natural world in stilted contrast with the intrusion of the unforgiving man-made constructs of religious observance. The narrator returns to the lost innocence of childhood, once experienced in its natural ambience, to revive the uplifting memory of the long-forgotten bliss of a Garden sanctuary, only to find it pointlessly spoiled by a man-made Chapel - metaphorically representing the imposition of the censorious rules and strictures of an adult religious life - overwhelming the once-healthy lighthearted and carefree ambience of his youth.5 The carefully chosen imagery of the garden and youth characterize the early experience of creation in its pristine state as the natural ambience for the exuberant child in the unaffected transparency and original innocence reminiscent of the Biblical Garden of Eden.6 The incursion of the Chapel erected in the midst of the Garden, which the narrator "never had seen" as a youth, imposes the unnatural structure of organized religion whose detrimental influence begins to escalate as the poem communicates more of its closed and censorious nature in the following stanzas. The inert stone edifice of the Chapel supplanting the promise and freedom of the green - a conventional metonymy for promise and possibility - in reference to the exhilarating and intimate character of the garden setting creates an intrusive sense of distance and disconnection that comes further into focus more distinctly in the beginning of the second stanza.7 Entrance to the Chapel itself gives the impression of being closed, obdurate and forbidding. The decree "Thou shalt not writ over the door," evocative of the ten scripturally-based commandments written in stone, suggests an off-putting rather than inviting viewpoint of authentic spirituality. The solemn stricture of laws and prohibitions so inflexibly crafted and constructed has the propensity to bind and confine rather than set the human person free.8 Put off by the intrusion of the inert Chapel, the narrator turns affectionately back "to the Garden of Love that so many sweet flowers bore," in childhood innocence only to confront the harsh and painful disillusionment of the final stanza: The bright promise of the Garden has succumbed to the finality of the grave burying its fertile vigor under the cold stony image of death. The dark tombstones cast the unhealthy pall of unfeeling censure over the abundance the Garden once offered. In the last two lines the narrator's futile endeavor to recapture the flourishing promise of youthful spirituality is troubled by the shadowy patrol of Priests clothed ominously in black gowns walking their rounds to enmesh genuinely spiritual joys and desires with the briars of barren religious reprimands and dictates. Their rounds are likened to an impenetrable and barbed undergrowth separating the individual from all that might be true and good in humanity's youthful experience of the impressions of the spiritual life.9 Blake's metaphorical images of the Chapel's intrusion on the Garden of Love laments the narrow-minded propensity of human nature to desecrate the innate promise of natural spiritual emancipation by the sanctions of fixed religious control. The universal experience is more immediately communicated to the reader from the first person viewpoint, as impressions and moods are etched fluently into the rhythm and meter of the poem. Analysis of the Meter and Rhythm in William Blake's Poem the Garden of Love I went | to the Gar den | of Love, And saw | what I nev | er had seen: A Chap el | was built | in the midst, Where I | used to play | on the green. The first stanza of the three four-line quatrains10 of the poem emerges in the lighthearted rising trimeter11 of youthful experience. Each unit of rhythm in poetry is called a "foot," and each foot is identified by the number of syllables and the order in which each syllable is unstressed or stressed creates the meter.12 A promoted syllable would be one that is not highly stressed but falls on the beat when it is necessary for the context. A demoted syllable would normally be stressed, but falls on the offbeat for reasons of context and meter. 