The Garden of Love by William Blake

Published: Jan. 21, 2008, 11:05 a.m.

Blake read by Classic Poetry Aloud:\nhttp://www.classicpoetryaloud.com/\n\nGiving voice to the poetry of the past.\n\n---------------------------------------------------\n\nThe Garden of Love\nby William Blake (1757 \u2013 1827)\n\nI went to the Garden of Love,\nAnd saw what I never had seen;\nA Chapel was built in the midst,\nWhere I used to play on the green.\n\nAnd the gates of this Chapel were shut,\nAnd 'Thou shalt not' writ over the door;\nSo I turned to the Garden of Love\nThat so many sweet flowers bore.\n\nAnd I saw it was filled with graves,\nAnd tombstones where flowers should be;\nAnd priests in black gowns were walking their rounds,\nAnd binding with briars my joys and desires.