Rom Lit Midterm

Holy Thursday Analysis SE

"Holy Thursday" consists of four quatrains. The first is a heroic quatrain (ABAB) but the remaining three vary. The second stanza strikes discord by having no rhyme (ABCD, although there may be an intended slant rhyme for "joy" and "poverty" in their spelling). The last two follow the ABCB pattern. This irregularity contributes to the poem's tone of decay and confusion as the subject matter, the exploitation and neglect of children, becomes clear to the reader. The "Holy Thursday" of Innocence was open to two contrasting readings. This version is blunt and may only be read as a harsh critique of the religious hypocrisy inherent in the institutions of Blake's day. The "eternal winter" in which the children live suggests that poverty is a state of death in nature, and that the true order of things is not to have children languishing in squalor and hunger. The children lack the sun and life-giving rain of summer and spring, and are thus doomed to this unnatural state by the machinations of a system that remembers them only to justify its own righteousness.

According to Blake, poetry is what

A THING: a work that in his case, is most often tangible. Creates prints to correspond with his written productions

Holy Thursday Analysis

As always, Blake favors the innocent children even as he despises the system which enslaves or abuses them. The "wise guardians of the poor," the children's patrons, are seated "beneath them." Even though the gratitude may be forced upon the children, their innocence, which is stated twice outright in the poem, trumps the self-serving nature of the spectacle. Blake closes with the warning to "cherish pity; lest you drive and angel from your door," a statement that seems out of place on the surface. When compared to the Biblical account of the angels' visit to Lot in the city of Sodom, however, the driving away of an angel at the door becomes a more sobering image. Lot, alone of all the denizens of Sodom, offered the angels, who were disguised as travelers, hospitality in a city full of dangers for the unwary visitor. His pity for his guests results in his own family's rescue from the destruction about to strike the wicked city. Similarly, the reader is encouraged to "cherish pity" even in the midst of a sin-stricken and cynical system that would use a parade of poor children as a show of public virtue.

Blakes poetry attacks what

Attacks Reason with capital R--> Reason cannot be regarded as the "be all, end all." It is not the faculty that makes us like God. It rather the human's innate creative, spiritual, and individual properties that make us creators God's image. Secondary Imagination that poets

What did Blake think about social structures

Believed that governmental/church/religion/military social structures were gravely oppressive and confining

Infant Joy

Blake SI Another simple song celebrating happiness, this poem focuses on the gift of life in a newborn baby. Only two days old, the baby is asked, presumably by its mother, what name it wants. The baby names itself Joy, for that is all it knows. The mother then happily blesses the baby Joy, with the hope that joy will indeed be its lot in life.

symbols and imagery in the tyger

Chain, anvil, furnace--> this creator used tools not as the little lamby just poofed into existence. Tyger forged carefully.

Holy Thursday Summary SE

In the corresponding poem from Songs of Innocence, Blake subtly critiques the treatment of poor children by English society. Here, he is more direct, questioning the holiness of a day that essentially celebrates the existence of poverty. England is a "rich and fruitful land" but her children are "reduced to misery,/Fed with cold and usurious hand." Despite the outward praise that the poor children offer at the Holy Thursday spectacle, their country is "a land of poverty!" England is doomed to be "bleak & bare" in an "eternal winter" so long as poverty exists within her borders. In contrast, Blake points to lands where "the sun does shine" because there a child "can never hunger...Nor poverty the mind appall."

What are "contraries" according to Blake

Innocence and Experience--> without contraries there is NO PROGRESSION! Without contraries (life and death, heaven and hell, generation and regeneration) WE COULD NOT RECOGNIZE THE END GOAL OF INFINITE

who is the lamb

JESUS is the lamb and we know this from Christian iconography the lamb is innocent but ignorant because of no conscious knowledge of his origin LAMB is VESSEL of delight and joy

Thy soul was like a Star, and dwelt apart (9)

London 1812 William Blake ...dwelt apart in a better place, that is. Milton's moral superiority set him apart from the rest of the flawed mass of humanity.

So didst thou travel on life's common way, In cheerful godliness; and yet thy heart The lowliest duties on herself did lay. (12-14)

London 1812 William Blake First of all, Milton was a humble guy. He didn't get all up on himself about being an amazing poet or a better-than-average human - no, instead, he chose to live like the rest of us (only better). Furthermore, he took the most humble duties upon himself, and didn't ask for any special treatment.

We are selfish men; Oh! Raise us up, return to us again; And give us manners, virtue, freedom, power. (6-8)

London 1812 William Blake Hmm...very interesting. The fact that Wordsworth lumps "manners, virtue, freedom, and power" together indicates the relationship between morality and success - a healthy nation achieves things like "freedom and power" through being kind and virtuous.

How does Blake believe that we perceive the truth

Perceiving things through our senses is the means to interpret the truth--> However, Blake also considers the limitations to this faculty.

