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Compare and Contrast William Blakes Holy Thursday (I) of Innocence with Holy Thursday (II) of Experience
The two poems! Holy Thursday I" II reflect Blakes theory of contrariness The tile of the poems refers to the Thursday #efore Easter $unday" o#ser%ed #y Christians in commemoration of Christ&s 'ast $upper in which the ceremony of the washin( of the feet is performed! the cele#rant washes the feet of )* people to commemorate Christ&s washin( of his disciples& feet In En(land a custom sur%i%es of (i%in( alms to the poor $o the title has reli(ious si(nificance Both the poems deal with the same theme+ #ut their approach to the theme is different+ the first #ein( li(ht and ironic and the second #ein( more sa%a(e and direct I first analyse Holy Thursday (I) and then Holy Thursday (II) and finally" I will compare and contrast #oth the poems ,Till into the hi(h dome of -aul&s they like Thames& waters flow . The poem&s (Holy Thursday I) dramatic settin( refers to a traditional Charity $chool ser%ice at $t -aul&s Cathedral The first stan/a captures the mo%ement of the children from the schools to the church" likenin( the lines of children to the Thames 0i%er" which flows throu(h the heart of 'ondon! the children are carried alon( #y the current of their innocent faith In the second stan/a" the metaphor for the children chan(es 1irst they #ecome 2flowers of 'ondon town 2 This comparison emphasi/es their #eauty and fra(ility+ it undercuts the assumption that these destitute children are the city&s refuse and #urden" renderin( them instead as 'ondon&s fairest and finest Thus Blake emphasi/es their innocence and #eauty in Holy Thursday I 3ext the children are descri#ed as resem#lin( lam#s in their innocence and meekness" as well as in the sound of their little %oices The ima(e transforms the character of hummin( 2multitudes"2 into somethin( hea%enly and su#lime The lam# metaphor links the children to Christ and reminds the reader of 4esus&s special tenderness and care for children 5s the children #e(in to sin( in the third stan/a" they are no lon(er 6ust weak and mild+ the stren(th of their com#ined %oices raised toward 7od e%okes somethin( more powerful and puts them in direct contact with hea%en The simile for their son( is first (i%en as 2a mi(hty wind2 and then as 2harmonious thunderin(s 2 The #eadles" under whose authority the children li%e" are eclipsed in their a(ed pallor #y the internal radiance of the children Thus the 8(uardians are #eneath the children The final line ad%ises compassion for the poor Blakes #asic aim in this poem is to emphasi/e the hea%enliness and innocent or the children The #e(innin( of Holy Thursday (I) is transformed into Holy Thursday II as! ,Is that trem#lin( cry a son(9 Can it #e a son( of 6oy9 Holy Thursday II in contrast #e(ins with a series of :uestions! how holy is the si(ht of children li%in( in misery in a prosperous country9 ;i(ht the children&s 2cry"2 as they sit assem#led in $t -aul&s Cathedral on Holy Thursday" really #e a son(9 2Can it #e a son( of 6oy92 In the first stan/a" we learn that whate%er care these children recei%e is minimal and (rud(in(ly #estowed The 2cold and usurous hand2 that feeds them is moti%ated more #y self<interest than #y lo%e and pity ;oreo%er" this 2hand2 metonymically represents not 6ust the daily (uardians of the orphans" #ut the city of 'ondon as a whole! the entire city has a ci%ic responsi#ility to these most helpless mem#ers of their society" yet it dele(ates or denies this o#li(ation Here the children must participate in a pu#lic display of 6oy that poorly reflects their actual circumstances" #ut ser%es rather to reinforce the self<ri(hteous complacency of those who are supposed to care for them The son( that had sounded so ma6estic in the $on(s of Innocence shri%els" here" to a 2trem#lin( cry 2 In the first poem" the parade of children found natural sym#oli/ation in 'ondon&s mi(hty ri%er Here" howe%er" the children and the natural world conceptually connect %ia a strikin(ly different set of ima(es! the failin( crops and sunless fields sym#oli/e the wastin( of a nation&s

