The Garden of Love by William Blake || A-Level Poetry Analysis

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This video will teach you the poem ‘The Garden of Love’ by William Blake. Who was William Blake? What kind of world was he living in? How is this poem relevant to the present day? These are just three questions I answer in this video. We’ll also cover literary devices, rhyme, form and structure.
This poem can be studied by anyone at any level but is specific to the AQA English Literature A-Level from the ‘Love Through The Ages’ syllabus.
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#TheGardenOfLove #WilliamBlakePoetry
0:00 - Start
1:52 - Who was William Blake?
2:38 - When was "The Garden of Love" published?
3:58 - Historical Context
6:07 - Poetry Reading
7:19 - Stanza 1
11:41 - Stanza 2
13:06 - Stanza 3
14:02 - Form and Structure
15:31 - Rhyme Scheme
16:38 - Final Thoughts
17:47 - My favourite artwork by Blake
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[@tayjinhan]

This channel is severely underrated 😢😢 This is helping me so much, thank you

[@GabriellaTavini]

I hope my subscribers will share my work and it will grow. 🙏🏻 And it’s my pleasure! I adore teaching - best of luck with your studies. 🙂

[@SK-vd2bb]

Hi Gabs. I really enjoy your poetry videos. They make up for the lost time in my school and college days when the brain was less developed and I seemed to be more interested in less productive endeavours. The fact that poetry touches on so many other subjects makes me appreciate how essential it is in a balanced education. Please keep up the good work. PS love how you worked the stone ape theory into your analysis.

[@GabriellaTavini]

Such an informative comment - thank you for sharing. It’s such a shame that school can often alienate us from such beautiful subjects, but I hope it’s sparked curiosity in you to keep learning on your own terms. 😌

[@wahabzx6493]

love the way you analyzed .beautiful

[@GabriellaTavini]

Thaaaaank you! Great to see you reach out on Instagram 😄

[@HyunjinnieFerret]

Blue Coats put on a show based on this poem. I had never heard it before so I decided to learn something new today!

[@SpedSpedding]

Still taking me to school. Love this video. 🦉🖤

[@GabriellaTavini]

😂 Thank you. 🥰

[@allapieczara4505]

You go Gabs! ❤ Loving this!

[@GabriellaTavini]

Hey Alla - miss you girl! Thanks so much, I knew you'd appreciate Blake. 😌🔮💫

[@mpumiiee6642]

This was really insig htful. I love the way you analyse the poem and end up creating your own poem in your "rant"💖🌼

[@GabriellaTavini]

🤣 thank you so much for commenting! Major appreciation ❤️

[@mpumiiee6642]

@@GabriellaTavini and thank you for your reply!!Love your work!!

[@TheTimeRocket]

I never thought about the technical aspects of Blake's incredible Genius! Thank you. Mind expansion. 🎉

[@GabriellaTavini]

✨ you’re welcome - love a bit of expandyness

[@morrow1]

Thank you so much, this will really help in my examination. The ideas you brought out were very insightful and i would have never thought of the link to the tarot card ‘The Hanged Man’. With your analysis, i was able to find out even more about this poem! Thank you

[@GabriellaTavini]

Aw thank you so much! I really doooo hope it helped your exam. And stoked you loved the tarot link 👌🏼✨ thanks for commenting

[@ShamikPal99]

Currently I'm pursuing M.A. English, I have read this poem 2 days ago, and now your analysis was just great and helped me alot. Thank you so much mam.

[@GabriellaTavini]

Hey Shamik, 👋 best of luck with your MA. I hope you find my videos enlightening and I hope they help you achieve the grade you want. 👏🏼

[@jjbotha6277]

Wow thank you so much ..the way you explain it ,break it down and all the extra details you give to help us understand it better is truly magnificent ...im writting my grade 12 finals next week on English so this helped me tons .. much love to you all the way from South Africa

[@GabriellaTavini]

Hey JJ, so glad you found me and all the way from South Africa - incredible! Thank you so much for your positive feedback, it really encourages me to make more videos. Best of luck with your studies! ✨

[@jjbotha6277]

@@GabriellaTavini hey hey your very very welcome and you are truly brilliant you deserve all the positive feedback in the world 😁thanks for the good wishes im writing my last English test today 🥳

[@GabriellaTavini]

@@jjbotha6277 thanks again 😌 wishing you all the luck in the 🌎 for your test today.

