The Garden of Love | I went to the Garden of Love

I went to the Garden of Love

Language: English

Our translations: GER

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 turn'd to the Garden of Love, 
that so many, 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.

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Text Authorship:

by William Blake (1757 - 1827), "The Garden of Love", appears in Songs of Innocence and Experience, in Songs of Experience, no. 16, first published 1794 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

by George Antheil (1900 - 1959), "The Garden of Love", 1948, from Songs of Experience, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
by Maximilian Beckschäfer (b. 1952), "I went to the Garden of Love", 1978 [ voice and instrumental ensemble ], from Songs after William Blake, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
by William Bolcom (b. 1938), "The Garden of Love", 1956-81 [ solo voices, chorus, and orchestra ], from Songs of Experience, Volume Two, no. 6 [sung text not yet checked]
by Norman Curtis (b. 1933), "The Garden of Love", c1959 [ voice and piano ], from William Blake's Songs of Innocence and of Experience, no. 21 [sung text not yet checked]
by David Campbell Dorward (b. 1933), "The Garden of Love", op. 61 no. ? (1973) [ high voice, horn, and piano ], from The Garden of Love [sung text not yet checked]
by John Frandsen (b. 1956), "The Garden of Love", 1991 [ voice and guitar ], from Songs of Experience, no. 2, confirmed with a CD booklet [sung text checked 1 time]
by Vincent Sauter Frohne (b. 1936), "The garden of love", op. 30a no. 3 (1971), first performed 1976 [ soprano, narrator, and chamber orchestra ], from Sacred Songs of William Blake, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
by Ole Carsten Green (b. 1922), "The Garden of Love", op. 27a no. 16 (1973) [ voice and piano ], from Songs of Experience, no. 16 [sung text not yet checked]
by Gary Michael Higginson (b. 1952), "The Garden of Love", op. 33 no. 6 (1977), first performed 1979 [ SATB chorus a cappella ], from Seven Songs of William Blake, Set I, no. 6 [sung text not yet checked]
by Bo Holten (b. 1948), "The Garden of Love", 1979 [ high voice, oboe, clarinet, and string quartet ], Copenhagen : Society for the Promotion of Danish Music [sung text not yet checked]
by Joan Littlejohn (b. 1937), "The Garden of Love", 1967-70, first performed 1971 [ voice and piano ], from Blakes Songs of Innocence and of Experience, Showing the Two Contrary States of the Human Soul, Part II : Songs of Experience, no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]
by Nicholas Marshall (b. 1942), "The Garden of Love" [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Michael Richard Miller (b. 1932), "The garden of love", 1965 [ SATB chorus a cappella ], from Blake on Love, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
by John Mitchell (b. 1941), "The Garden of Love", op. 25 no. 6 (1977), from Visions from the Flame, no. 6 [sung text not yet checked]
by Tage Nielsen (1929 - 2003), "The Garden of Love", 1979, first performed 1979 [ soprano and vibraphone ], from 5 Poems by William Blake, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
by Nailah Nombeko , "The Garden of Love", 2019 [ soprano and piano ], from Short Songs to the Poetry of William Blake, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
by Poul Rovsing Olsen (1922 - 1982), "The Garden of Love ", op. 16 no. 1, published 1950, first performed 1950 [ mezzo-soprano and piano ], from Two Prophetic Songs, no. 1, Copenhagen : Viking Musikforlag [sung text not yet checked]
by Solomon Pimsleur (1900 - 1962), "The Garden of Love", op. 11 no. 4 (1922), rev. 1930 [ soprano and piano ], from Songs of Innocence and Experience, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
by Elie Siegmeister (1909 - 1991), "The Garden of Love", 1966, published 1978 [ alto or bass voice, viola, and piano ], from Songs of Experience, no. 4, NY : C. Fischer [sung text not yet checked]
by Øistein Sommerfeldt (1919 - 1994), "The Garden of Love", op. 53 no. 2 (1979), published c1982 [ high voice, guitar, flute (or recorder), and piano ], from From William Blake's Poetry, no. 2, Oslo : Norsk Musikforlag [sung text not yet checked]
by John Austin Sykes (1909 - 1962), "The Garden of Love" [ baritone and piano ], from Songs of Experience, no. 12 [sung text not yet checked]
by Michael Thiele (b. 1947), "The Garden of Love" [ voice and 2 guitars ], GEMA registration 1981 [sung text not yet checked]
by Carl Paul Vollrath (b. 1931), "The Garden of Love", 1966, from Songs of Experience [sung text not yet checked]
by Judith Lang Zaimont , "Elegy: The Garden of Love", 1974 [ soprano, tenor, flute, violoncello, and harp ], from Songs of Innocence, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 91