resources and the pu#lic&s ne(lect of the future The thorns" which line their paths" link their sufferin( to that of Christ They li%e in an 8eternal winter" where they experience neither physical comfort nor the warmth of lo%e Holy Thursday I is meek and lenient in tone+ #ut the poem calls upon the reader to #e more critical than the speaker is! we are asked to contemplate the true meanin( of Christian pity" and to contrast the institutionali/ed charity of the schools with the lo%e of which 7od<<and innocent children<<are capa#le ;oreo%er" the %isual picture (i%en in the first two stan/as contains a num#er of unsettlin( aspects! the mention of the children&s clean faces su((ests that they ha%e #een tidied up for this pu#lic occasion+ that their usual state is :uite different The pu#lic display of lo%e and charity conceals the cruelty to which impo%erished children were often su#6ected ;oreo%er" the orderliness of the children&s march and the ominous 2wands2 (or rods) of the #eadles su((est ri(idity" re(imentation" and %iolent authority rather than charity and lo%e 'astly" the tempestuousness of the children&s son(" as the poem transitions from %isual to aural ima(ery" carries a su((estion of di%ine %en(eance as in these lines! ,Then cherish pity" lest you dri%e an an(el from your door . In the Innocence %ersion" Blake descri#ed the pu#lic appearance of charity school children in $t -aul&s Cathedral In 2experienced2 %ersion" howe%er" he criti:ues rather than praises the charity of the institutions responsi#le for hapless children The speaker entertains :uestions a#out the children as %ictims of cruelty and in6ustice" some of which the earlier poem implied The rhetorical techni:ue of the poem is to pose a num#er of suspicious :uestions that recei%e indirect" yet :uite censoriously toned answers as in! ,Is this a holy thin( to see In a rich and fruitful land. The :uestion may #e asked which of the two 2Holy Thursday2 poems states the ri(ht attitude 5ccordin( to 4ohn Beer" a famous critic the innocent poem displays (reater insi(ht" in spite of the (reater worldly wisdom" and in spite of the superior moral interest" shown in the experienced poem The innocent speaker" says this critic" sees more of the scene than the experienced one The speaker in the experienced poem is so anxious to assert his moral ideas that the scene in $t -aul&s #ecomes an excuse for a moral sermon rather than a situation he can (i%e attention to 5nd 4ohn Beer concludes! 2The innocent son( ends on a positi%e note without preachin( a sermon" while the experienced speaker preaches a sermon that is ne(ati%e in tone" #ein( full of moral anxiety #ut destructi%e of moral o#li(ation 2 With his 2Holy Thursday2 of Experience2" Blake clarifies his %iew of the hypocrisy of formali/ed reli(ion and its claimed acts of charity He exposes the esta#lished church&s self<con(ratulatory hymns as a sham that the sound of the children is only a trem#lin( cry

William Blakes 5 -oison Tree! Criti:ue and 5ppraisal

Human #ein(s" alon( with the a#ility to reason and :uestion" possess the capacity to hate" and yet also to for(i%e =nfortunately" for(i%in( someone is not always as easy as holdin( a (rud(e a(ainst them and this lack of control o%er ones actions is inherent to human nature In ,5 poison tree." William Blake critically discusses these two opposin( forces" unco%erin( the inherent weakness in humans" and the effects of these innate flaws Throu(h the use of extended metaphors and %i%id ima(ery" Blake sym#olically portrays this fundamental flaw throu(h the poem The central theme in the poem is hatred and an(er" dominatin( much of the authors thou(hts Blake expresses this throu(h the introduction of a cle%er parallelism < the treatment of an(er #etween a friend and a foe Throu(h this" Blake emphasi/es the nature of an(er > while expressin( and lettin( (o of wrath ends it" suppression nurtures it Blake startles the reader with the clarity of the poem" and with metaphors that can apply to many instances of life 5 -oison Tree is an alle(ory The tree here represents repressed wrath+ the water represents fear+ the apple is sym#olic of the fruit of the deceit which results from repression This deceit (i%es rise to the speaker&s action in layin( a death<trap for his enemy The deeper meanin( of the poem is that a((ressi%e feelin(s" if suppressed" almost certainly destroy personal relationships ,5nd it (rew #oth day and ni(ht