Tyger quotes

QUOTES "THE TYGER" Tyger Tyger, burning bright, In the forests of the night; On what wings dare he aspire? What the hand, dare seize the fire? And what shoulder, & what art, Could twist the sinews of thy heart? When the stars threw down their spears And water'd heaven with their tears: Did he smile his work to see? Did he who made the Lamb make thee? What immortal hand or eye, Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

London Summer morning

ROBINSON Mary Robinson contradicts the positive and negative connotations of the beauty and chaos in the typical London morning. Robinson describes the chaotic environment of the mornings in London. She introduces the poem with negative words such as, "sooty, dingy, hot, and noisy" to present a chaotic setting and give the reader a sense of the mood of the poem. However, Robinson changes her word choice to a positive mood with words such as, "cools, splendor, glittering, and gay" to present the positive aspects of the streets of London. Despite Robinson's choice to start and end the poem with negative connotations, she has an underlying argument that explains the beautiful consumerism that takes place in the chaotic nature of the mornings in London.

Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience

Represent the world as it is envisioned by "Two contrary states of the human soul"

Who is the speaker in "the lamb"

Speaker is child --> God became child Jesus is the lamb.

What does Blake believe about MEASURABLE/ OBJECTIVITY and what does Blake promote on the contrary

These qualities are LIMITING. They confine, limit, and shackle FRAME, and bound. *Blake promotes boundless perception, freeing, liberation, agency, and free will

How is division represented in Blake's work?

Through the dichotomy presented between SI and SE which show two contrary states of the human soul.

How do you "Cleanse the doors"

To cleanse the doors, you must employ the 6th sense by which we see into the life of things and see, express, and imagine life, replicate it under the light. All the perceptions and divisions we have are result of THE FALL> The world fell into division. Before, everything was unified, male and female for instance. By cleansing the doors, we cleanse ourselves and make ourselves closer to the perfect forms If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is: Infinite.

What Symbols of reason were under attack by Blake

Voltaire, Newton (Scientists), and the objective, measurable world

London 1812 Class notes

Willam Blake Speaker suggests streets of London even RIVER nature is subject to control of government (chartered thanes) MANACLES SHACKLES CONFINES RESTRICTION blackening of children refers to: chimney sweepers Palace= government hapless= helpless soldier watches bloodshed powerlessly

Summary of London 1812

William Blake The speaker addresses the soul of the dead poet John Milton, saying that he should be alive at this moment in history, for England needs him. England, the speaker says, is stagnant and selfish, and Milton could raise her up again. The speaker says that Milton could give England "manners, virtue, freedom, power," for his soul was like a star, his voice had a sound as pure as the sea, and he moved through the world with "cheerful godliness," laying upon himself the "lowest duties."

"Where are thy father and mother? Say!"— "They are both gone up to the church to pray" (3-4)

William Blake Chimney Sweeper SE Even though the chimney sweeper's parents seem to be innocently attending church, this really looks like abandonment to the modern eye. The child is out in the cold, alone, and apparently crying, all because the parents think church is more important. But did they come to that conclusion themselves, or is society giving them those priorities?

And are gone to praise God and his priest and king, Who make up a heaven of our misery" (11-12

William Blake Chimney Sweeper SE It's not just the parents that cause sadness; apparently just about everybody is guilty. "God and his priest and king" are also responsible for making a paradise for themselves out of the child's misery. Ironically, the entire social order (the church, the state, and the family) is only concerned with making adults happy, not children. At least, according to this poem. The sweeper reminds us again where his parents are, and this time suggests that the church and state have also abandoned the children for whom they're responsible. They're so concerned with their own heaven they've forgotten their children.

And because I am happy and dance and sing,

William Blake Chimney Sweeper SE It's strange that the sweeper is "happy" and dances and sings, but we have to look at this remark in light of his "death." His commitment to enjoying himself as much as possible is a protest against death, a way of making himself feel alive. Or is he really happy at all? Is he just faking it?'' Happiness is here again close to sadness; the chimney sweeper says he sings, but remember, he sings notes of woe. So is he really happy? Or does he just sound happy, if you're not paying attention?

My Heart Leaps Up

William Wordsworth

what type of poet was blake (2)

a visionary poet--> a prophet who visualized the dawning of a new and reformed world an apocalyptic poet--> believed the current world must be destroyed to make things new and whole.

