Compare and Contrast the Two Nurses in Blake’s poems.

Answer

Compare and contrast the two nurses in Blake’s poems.

Blake shows two different sides of the human soul—innocence and experience—in his poems of the collection “The Songs of Innocence and of Experience” (1794).

Nurse in Songs of Innocence: In the “Nurse’s Song” from Songs of Innocence, the nurse is kind, gentle, and loving. She watches the children play. She feels happy hearing their laughter. When she asks them to come home, they beg to stay longer outside and play. The children say the birds are still flying, the sheep are still in the fields. Instead of forcing them inside, the nurse allows them more time to play. She says:

“Well, well, go and play till the light fades away.”

The Nurse believes childhood is a time of joy and freedom. She trusts the children to return when they are ready. This nurse represents innocence—which is full of happiness, purity, and trust.

Nurse in Songs of Experience: In the “Nurse’s Song” from Songs of Innocence, the nurse is bitter and unhappy. Instead of feeling joy when she hears children playing, she feels sick and sad. Their laughter reminds her of her lost youth. She seems jealous or angry. She calls their play a “waste” of time. She says:

“Your spring and your day are wasted in play.”

This nurse suggests life will soon become hard and difficult.

Difference: The biggest difference between the two nurses is their attitude toward childhood. The Innocence nurse protects and values childhood, while the Experience nurse believes it is foolish and pointless. The first nurse is warm and hopeful, while the second is cold and bitter. 

In conclusion, Blake uses these two nurses to show how growing older can change people. When experience takes away joy, it turns kindness into control. The first nurse