Till it #ore an apple #ri(ht. Blake further sym#oli/es this in the next two stan/as He appears to metaphor the repression of an(er and hatred to 8a poison tree" thus (i%in( it an identity The personification in ,5 -oison Tree. exists #oth as a means #y which the poem&s metaphors are re%ealed" supported" and as a way for Blake to forecast the (reater illustration of the wrath The wrath the speaker feels is not directly personified as a tree" #ut as somethin( that (rows slowly and #ears fruit In the openin( stan/a the speaker states" ,;y wrath did (row . The speaker later descri#es the li%in( nature of the wrath as one which" ,(rew #oth day and ni(ht". and" ,#ore an apple #ri(ht . This comparison #y personification of wrath to a tree illustrates the speaker&s idea that" like the slow and steady (rowth of a tree" an(er and wrath (radually accumulate and form 6ust as mi(hty and deadly as a poisoned tree ,5nd I water& d it in fears" 3i(ht and mornin( with my tears+ 5nd I sunned it with smiles" 5nd with soft deceitful wiles. To understand the metaphorical sense of the poem" one must first examine the title" ,5 -oison Tree". which alerts the reader that some type of metaphor will stand to dominate the poem In the second stan/a" Blake employs se%eral metaphors that reflect the (rowin( and nurturin( of a tree which compare to the feedin( of hate and %anity explored #y the speaker The %erses" ,5nd I watered it ?with my tears. show how the tears life lead an o#6ect of destruction The speaker (oes further to say" ,5nd I sunned it with smiles. descri#in( not only false intentions" #ut the processin( of ,sunnin(." (i%in( nutrients to a plant so that it may not only (row and li%e" #ut flourish In #oth of these metaphors" the #asic elements for a tree to sur%i%e" water and sunli(ht are shown in human despair and sadness Blake called the ori(inal draft of 25 -oison Tree2 2Christian 1or#earance"2 su((estin( that what is meant to appear as a (entle attitude is often a mask for disdain and an(er 1urthermore" Blake #elie%ed that the attitudes of piety that adherents of con%entional Christianity were tau(ht to maintain actually led to hypocrisy" causin( people to pretend to #e friendly and acceptin( when they were not The ri(hteousness that the con%entional reli(ion prescri#ed" Blake #elie%ed" allowed people to hide e%il intent and to perform e%il deeds" such as stiflin( the healthy (rowth of children" under the co%er of appearin( %irtuous ,5nd into my (arden stole When the ni(ht had %eiled the pole In the mornin( (lad I see ;y foe outstretched #eneath the tree. The reli(ious context of the poem is also e%ident in two metaphorical allusions made #y the speaker towards the end of the poem Blake" #ein( a reli(ious %isionary" has also critici/ed the %iews and actions of Christianity This is e%ident in the sym#ol of the 8poison tree" which can #e seen to make direct #i#lical reference to the tree of knowled(e" representin( the e%il existin( within man Thus" as the (arden is sym#olic of the 7arden of Eden" the apple is sym#olic of apple which #rou(ht 5dam and e%e to their demise It is the e%il and poison that is #ared from an(er" the fruit of the poison tree 5s in the #i#lical story" the apple here is #eautiful on the outside" while poisonous and deadly underneath By presentin( the apple" Black is sym#olic of the $erpent" maliciously decei%in( his foe and #rin(in( his demise The serpent in Black is his weakness" and 6ust like he" all humans ha%e this inherent flaw inside of them Black uses this to critici/e Christian for(i%eness" expressin( that while Christians #elie%e in 8turnin( the other cheek" #y for(i%in( and repressin( an(er" they are i(norin( the #asic flaw existin( in our human nature $ym#olically" the speaker represents 7od" the foe and (arden represent 5dam and E%e in the 7arden of Eden" and the tree represents the Tree of @nowled(e of 7ood and E%il in 7enesis If this analo(y is true" it shows 7od re6oicin( in killin( his enemies" which most people think the 7od they know would ne%er do Conclusi%ely" 25 -oison Tree2 teaches a lesson and asserts a moral proposition rather than offerin( a criti:ue of a theolo(ical system" the lesson is less concerned with an(er than with

