Children in Blake's Poetry

A detailed Summary of Children in Blake's Poetry

The use of children is a prominent theme in a number of William Blake's poems. It is apparent in reading such poems as, "The Lamb," "The Little Black Boy," and "The Chimney Sweeper," that Blake sees the world through the eyes of a child and embraces the innocence of the young.

Blake's poem "The Lamb," from Songs of Innocence really illustrates the innocence and purity of a young child. The persona in the poem is of a young child. The child questions the lamb as to where he came from and asks, "Little Lamb who made thee? / Dost thou know who made thee?" (9,10) The child is expecting the Lamb to answer him but it is obvious to the reader that the Lamb can't talk. When the child receives no answer, he decides that he'll tell the lamb where he came from. He says, "Little Lamb, I'll tell thee!" (12). The child says:

We are called by his name. (13,18)

The child really shows that his innocence here. The Lamb is being referred to as Jesus, the Lamb of God. The child is saying that that Lamb, Jesus and the child are all the same. What the boy does not understand, bec

And I am black, but O! my soul is white;

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Blake then goes on to write, "So if all do their duty, they need not fear harm." (24). This line is very ironic because that is what the little boys think, however, the children do not know that they will die young from an unpleasant death because of this job. By saying this, Blake illustrates how he sees the world through the eyes of a child.

And these black bodies and this sun-burnt face

ause he is a child and so innocent, is that the Lamb will be sacrificed, and the child will die, just like Jesus did when He was crucified.

Here the chimneysweeper is telling Tom that his hair can't be ruined if it is shaved and that it is nothing to cry about because it is part of the job.

Is but a cloud, like a shady grove. (12,15)

Blake's poem "The Chimney Sweeper" from Songs Of Experience, however, has a very different tone compared to "The Chimney Sweeper from Songs of Innocence. In Songs of Experience "The Chimney Sweeper" has a narrator in it questioning the young chimneysweeper. He says, " 'Where are thy father & mother? say?'"(3) The young child tells him that his parents have gone to church to pray. The child blames his parents as well as society for his present position in life and says:

That curl'd like a lamb's back, was shav'd, so I said,

"Hush Tom! never mind it, for when your head's bare,

That we may learn to bear the beams of love,

You know that the soot cannot spoil your white hair." (5,8)

The mother is trying to console her son here by telling him that he is going to face a difficult life but once he makes it thorough all the strugg

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Approximate Word count = 1153
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English