The Garden of Love is, quite obviously, a poem about life and the pursuit of happiness. It is also about the effects that negativity can have on love. Blake uses religion to convey the idea that negativity pervades and corrupts all life(51 n.9), further supporting it with his use of rhyme scheme and imagery. In searching for love people often times emerge scarred and hostile from their fruitless efforts. Some continue to have faith in the idea of love and its possibilities, others do not. These folk sometimes seek refuge from their pain in a variety of houses. It is just as often that these refugees project their negative attitudes onto others that search for love and happiness. People who fear love can prevent others from finding it, because they change the positive surroundings to suit their negative world. the conflict between organized religion and the individual is the constant idea throughout the poem. Blake, himself, despised the Church, as an institution rather than an idea, and used religious symbols to show how structured religion can destroy the lover and creator within. A chapel has been built, perverting a once pure and loving environment. In inspecting the chapel, the persona feels only negativity from a religious house, as the gates are shut And Thou shalt not writ over the door(6). Not only has man and machine invaded this place once full of life, but they have also brought with them negative commandments. The negative phrase, Thou shalt not defies the instructions in Deuteronomy to write Thou shalt- a positive commandment- upon the posts of they house and on thy gates, supporting the notion that negative commandments pervade and corrupt all life(51 n.9). Other images are used to represent individual and Church, positive and negative. He uses words that exude life and breath, such as green, love, bore, and sweet flowers. These are all positive images that support the individuals search for creativity an...