13 For this poetic analysis the stressed syllables have been bolded and the feet have been separated by this | vertical line. "I went | to the Gar den | of Love," has eight syllables composed of one iamb14 an anapest15 and an iamb in a line of three feet to make up a trimeter. "I went" is an iambic foot - "to the Gar den" is an anapestic foot - "of Love" is anapestic foot. The demoted syllable is den to preserve the pattern and meter in the context. The second line with eight syllables continues with the feet arranged in a different sequence of one iamb, and two anapests in a trimeter line of three feet. "And saw | what I nev | er had seen;" begins with a two-syllable iambic foot "And saw, " then a three-syllable anapestic foot "what I nev" and ends with a three-syllable anapestic foot "-er had seen.". The second line interrupts the joyful current of the first with an abrupt ending, the rhythm itself lending the sense of a jolt at the sorrowful discovery. The third line "A Cha pel | was built | in the midst," expands on the increasing sense of dismayed realization with the same sequence of eight syllables but arranges the feet in a still different rhythmic order of two iambs followed by one anapest. In this case Chap is the syllable promoted in the meter. "A Chap el"(iambic foot with "el" demoted), "was built" (iambic foot), "in the midst" (anapestic foot) by using the meter itself creates the sense of the intrusion of the Chapel as it turns up before the narrator's eyes in the very heart of the former childhood sanctuary. The selection of metaphor16 and the rhythm of the meter both combine to illustrate the man-made imposition of the Chapel spoiling the unaffected wholesomeness of the Garden. The fourth line "Where I | used to play | on the green" maintains the rising trimeter from line three with the same eight syllables but with one iamb followed by two anapests. The "Where I" (iambic foot) stresses the first person experience, then moves into "used to play" (anapestic foot), accentuating the carefree abandon of the childhood experience, and finishes "on the green" (anapestic foot) to return to highlight the lush natural background of the now vanishing and seemingly-elusive memory. And the gates | of this Chap el | were shut, And Thou shalt not, | writ over | the door; So I turn'd | to the Gar den | of Love, That so ma ny | sweet flow | ers bore. Line one of the second stanza moves into nine syllables in three feet "And the gates | of this Chap el | were shut," with two anapests and a final iamb. In the middle anapestic foot "el" is the demoted syllable. Again the stressed syllables serve to emphasize the repressive closedness of the gates of the daunting edifice: "And the gates" (anapestic foot) "of the Chap el "(anapestic foot with "el" demoted) "were shut"(iambic foot), ending brusquely on the rigid intransigence of the closed and forbidding entrance. Line two with the same nine syllables grows even more emphatic "And 'Thou shalt not,'| writ ov er | the door;" by reverting to a spondee17 to stress the entirety of the curt sanction, followed by a dactyl18 to lay emphasis on the writ - which is yet another conventional metonymy19 for inscribing anything in stone - and closes with an abrupt iamb; all of which serve to reinforce the prohibitive character of the closed and impassable entrance. "And "Thou shalt not"(spondaic foot) "writ o ver" (dactylic foot) "the door"(iambic foot). The meter itself creates the emphasis to reinforce the implications of the metaphor. Line three also retains nine syllables "So I turn'd | to the Gar den | of Love" but returns to the mood and rising trimeter of the first lines of the first stanza with two successive anapests and a final iamb. "So I turn'd" (anapestic foot) accentuates the intent to return; "to the Gar den" (anapestic foot with "den" demoted) identifies the dearly loved natural setting; and "of Love" (iambic foot) centers in on the heart and genuine significance of the Garden's youthful magnetism - pure transparent and unconditional Love. Line four goes back to eight syllables with a closing sense of sad disappointment "That so ma ny | sweet flow | ers bore" with an anapest followed by two iambs. "That so ma ny" (anapestic foot with "ny" demoted) puts the accent on the quantity; "sweet flow" (iambic foot) describes the blooms so prodigiously carpeting the garden; while "ers bore" (iambic foot) focuses back on the prolific superabundance of loveliness. And I saw | it was filled | with graves, And tomb stones | where flow ers | should be: And Priests | in black gowns,| were walk |ing their rounds, And bind | ing with briars,| my joys | and desires. Line one of the final stanza rises in a trimeter of desolate grief over the loss of the childhood paradise. Still narrating in the first person "And I saw | it was filled | with graves," the trimeter continues with eight syllables of two anapests brought up short by a more final two-syllable iamb. "And I saw" stresses the painful personal insight; "it was filled" puts the accent on the degree of the misery; "with graves" metaphorically expresses the narrator's forlorn bereavement. Line two "And tomb stones | where flow ers | should be" drives home metrically the heartbreaking antithesis between the vigor of the flowers and the coldness of the stone tomb with an iambic accent on "tomb" with "stones" demoted, leading into an iambic stress on "flow" with "ers" demoted, and a still further anapestic accent ending with the "should be". "And tomb