demonstratin( that suppressin( the expression of feelin(s leads to a corruption of those feelin(s" to a decay of innocence" and to the (rowth of cunnin( and (uile 0epeatedly in $on(s of Experience" not 6ust in 25 -oison Tree"2 Blake ar(ues that the reli(ious doctrines intended to train people" especially children" in %irtue are cruel and cause harm In addition" Blake depicts those who implement reli(ious discipline as sadistic Blake&s poetry" while easy to understand and simplistic" usually implies a moral motif on an almost #asic le%el The powerful fi(urati%e lan(ua(e in ,5 -oison Tree. is so apparent that it #rin(s forth an apparent messa(e as well The poem is not a cele#ration of wrath+ rather it is Blake&s cry a(ainst it Throu(h this" Blake warns the reader of the dan(ers of repression and of re6oicin( in the sorrow of our foes

William Blakes Ty(er! Criti:ue and 5ppraisal

The Ty(er2 represents an intense" %isionary style with which William Blake confronts a timeless :uestion throu(h the creation of a still<life re%erie To examine 2The Ty(er&s2 world" a reader must inspect Blakes word choice" ima(es" allusions" rhyme scheme" meter" and theme 2The Ty(er2 seems like a simple poem" yet this simple poem contains all the complexities of the human mystery The first impression that William Blake (i%es is that he sees a terri#le ti(er in the ni(ht" and" as a result of his state of panic" the poet exa((erates the description of the animal when he writes! 8Ty(erA Ty(erA Burnin( #ri(ht In the forests of the ni(ht? The openin( :uestion enacts what will #e the sin(le dramatic (esture of the poem" and each su#se:uent stan/a ela#orates on this conception Blake is #uildin( on the con%entional idea that nature" like a work of art" must in some way contain a reflection of its creator The ti(er is strikin(ly #eautiful yet also horrific in its capacity for %iolence What kind of a 7od" then" could or would desi(n such a terrifyin( #east as the ti(er9 In more (eneral terms" what does the undenia#le existence of e%il and %iolence in the world tell us a#out the nature of 7od" and what does it mean to li%e in a world where a #ein( can at once contain #oth #eauty and horror9 Immediately after seein( the 8Ty(er in the forests" the poet asks it what deity could ha%e created it! 8What immortal hand and eye" Could frame thy fearful symmetry9 The word 8immortal (i%es the reader a clue that the poet refers to 7od Then" in the second stan/a" the author wonders in what far<away places the ti(er was made" may#e" referrin( that these places cannot #e reached #y any mortal In the third stan/a" the poet asks a(ain" once the ti(ers heart #e(an to #eat" who could make such a fri(htenin( and e%il animal 3ext" in the forth stan/a" William Blake asks :uestions a#out the tools used #y 7od 5nd he names the hammer" the chain" the furnace" and an%il 5ll these elements are used #y an ironsmith The ti(er initially appears as a strikin(ly sensuous ima(e Howe%er" as the poem pro(resses" it takes on a sym#olic character" and comes to em#ody the spiritual and moral pro#lem the poem explores! perfectly #eautiful and yet perfectly destructi%e" Blake&s ti(er #ecomes the sym#olic center for an in%esti(ation into the presence of e%il in the world $ince the ti(er&s remarka#le nature exists #oth in physical and moral terms" the speaker&s :uestions a#out its ori(in must also encompass #oth physical and moral dimensions The poem&s series of :uestions repeatedly ask what sort of physical creati%e capacity the 2fearful symmetry2 of the ti(er #espeaks+ assumedly only a %ery stron( and powerful #ein( could #e capa#le of such a creation ,What the hammer9 what the chain9 In what furnace was thy #rain9. The smithy represents a traditional ima(e of artistic creation+ here Blake applies it to the di%ine creation of the natural world The 2for(in(2 of the ti(er su((ests a %ery physical" la#orious" and deli#erate kind of makin(+ it emphasi/es the awesome physical presence of the ti(er and precludes the idea that such a creation could ha%e #een in any way accidentally or hapha/ardly produced It also continues from the first description of the ti(er the ima(ery of fire with its simultaneous connotations of creation" purification" and destruction The speaker stands in awe of the ti(er as a sheer physical and aesthetic

