(01) Visions of the Garden of Eden: William Blake and The Garden of Love

William Blake's poem "The Garden of Love" may subtly allude to the biblical Genesis account of Adam and Eve's expulsion from the Garden of Eden. The combination of these works, "The Garden of Love" by William Blake and excerpts from the biblical book of Genesis. grapple with themes of lost innocence and the consequences of gained knowledge and disobedience. By relating these two works, we gain insight into a layered commentary on purity and corruption, freedom and control. Blake's poem depicts a garden that once offered joy and freedom, but is now a closed-off churchyard with restricting rules like "Thou shalt not." As the analysis notes, this symbolizes how organized religion and institutions tend to restrain natural human desires and impose order. The spontaneity and delight of the garden have been lost. The Genesis passages describe God commanding Adam and Eve not to eat forbidden fruit in Eden, or else they will die. However, they disobey and are expelled from the perfect garden into a world of pain and toil. The biblical account shows consequences for moral transgression.