stones" (iambic foot) accents a significant metaphor for the burial of the bright promise of youth; "where flow ers" highlights the contrast between the lifeless stone and the living flower; "should be" underscores the lively profusion of bloom that ought to have been in place of the barren cemetery. Line three departs from the eight-syllable trimeter in the rest of the poem to form a ten-syllable tetrameter20 by appending an additional foot. "And Priests | in black gowns | were walk | ing their rounds," alternates an iamb and an anapest with another iamb and a final anapest to create a rising tetrameter that conveys an ongoing image of the somber priestly pace back and forth. "And Priests" (iambic foot) accentuates Priests with a capital P metaphorically epitomizing the official church; "in black gowns"(anapestic foot) stresses the mournfulness of the attire as it further implies something of a scrupulous outward show; "were walk" (iambic foot) "-ing their rounds"(anapestic foot) conveys something of the relentless vigilance of the ecclesial sentry. The ultimate "And bind | ing with briars | my joys | and de sires" of line four in the final stanza resumes the rising tetrameter in the same sequence to alternate an iamb with an anapest and another iamb with a final anapest, rhythmically and metaphorically tracing, through the rising tetrameter, the unrelenting rounds of the gloomily shrouded Priest - organized religion - inexorably weaving the imprisoning briars of rules and regulations to choke out all truly liberated spiritual joys and desires. "And bind"(iambic foot) lays emphasis on the constrictive nature of officious Thou-shalt-not religiosity; "-ing with briars"(anapestic foot) emphasizes the entangled confinement of meaningless legalese; "my joys"(iambic foot) "and desires"(anapestic foot) expresses the uninhibited promise and possibility of the Garden of Love, now so irretrievably lost to bereavement. Comparison of Blake's Garden of Love with Blake's How to know Love from Deceit The following poem, taken from William Blake's Songs and Ballads might offer the reader some further understanding of Blake's image of Love's liberating and freeing character as referenced in the Garden of Love, as well as compare in another similar piece of his many works how Blake employs the meter itself to verbally and rhythmically work out his meaning: Poem Lyrics of How to know Love from Deceit by William Blake Love to faults is always blind Always is to joy inclined Lawless wingd and unconfined And breaks all chains from every mind. Deceit to secrecy confind Lawful cautious and refind To everything but interest blind And forges fetters for the mind.21 Blake's poem sets the expansive power of authentic Love, non-judgmental, joyful, uninhibited, selfless, as both free in itself and liberating by nature, in stark contrast to the small-minded character of hypocrisy's cunning duplicity and highly interested self-promotion: devious, outwardly and ostentatiously above-board, guarded, polished, false-hearted, and blind to everything but what guarantees to serve its own self-interest. Love and Deceit are quite powerful personifications22 of similar antithetical religious perspectives that Blake contrasts in the Garden of Love, and Blake employs related metrical rhythms to highlight the genuine spiritual energy and freedom of the one in contrast to the psychological deadness and mental closedness and confinement of the other. Love to | faults is | al ways blind Al ways is | to joy | inclined Lawless | wingd and | unconfined And breaks | all chains | from eve | ry mind. The first line trimeter here is seven syllables with three trochees.23 The first two feet - "Love to | faults is" - accent Love and faults and then stresses the al ways and to a limited extent emphasizes blind. "Love to" (trochaic foot) "faults is" (trochaic foot) "al ways blind" (trochaic foot with "ways" demoted for the meter). Line two in a seven syllable trimeter begins with a dactyl to re-emphasize Al ways, and reverses the meter with two iambs that accentuate joy and inclined. "Al ways is" (dactylic foot) "to joy" (iambic foot) "in clined" (iambic foot). The line three trimeter in seven syllables corresponds to the first with two trochees - "Law less | wingd and" - highlighting a Love that transcends Law with its wingd freedom, followed by the dactylic foot accenting its quality of being "un con fined". "Law less" (trochaic foot) "wingd and" (trochaic foot) "un con fined" (dactylic foot). Line four is an eight-syllable iambic tetrameter with four identical iambic feet - "And breaks" (iambic foot) "all chains" (iambic foot) "from eve" (iambic foot) "ry mind" (iambic foot) - to stress breaks, chains and its freeing power for eve ry mind. Deceit | to se crecy | con find Lawful | cautious | and re find To every