[@abhishektodmal1914]

Gabriella, thank you so much for another walk-through of a wonderful poem. In particular, one wonders where this 'line' is drawn, between childhood, and 'adulthood' - when does one become aware of no more being a 'child'? Are we not, always, an extension of our prior selves? And 'Play', is a wonderful quality with which to pass life - for in it, as you mentioned, one is exploring life, and learning, really, all the lessons we deem to hold us in good stead, be it in our 'adulthood', or simply as lessons of life in general. Alas, one must grab the opportunity to frolic with as much readiness as one may afford. I often wonder how many of our constraints are self-imposed, and how much wonder may lie in granting oneself freedom? Again, thanks so much, I absolutely adore your channel!

[@GabriellaTavini]

Hey Abhishek 👋 you've raised so many great points! So thank you for commenting. I like to believe that our inner child lives within us throughout adult life and comes out in those moments where we're making jokes with friends or playing with our pets. I'll forever be a student of life. 🙌🏼 I'm so glad you enjoyed my video!

[@DularaThewarapperuma-nx3gk]

This analysis is very useful.... Thank you so much😍

[@GabriellaTavini]

You're welcome 😊

[@ziziphogolela5899]

Thank you so much for going in depth with this poem it will help me with my final exam 😊

[@GabriellaTavini]

You’re so welcome - cheers for commenting, wishing you the best of luck with your exam!

[@rosemarycrabtree5892]

Thank you!

[@GabriellaTavini]

You’re welcome Rosemary 😊 thanks for watching

[@longcastle4863]

Excellent. Thank you.

[@GabriellaTavini]

You’re so welcome ☺️

[@adamsoncherad6712]

Thanks a lot, superb treatment of the context, esp. the historical. But the address of the last two lines left a bit to be desired. Still, A GREAT JOB!

[@arsifaridi4974]

Outstanding explaination everything is clear after listening your video

[@GabriellaTavini]

You’re so welcome - thank you for commenting 😆

[@boring_cringename]

The band Age of Haeven dedicated a whole album to this poem. I highly recommend listening to it

[@isisneteru1013]

And then there's Blake's Babes

[@lakevacm]

Thanks for the comprehensive analysis of this A level poetry.

[@GabriellaTavini]

You’re welcome - thanks for commenting! ☺️

[@lakevacm]

@@GabriellaTavini I like “Evening” by Caroline Fry

[@GabriellaTavini]

@@lakevacm oooh not read that one yet 👀

[@lakevacm]

@@GabriellaTavini oh that’s great. I’m happy you can read it. Tell me what you think

[@3450sunil]

You helping so much mamm thankyou very much 💖 🥰 i am grateful to you for.your service

[@GabriellaTavini]

Aw thanks so much! You’re welcome 🥹

[@mpumiiee6642]

Thank you!!!!

[@GabriellaTavini]

Thanks for watching - you're SO welcome! 😇

[@pushpithageeganage7992]

Nicely Done!

[@GabriellaTavini]

Thank you so much - appreciate the support 🙂

[@sabamodak9460]

Thanks for the video😊😊

[@GabriellaTavini]

Hey Saba, my pleasure - thanks so much for commenting. 🥰🔮💫

[@shivaradhya4199]

Lovely explained... Best manner to speech.. Looking awesome... 😍

[@GabriellaTavini]

Thanks so much for your kind words. 🙃

[@usama_rather]

Nicely explained.. Loved it.. keep going.. all the best 👍

[@GabriellaTavini]

I’m glad you found my explanation useful. Thanks for the encouragement - it’s much appreciated. 😌 best of luck with your studies. 🤞🏼

[@greenheaven_30x]

#waw Untouched by the comprehension of English poems! felt like a school student once again though I am a researcher that too in Forests! to my great surprise I enjoyed like a terribly good ice-cream ! first time here, liked shared and subscribed #wishes BTW @ GabriellaTavini your climate anthem song is a gentle tornado! and your beautiful British accent is charming like you. welcome!

