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. The Little Girl Found
2. Songs of Experience. Nurse's Song
3. A Divine Image
4. Eternity
5. Songs of Experience. The Sick Rose

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