achie%ement" e%en as he recoils in horror from the moral implications of such a creation+ for the poem addresses not only the :uestion of who could make such a creature as the ti(er" #ut who would perform this act This is a :uestion of creati%e responsi#ility and of will" and the poet carefully includes this moral :uestion with the consideration of physical power 3ote" in the third stan/a" the parallelism of 2shoulder2 and 2art"2 as well as the fact that it is not 6ust the #ody #ut also the 2heart2 of the ti(er that is #ein( for(ed The repeated use of word the 2dare2 to replace the 2could2 of the first stan/a introduces a dimension of aspiration and willfulness into the sheer mi(ht of the creati%e act ,Bid he smile his work to see9 Bid he who made the 'am# make thee9. The reference to the lam# in the penultimate stan/a reminds the reader that a ti(er and a lam# ha%e #een created #y the same 7od" and raises :uestions a#out the implications of this It also in%ites a contrast #etween the perspecti%es of 2experience2 and 2innocence2 represented here and in the poem 2The 'am# 2 2The Ty(er2 consists entirely of unanswered :uestions" and the poet lea%es us to awe at the complexity of creation" the sheer ma(nitude of 7od&s power" and the inscruta#ility of di%ine will The perspecti%e of experience in this poem in%ol%es a sophisticated acknowled(ment of what is unexplaina#le in the uni%erse" presentin( e%il as the prime example of somethin( that cannot #e denied" #ut will not withstand facile explanation" either The open awe of 2The Ty(er2 contrasts with the easy confidence" in 2The 'am#"2 of a child&s innocent faith in a #ene%olent uni%erse The meekness of Blakes lam# makes his ,fearful. and ,deadly. ti(er appear all the more horrific" #ut to conclude that one is decidedly (ood and the other e%il would #e incorrect The innocent portrayal of childhood in ,The 'am#". thou(h attracti%e" lacks ima(ination The ti(er" con%ersely" is repeatedly associated with fire or #ri(htness" pro%idin( a sharp contrast a(ainst the dark forests from which it emer(es C ,Ty(erA Ty(erA #urnin( #ri(ht D In the forests of the ni(ht . While such #ri(htness mi(ht sym#oli/e %iolence" it can also imply insi(ht" ener(y" and %itality The ti(ers domain is one of unrestrained self<assertion 1ar from e%il" Blakes poem cele#rates the ti(er and the su#lime excessi%eness he represents ,4esus was all %irtue". wrote Blake ,and acted from impulse" not from rules . William Blake ne%er answers his :uestion a#out the unknown nature of (od He lea%es it up to the reader to decide By #e(innin( and endin( his poem with the same :uatrain he asks the :uestion a#out (od creatin( e%il as well as (ood" a(ain In conclusion" a readin( of 2The Ty(er2 offers different thematic possi#ilities The poem seems to chan(e as the reader chan(es" #ut the #eauty of the words and meter make this poem an astonishin(" en6oya#le excursion into the humanity of theolo(y ;oreo%er" the poem is :uota#le in %arious situations" and it lea%es a permanent impression on the reader Therefore" 2The Ty(er2 #y William Blake emer(es from creation&s cold" clear stream as a perpetual inspiration < a classic In my opinion" William Blake wrote the poem with a simple structure and a perfect rhyme to help the reader see the ima(es he wanted to transmit 5#o%e all" the description of the ti(er is (larin(ly (raphic due to essentially the contrast #etween fire and ni(ht

William Blakes Theory of Contrariness

$on(s of Innocence and of Experience is a collection of short lyric poems accompanied #y Blake&s ori(inal illustrations The two sections 6uxtapose the state of innocence and that of experience ;any of the poems in Blake&s words they were meant to show 2the two contrary states of the human soul2+ the illustration of innocence and experience The tone of the first series is admira#ly sounded #y the introductory 2-ipin( down the %alleys wild2 and that of second the dark picture of poor #a#es 2fed with cold and usurous hand2 Blake is #itter a(ainst those who (o 2up to the Church to pray2 while the misery of the innocent is around them His theory of Contraries is summari/ed in The ;arria(e of Hea%en and Hell! 2Without Contraries is no pro(ression 5ttraction and repulsion" reason and ener(y" lo%e and hate" are necessary to human existence 2 The essence of Blake&s theory is that" in some paradoxical way" it is possi#le for the contraries of innocence and experience to co<exist within a human #ein( The crime of 2reli(ion2 was its attempt 2to destroy existence2 #y i(norin( or minimi/in( the essential oppositions in human nature The word 8contrary had a %ery specific and important meanin( for Blake 'ike almost all (reat poets" he was an enemy of dualism Western thou(ht has #een intensely dualistic" seein( e%erythin( as composed of warrin( opposites" head and heart" #ody and spirit" male