[@GabriellaTavini]

Oh my, what a compliment. And I adore that 🍦 simile. Thanks so much for your support and sharing your story as a forest researcher - how fascinating! 🌲 ❤️

[@cospics]

Wonderful staff ! Looking for Byron (I was born in the area of Athens named after him) to gather information through the years I've ended up here to your channel and very glad I did. Blake, Byron, Brontë in my early teens translated to Greek was not fun, now at the opposite side of Europe, in my old age under house arrest, in north Manchester trying to make sense of it all 😏 and thank you for your great help. Lots to add about religion romanticism and poetry but boring is my middle name and let's not forget John cooper Clark🍄😆

[@GabriellaTavini]

Thanks so much for sharing your story. I had no idea there was a place in Athens named after Byron. And all the author’s with the surname beginning with B, eh? They’re the best! 😆 not for getting JCC. I saw him live a few times - such a legend.

[@cospics]

@@GabriellaTavini 😊

[@TheTimeRocket]

I got this video in my "suggestions". That's how I found you.

[@GabriellaTavini]

Awesome that YT recommended my videos to you - thank you for sharing

[@saadali4316]

cant concentrate with those hypnotizing eyes

[@lucycrellin2436]

Hey, do you handmaids tale or feminine gospels?

[@indikasemasinghe5043]

nice

[@studymotivationcornerBTS]

Oo so helpful

[@GabriellaTavini]

You’re so welcome 🙂

[@Sam-vu5li]

Okay lads, I do this for A-Level and at GCSE I managed to acquire a grade 8a in Literature. Best tip I can give you is to watch videos like this and then rewrite them but in a funny way. For example, I have just watched the part where she talks about who Blake was and here is what I wrote: He was a guy from London who was a romantic-era poet, artist (not Van Gogh level but mediocre, probably would’ve got a grade 5 GCSE in art) and engraver (just a guy who draws on wood and not paper because they want to be ‘quirky’ and ‘original’, like people who listen to Billie Eilish music but a slowed down version so they can quote-unquote ‘feel something’). At 14, he was an apprentice to a master engraver, like Darth Vader but ‘artistic’ and a child. At 21, he went to the posh boy school ‘The Royal Academy’ with all the other posh boys who would most likely be seen talking about poetry in the playground and bragging about how their fathers wear tuxedos on a weekday. However, Blake was from a working-class family and not from the aristocratic strata like the rest of the posh morons, so he felt like an outcast (that’s what you get for punching above the belt, Willy). By doing this, you get you brain working and you are able to recall more information as you will be able to link certain contextual factors to jokes. For example, when I think of how Blake, I remember Darth Vader (for how he was an apprentice to an engraver) and how he was an artist cause of my comparison to GCSE stuff. Try it and see if it works for you. :)

[@GabriellaTavini]

A super creative way of recalling all the facts - I like it! Thanks for sharing. 👍🏼

[@sonomaware]

can you do the poetical works of Robert browning I would love to relate your point of view to mine

[@GabriellaTavini]

Mr Browning is on the list of videos to do in future - thanks for asking 🙂

[@VishnuQM]

Now? -- Ukraine -- Myanmar

[@BeKind2006]

Am I the only one watching this for fun..? 😂

[@GabriellaTavini]

😂 You know what, I originally started these videos for students, but I’ve had LOADS of people of all ages and across the world who seem to be tuning in just for fun, which is AMAZING. I couldn’t ask for anything more. Glad to have you here! More fun to be uploaded soon. 😆 👋

[@rmleighton1]

First you talked of Love then you talked of Death. Leonard Cohen.

