Comment on Blake’s treatment of Childhood with reference to his poems.
Songs of Innocence and of Experience is a notable literary work by William Blake. A complete discussion of this literary work is given, which will help you enhance your literary skills and prepare for the exam. Read the Main texts, Key info, Summary, Themes, Characters, Literary devices, Quotations, Notes, and various study materials of Songs of Innocence and of Experience.
Answer
Comment on Blake’s treatment of Childhood with reference to his poems.
William Blake (1757-1827) explores the joys, struggles, and innocence of childhood in his famous collection “Songs of Innocence and of Experience” (1794). Through his poems, Blake shows how society treats children and how their experiences shape them. Blake portrays children as symbols of purity and innocence. He also critiques the systems that exploit or suppress them.
The Joy and Innocence of Childhood: We find the joy and innocence of childhood in the poems of Blake’s “Songs of Innocence”. In these poems, Blake paints an idealized picture of childhood. Poems like “The Chimney Sweeper,” “Nurse’s Song,” and “Holy Thursday” highlight the innocence, freedom, and joy of being a child.
For example, in “Nurse’s Song”, the children play freely in the fields. They laugh and shout. Their nurse watches them with love and care. The nurse allows them to stay out late because she values their happiness and sees their innocence as precious. The nurse says:
“Well, well, go and play till the light fades away
And then go home to bed.”
Blake creates a happy atmosphere as “the little ones leaped & shouted and laugh’d.”
In “The Chimney Sweeper” from “Songs of Innocence,” Blake presents a young chimney sweep who has an innocent perspective on his difficult life. Blake uses a dream sequence to depict the innocence of the chimney sweeps. In the dream, Tom sees an angel who releases all the boys from “coffins of black”—a metaphor for their grim lives—and leads them to a bright and beautiful paradise. This vision captures the child’s innocent hope that good behavior and faith will lead to eternal happiness in heaven.
Childhood and Nature: Blake uses nature to symbolize the beauty of childhood. In “Songs of Innocence,” happy children are often associated with fields, flowers, and birds. In “Holy Thursday” (“Songs of Innocence”), Blake compares the children with the flowers of London.
“O what a multitude they seemd, these
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