Poem by William Blake

Songs of Experience. The Garden of Love

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.

1. Songs of Experience. Nurse's Song
2. A Divine Image
3. Songs of Experience. The Sick Rose
4. To the Accuser Who Is the God of This World
5. Eternity

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