[@GabriellaTavini]

Very observant. I’m learning some LC on the guitar atm ☺️

[@BikramMondalgaming]

Hlw

[@michelleearly590]

Madd about William Blake,a true rebel he loved Jesus and children and ask God For an accounting who questions God? God likes man salty even if your wrong .better then milktoast Blake had big balls .and before he died he was singing

[@GabriellaTavini]

He really was a true rebel and I love him for all those reasons too and more! Thanks for commenting Michelle. 🙏🏻

[@allthingsfrench1391]

First of all you must understand that Blake was a Prophet whose entire life was devoted to the Imagination. He knew that Imagination created reality and that the Imagination was God. The Bible is not secular history, it is Salvation history. There is no myth to the Bible if you understand it to be written in allegory to be hid from the gross ignorant minds of the people and the church. In his day London was just becoming industrialised and that was enough for man to be consumed by materialism and live in utter darkness. The only platform people of the same mind of Blake had was through the printing press where all of the underground societies were working. The people suffered from their own self imposed blindness, the churches who ruled the world hid reality from the people. Gnosticism was ground out of existence in place of Ecclisiastiscism. Anything opposed to that was burned, killed off. England had been the forefront of great thinkers until this new Christianity. The Truth was out there.. you just had to know how to find it. Just as the Bible was written to hide the Truth from the uninitiated, so the great writers, poets and artists hid the Truth in their works. As Tennyson said: Truth embodied in a tale enters in at lowly doors. Blake hated the wealthy and the churches who were millions of years away from their source, the True God, within themselves. Their very own Imagination. Upper case letters signify God. I went to the Garden of Love, (Your own Conciousness) And saw what I never had seen: (Mortal eyes cannot see what the Spiritual eye sees) A Chapel was built in the midst, (In the midst it is God itself) Where I used to play on the green. (Before we are adulterated) And the gates of this Chapel were shut, (The gates are shut to the blind) And 'Thou shalt not' writ over the door; (People would rather die to their blindness than open them to see our know the Truth which is in you) So I turn'd to the Garden of Love, (God, your Conciousness) That so many sweet flowers bore. (All the people are the flowers bore) And I saw it was filled with graves, (Utter darkness where man prefers) And tomb-stones where flowers should be: (The world is dead until it awakens to the Christ within its own being. The fallen world was a place of slavery, hypocrisy, exploitation and suffering. ) And Priests in black gowns, were walking their rounds, (It says it all) And binding with briars, my joys & desires. ( Blake uses the crucifixion as literal fact in "this world", because he knew we are Jesus and that we are indeed crucified that we will suffer every imaginable horror until awakened. I can assure you Blake did not panic. All of the people and numbers and places in the Bible are symbols and states of conciousness, unless you know that you will not understand. The number 4 means the earth, material creation The number 12 means governmental perfection/ authority The number 3 means Seeds, Fruit, Revelation, Resurrection, New Life

[@iconsumedmt1350]

I doubt this guy had a job when he wrote this. In this poem he moans and complains about a society that has given him a better standard of living than in any period of time before him.

[@GabriellaTavini]

Interesting thought! I think he was an idealist and knew life could be better for all regardless of his privilege.

[@iconsumedmt1350]

@@GabriellaTavini I’m sorry if I sounded close minded before. You have done a wonderful job pointing literary devices in poems and explaining them to me. My frustration with A level literature lies in me having to write a 500 word essay analyzing a poem of less than 200 words. It also doesn’t help when the poet has an overly simple world view that can be summed up in a couple of lines. The Garden of Love is the perfect embodiment of this. Your videos help me in developing a general sense of what to include in an analysis. Can you make a video specifically going through the process of writing a 500+ word essay on a poem like this? That would help a lot. Thank you.

[@GabriellaTavini]

Ahh that is a challenge. And I understand your frustration, but there’s always ways around the task at hand. Yes, a video on essay writing for poetry is a great suggestion! Thank you.

[@yabombo8145]

people moaned and will continue to moan about their current society, nothing special about it. I think he moaned about what he saw as a degradation of his society like any hippie would.

[@my88110]

not only was he an engraver his entire life, but also a scholar and a gentleman, and if he moaned he moaned for man