I Saw A Chapel Of Gold

I Saw A Chapel All Of Gold, written by William Blake, describes how a church has become corrupted by the serpent, how the serpent destroyed the purity of the church. Blake uses imagery to get some of his points across, and he also talks about bread and wine, referring to the church. The poem at first seems to be referring to the churches struggle against its enemy, but as it continues, it seems to look like a rape, but it could mean that the church is being raped by the devil.

In the first stanza, Blake saw his vision, he is showing a colour, the colour of gold. Gold represents value. It is interesting how the author paired up the two verbs weeping and mourning with worshipping. Blake is saying how he saw a chapel of value but no one would go inside it, perhaps something terrible has happened in that church, bad experiences, but he is also showing how people were outside of this church weeping and mourning, but worshipping all at the same time. It is odd how he paired those 3 words together, it seems like these people have just suffered a loss of some sort, but we are not told what this loss could be.

In the second stanza, Blake is saying that he saw a serpent, notice how Blake used a serpent to show the devil, instead of using a bear or some sort of large animal, he used a serpent because they are very sneaky and maneuvers its way around without being seen. The serpent is trying to force its way into the chapel through the while pillars, he finally broke the hinges to the door. This was a slow but public destruction of the building. The serpent is representing the devil, meaning that the devil was trying to break through Gods walls, his home, the church. Notice how the devil is being represented by a snake, because when people think of a snake, they think sneaky, hard to see, and they maneuver their way around. Blake didn't use a bear or some sort of big animal because they are very noticeable, and loud. Snakes are so quiet, so smooth, and subtle. Blake chooses to use indicate that he feels that the established church has lost its positive qualities and become corrupt. This stanza can also represent a certain type of rape, but not necessarily of a girl. The church is being raped by the serpent (the devil). It is doing all bad things to it that God doesn't want, just like when someone gets raped. Someone is going against his/her will. The devil strives to go against Gods will because it is evil. The serpent forced and forced his way through the doors just like a man forces his way into his victim. The victim struggles and struggles to not let him in, but in the end, the rapist takes control