and female as thou(h the split #etween the hemispheres of the human #rain were pro6ectin( itself on e%erythin( percei%ed 5 study of the poems in the two (roups shows the emotional tensions #etween the two Contrary $tates ,-ipin( down the %alleys wild. In the 2$on(s of Innocence2" Blake expresses the happiness of a child&s first thou(hts a#out life To the child" the world is one of happiness" #eauty" and lo%e 5t that sta(e of life" the sunshine of lo%e is so radiant that human sufferin( appears only temporary and fleetin( In the Introduction to the first series" Blake represents a lau(hin( child as his inspiration for his poems 5nd in the poems that follow in this series" Blake (i%es us his %ision of the world as it appears to the child or as it affects the child 5nd this world is one of purity" 6oy" and security The children are themsel%es pure" whether their skin is #lack or white They are compared to lam#s 2whose innocent call2 they hear Both 2child2 and 2lam#2 ser%e as sym#ols for Christ 4oy is e%erywhereCin the 24oy #ut two days old2+ in the leapin( and shoutin( of the little ones+ in the sun" in the #ells" in the %oices of the #irds+ in the 'au(hin( $on( all 3ature re6oices But" a#o%e all" there is security There is hardly a poem in which a sym#ol of protection" a (uardian fi(ure of some kind" does not occur In The Echoin( 7reen" the old folk are close #y" while the children play Elsewhere there is the shepherd watchin( o%er his sheep+ there are the mother" the nurse" the lion&" the an(els" and" most important of all" 7od Himself There is spontaneous happiness and deli(ht in these (roups of poems as ,The Infant Boy. illustrates" 88I happy amD 4oy is my name ,These flowers of 'ondon townA $eated in companies they sit with radiance all their own. In the first Holy Thursday" poor children sit 2with radiance of their own2+ while in the second Holy Thursday" the poet deplores the fact that there should #e so many poor and hun(ry children dependin( on charity in a country which is otherwise rich and fruitful The second poem is %ery mo%in(" as it was intended to #e We thus ha%e pictures of contrary states In the 2$on(s of Innocence2" the pre%ailin( sym#ol is the Iam#" which is an innocent creature of 7od and which also sym#oli/es the child Christ In the 2$on(s of Experience2 the chief sym#ol is the ti(er as expressed #y the first stan/a! ,Ti(erA Ti(erA #urnin( #ri(ht In the forests of the ni(ht. Where 8forests of the ni(ht sym#oli/e experience The ti(er #urns metaphorically with ra(e and :uickly #ecomes for some a sym#ol of an(er and passion The poet asks a crucial :uestion here Bid 7od Who made the lam# also make the ti(er9 The lam#" innocent and pretty" seems the work of a kindly" comprehensi#le Creator The splendid #ut terrifyin( ti(er makes us reali/e that 7od&s purposes are not so easily understood The ti(er represents the created uni%erse in its %iolent and terrifyin( aspects It also sym#oli/es %iolent and terrifyin( forces within the indi%idual man" and these terrifyin( forces ha%e to #e faced and fully reco(ni/ed The two poems called The 'am# and The Ti(er do" indeed" represent two contrary states of the human soul 3o contrast could ha%e #een more %i%id and more strikin( Blake sees exploitation in the son(s of experience as exemplified #y the followin( lines from" 8'ondon ,5nd mark in e%ery face I meet ;arks of weakness" marks of woe. The poems in the second (roup record the wounds and cruelties of the ci%ili/ed world $ome of them are #itter comments on the restraints for(ed #y custom and law Here Blake deplores the dominance of reason" reli(ion" law" and morality" and he deplores the suppression of natural impulses" and more especially the suppression of the sexual impulse Instead of innocence" 6oy" and security" Blake finds (uilt" misery" and tyranny in the world The protecti%e (uardians ha%e disappeared and in their place are the tyrants The ri(ors of sexual morality are depicted in 5 'ittle 7irl 'ost" The $ick 0ose" The 5n(el" and 5h" $unflower The $ick 0ose shows the destructi%e effects of sexual repression In The 5n(el" the maiden reali/es too late what she has missed 5h" $unflower shows the youth 2pinin( away with desire2" and the 2pale %ir(in shrouded in snow2" #ecause #oth of them were