thing | but interest blind And for | ges fet ters | for the mind. The second stanza's first line rising trimeter is eight syllables with three iambs to point up in meter the secretive and confining character of deceit - letting the natural accent of the word deceit itself express the depth of the speaker's disparagement. "De ceit" (iambic foot)"to se crecy" (iambic foot with "se" promoted for the context and "crecy" demoted) "con find" (iambic foot). Line two returns to a seven-syllable trimeter with two trochaic feet followed by an anapestic foot, metrically unmasking the outward facade of the furtive (secret) masquerade - "Law ful" (trochaic foot) "cau tious" (trochaic foot) "and re find" (anapestic foot). Line three, a dimeter in eight syllables with two iambs and two promoted syllables for the emphasis - "To every thing" (iambic foot with "eve" promoted and "rything" demoted) "but interest blind" (iambic foot with in promoted and "terest blind" demoted) - metrically accentuating the utter self-interest of the blind focus in everything. Line four is an eight-syllable iambic trimeter rising with three identical iambic feet - "And for" (iambic foot) "ges fet ters (iambic foot with "ters" demoted) "for the mind" (anapestic foot) - to express metrically the ever-tightening iron-clad shackles of Deceit in sharp contrast to Love's freeing power as highlighted in the last line of the first stanza. Conclusion Ultimately William Blake's prose and poetry substantiate the conviction that Blake was as masterful with words as he was with graphics, and as much a craftsman of meter and rhythm as he was a skilled engraver of metal. Blake authored, designed, and published most of his written works. Generally the engraver and poet drew his designs and wrote his text on copper plates, etched the plates, inked them, and printed them in relief, sometimes hand-illuminating the pages in watercolor. A few of his illuminated works were color-printed on a press.24 Blake engendered a new kind of illuminated printing along with his poetry and prose to unite word and image in his finished works where the over-all design could be as expressive as the text of his poetry. Although some scholars feel that the poetry read apart from the original illuminated settings in which Blake first published his work loses a critical dimension of his composite art, Blake's poetry is able to transmit such a multifaceted life of its own, that it seems as though Blake was every bit as ingenious with the sound of words in meter and rhythm as he was accomplished in the visual presentation of his engraving art.25 Well-crafted poetry evokes both verbal and visual impressions and is inherently capable of encapsulating wider nuances of meaning than standard prose or even a partial pictorial portrait can convey. The word rhythm comes from the Greek for flow or, more poetically, sound in movement.26 Poetry, or rhythm arranged incisively into words, becomes quite proficient at communicating the pulse, heartbeat or even the very breath of human life. Beyond the implications and overtones and multifaceted meanings in the human word, the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in the meter is surprisingly skilled at transmitting a feeling of fixity or fluctuation, of surprise or shock, or intransigence or inexorability to add levels of meaning or dimensions to the thought that would not otherwise be as poignant. William Blake's "Garden of Love" truly encapsulates ingeniously the fundamental difference, if not dichotomy, between spirituality and a certain type of rigid and condemnatory religiosity that can virtually empty a true spiritual life, rooted in a genuine unconditional love, of all goodness and transparency to the point of asphyxiating its innate raison d'tre and significance. Blake's metaphors of the Priest and the Church represent parodies of regrettable human propensities and the vain futility of some aspects of mortal life that are not necessarily stereotypical of men of the cloth or organized religion, but deftly personify the representative phenomena as to cut to the heart of the barrenness and vanity that Blake so effectively manages to express in verse. Bibliography Erdman, David V. and Bloom, Harold. Eds. (1988) The Complete Poetry and Prose of William Blake. New York: Anchor Books, Doubleday. Hirsch, Edward. (1999) How to Read a Poem: And Fall in Love with Poetry. New York: Harvest Book, Harcourt, Inc. Magill, Frank Northen. (1998) Notable Poets: Magill's Choice. Pasadena, California: Salem Press. Oliver, Mary. (1994) A Poetry Handbook. New York: Harcourt Brace and Company. Ricks, Christopher. (1999) The Oxford Book of English Verse. New York: Oxford University Press, Inc. Woodring, Carl. (1994) The Columbia History of British Poetry. 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