denied sexual fulfillment The contrasts Blake sets forth in the $on(s are echoes of En(lish society&s approach to the social and political issues of his eraCa time characteri/ed" on the one hand" #y increasin( desire for personal" political" and economic freedom" and on the other" #y anxiety re(ardin( the potential conse:uences of that freedom for social institutions $e%eral of the poems directly address contemporary social pro#lems" for example" ,The Chimney<$weeper. deals with child la#or and ,Holy Thursday. descri#es the (rim li%es of charity children The most fully<reali/ed social protest poem in the $on(s is ,'ondon". a criti:ue of ur#an po%erty and misery Thus contrariness are a must The lan(ua(e and %ision not 6ust of Blake #ut of poetry itself insists that the contraries are e:ually important and insepara#le 8Without contraries is no pro(ression" wrote Blake He sou(ht to transform the ener(ies (enerated #y conflict into creati%e ener(ies" mo%in( towards mutual acceptance and harmony Thus" #y descri#in( innocence and experience as 8contrary states of the human soul" Blake is warnin( us that we are not #ein( in%ited to choose #etween them" that no such choice is possi#le He is not (oin( to assert that innocent 6oy is prefera#le to the sorrows of experience

William Blakes poem 8'ondon is a de%astatin( portrait of a society in which all souls and #odies were trapped" exploited and infected BiscussA
The poem" 8'ondon is a de%astatin( and concise political analysis" deli%ered with passionate an(er" re%ealin( the complex connections #etween patterns of ownership and the rulin( ideolo(y" the way all human relations are inescapa#ly #ound to(ether within a sin(le destructi%e society The poems openin( shows the narrator wanderin( the ,charterd. streets of 'ondon down to the ,charterd Thames. The loaded word ,charterd. > chan(ed from the first drafts politically empty ,dirty. > is used in a critical sense" and Blakes contemporary readers would no dou#t ha%e picked up on it The use of this loaded word > repeated to sharpen the ironic point that the streets" the %ery ri%er itself" are pri%ately owned > su((ests the oppressi%e nature of early capitalism" in which the Whi( alliance of merchants" risin( finance capitalists and some of the most powerful landed aristocrats who did not need to lean on the crown for power" were #usy accumulatin( capital %ia taxation and the esta#lishment of a national de#t" thus transferrin( wealth from the ma6ority to the minority 5s the narrator wanders" he marks" notices" the sufferin( population! ,5nd mark in e%ery face I meet ;arks of weakness" marks of woe. The repetition of ,marks. is emphatic+ the 'ondoners are #randed with %isi#le si(ns of sickness and misery The su#tle shift from ,mark. used as a %er# in line E to a noun in line F #inds the narrator to those he sees" showin( he is not a disinterested o#ser%er #ut one of the sufferers himself 3o<one is immune This is a picture of a whole society in chains" and the ti(htness of the poems structure > especially in the formal second %erse > emphasi/es this feelin( of entrapment The mo%e from %isual to aural description makes turnin( away" escape" impossi#le > ears cannot #e shut In the second %erse" this commonality of sufferin( is hammered home #y the poundin( rhythm" stressin( the word ,e%ery." fi%e times! ,In e%ery %oice" in e%ery #an" The mind<for(d manacles I hear. The cumulati%e effect of this %erse enacts the narrators helplessness The ,I. fi(ure doesnt appear till the %ery end of the %erse" as if he has #een o%erwhelmed #y the sounds of human torment The sense of imprisonment is made a#solutely plain in the phrase ,mind<for(d manacles. > literally" metal restrainin( cuffs" de%ised #y the mind of man to su#6u(ate people #y physical force" such as the prisoners lan(uishin( in 3ew(ate+ #ut also" metaphorically" mental chains imprisonin( throu(h ideolo(ical acceptance of the status :uo 5fter the dir(e of passi%ity in! ,In e%ery cry of e%ery ;an D In e%ery Infants cry of fear." we are 6olted #y the phrase into a sudden moment of analysis" of understandin( The tone of an(er and condemnation rises" and in the third %erse" the lon( list of accusatory examples has an unstoppa#le momentum The %erse #e(ins" as if in mid<sentence!

,How the Chimney<sweepers cry E%ery #lacknin( Church appalls+ 5nd the hapless $oldiers si(h 0uns in #lood down -alace walls. 1rom now on in this cinematic poem" we lose si(ht of the narrator alto(ether as he #ecomes su#sumed within his furious indictment" lea%in( the (eneral misery on scene to /oom in on three specific social types > the chimney sweep" the soldier and the harlot > all em#lematic fi(ures" a point made clear #y the use of capitals" used also for the representati%e institutions The #oy sweep #lackens the church #y literally makin( the churches sooty #ut also in the sense that the churchs reputation is increasin(ly tarnished #y its whitewashin( of the #rutal" smoke<#elchin( commercial system which exploits child<la#our The word ,appalls. here means &indicts& rather than the modern usa(e of &dis(usts& The church is not appalled in a compassionate way" #ut is fearful of the menace the sweeps represent The soldier whose si(h ,0uns in #lood down -alace walls. is a ,hapless. %ictim" in spite of the fact that he is part of the armed state The soldier" si(hin( in death or fear" metaphorically stains the palace walls with his #lood 6ust as the sweeps cry #lackens the churches -erhaps the soldiers discontented ,si(h. takes the tan(i#le form of red<painted protest slo(ans on palace walls The final %erse" which Blake only added in a later re%ision" re%eals how the system" constructed on the sa%a(e institutions of power > the law" church" monarchy and army > poisons personal relationships at the deepest le%el This is the culmination of the narrators apocalyptic description! ,But most thro midni(ht streets I hear How the youthful Harlots curse Blasts the new<#orn Infants tear 5nd #li(hts with pla(ues the ;arria(e hearse . It is no lon(er daytime" #ut midni(ht The harlot is a youn( %ictim" like the #oy sweep $he has #een ro##ed of the chance to lo%e her #a#y" #ecause it is the result of commerce" not lo%e" and #ecause its existence only #rin(s her increased po%erty $he passes her own misery onto her child" and that child" like her" will pass its misery onto further (enerations Her curse" like the sweeps cry and the soldiers si(h" has actual effects 'ike ,mind<for(d manacles." ,;arria(e hearse. is a fantastically potent phrase" re%er#eratin( with meanin(s! the two words are linked oxymoronically" with the notion of 6oyous" fruitful marria(e undermined #y its (rim apotheosis" death #y %enereal disease The phrase also fillets #our(eois marria(e in all its hypocrisy" the hus#and routinely unfaithful to his wife" and su((ests the sterile death<in<life of the wedded state ;arria(e has #ecome the funeral of lo%e" the death of freedom By strikin( at the family" the poem attacks the reproducti%e system of society itself The harlots curse does more than make the #a#y cry+ it destroys #our(eois complacency Its a fittin( end+ the poems final line has the incantatory power of a curse itself" with the rhyme shuttin( the lid on the poem once the #uild<up of hard alliterati%e sounds (#lacknin(" #lood" Blasts" #li(hts and pla(ues) has reached its crescendo 'ondon #e(ins with the economic system" couched in that a#stract" le(alistic word ,charterd." protected #y its ,#ans. (laws)" and mo%es to its conse:uences > the sellin( of #odies and souls within a sealed system of commercial exploitation Get" thou(h the poem descri#es claustropho#ic trappedness" paradoxically it does not feel defeatist This is an anti<%ision poem" #ut it implies that a %ision is needed" and this lifts it out of despair Its risin( an(er" reachin( its hei(ht in the $hakespearean last line" is like a #attle cry" or at least the precursor to one It doesnt 6ust catalo(ue the woes" #ut #y orderin( the encounters" re%eals their cause and their inter<connection It shows the power of articulation #oth in the %ictims utterances > the sweep" soldier and harlot markin( the city" #y #lacknin(" splashin( their #lood" infectin( it > and in the poem&s own rhetorical elo:uence