Despite cold and danger, Tom finds peace with his occupation

he believes he will see no harm as long as he does his duty--> INNOCENCE AND IRONY --> leads to suffer a twofold, physically and mentally/emotionally when reality is experienced

Stock names of children in Chimney Sweeper SI

reflects their general anonymity of how many jacks, joes, are chimney sweepers to show the expanse of children who were afflicted with this chore. Ultimately freed from black soot in death

Bard and the Piper signify what

the fact that these two speakers are meant to be heard reflects Blake's view that the poet should be in power.

organized innocence

willed adoption of imaginative view in world order to have access to the "infinite" deliberate and intentional adoption of this view

How does identity come?

with experience--> songs of innocence does not acknowledge identity--> Lack of defined voice but EXPERIENCE facilitates growth of voice and identity

Holy Thursday Summary

"Holy Thursday" recounts the annual marching of approximately six thousand poor children to St. Paul's Cathedral. These children hailed from the charity schools of the city and were taken to the Cathedral to demonstrate their reverence for God and their gratitude to their benefactors. This ostensibly admiring poem contains hints of irony, however. The beadles seat the children "in companies" as if they were soldiers rather than children. The compulsory note of their praise is implied in this regimented worship.

SI and SE are considered what Characteristics of these poems

"Illuminated works" where watercolor gold paint adorned the top of plates in a labor-intensive process. IMAGERY THAT BEHAVES AS PICTURES CHARACTERISTIC: Poems have identifiable imagery communicated both THRU the actual, tangible image prints, as well as imagery thru diction

Infant Sorrow Analysis

"Infant Sorrow" follows the Innocence rhyme scheme AABB for its two brief stanzas. The first quatrain and half of the second include words full of energy, such as "groaned," "leapt," "piping," "Struggling," and "Striving," while the last couplet gives up in defeat with the words "Bound," "weary," and "sulked." The lively child has given way to a tired, world-weary infant in mere moments.

Earths Answer Analysis

Blake subtly undermines the Bard's voice by having the Earth reply that she is helpless to "rise up" on command. She needs the redemption brought by Love, which is both sexual and spiritual, for the two are not a dichotomy in Blake's mind, to free her from her icy bonds. In fact, what is necessary is that those things normally relegated to the night, such as a lover's tryst, be brought into the daylight. Only then can Earth be restored to her primordial glory. Blake echoes the Garden of Eden account in Genesis, where the sin of knowledge of good and evil, and disobedience of God's command, led Adam and Eve to leave the noonday sun and hide themselves from their Creator's likely wrath. In responding to the Bard, Earth places the responsibility for her own restoration on the Bard, and by extension, on all men, to break the chain of Jealousy and to free Love. Only then can she be free again.

Souls immensity

Cleanse the doors of perception to see the world as it is; infinite. **HUMANS are infinite because our minds have boundless capacities

Class notes the Tyger

Companion poem with the lamb--> series of questions that dont have answers SUBLIME: beauty and terror (effect of art achieves this) QUESTION: Who really could make and forge a tiger to make the tiger you have to be more powerful than the tiger IDEA: God made all--> If so, who could make both the lamb and the tiger and WHY--> asking question is the theme

analysis of the lamb

Included in The Songs of Innocence published in 1789, William Blake's poem The Lamb has been regarded "as one of the great lyrics of English Literature." In the form of a dialogue between the child and the lamb, the poem is an amalgam of the Christian script and pastoral tradition. The lamb is a universal symbol of selfless innocence, Jesus the Lamb is the gentle imagination, the Divine Humanity. The Lamb identifies with Christ to form a Trinity of child, Lamb and Redeemer. The poem presents the ideal of charity substantiating Christian compassion and caritas or caring, the ideals of the Lamb of God. However, the Christian connotations also contain the implications of sacrifice, death and tragedy; Christ the human sacrifice who look upon himself the sings of the world."

SENSES are what? what does blake fear

LIMITATIONS: We cannot limit our rational faculty by limiting our ideas of reality as mere titles and intangible labels. We see a pigeon, we believe it is a pigeon, not the SOULS IMMENSITY. Blake fears that we limit ourselves with the mindset, "what you see if what you get" --> We have forgotten to employ rational thought and deliberation

Little Lamb who made thee Dost thou know who made thee (lines 1-2)

Lamb Blake SI The lamb is innocent of the knowledge of its creator. Does the lamb really need to know who its creator is? Do we? When children begin to ask this question to their parents, it's a sign of their growing experience and exposure to culture.

Gave thee clothing of delight, Softest clothing wooly bright; (lines 5-6)

Lamb Blake SI Clothing? It's a small but telling detail. In the Christian Bible, Adam and Eve did not need clothing until they encountered the shame of sin. Clothing, then, is associated with experience, not innocence. That the child thinks of the lamb as wearing clothes rather than running around as blissfully naked shows that the culture bug has already bit him.

He is called by thy name, For he calls himself a Lamb: (lines 13-14)

Lamb Blake SI In the Biblical Book of Genesis, Adam gives names to all the birds and the beasts, including, we assume, lambs. Adam's superior relation to nature is reflected in the child's teacher-like tone toward the lamb.

Gave thee life & bid thee feed. By the stream & o'er the mead; (lines 3-4)

Lamb Blake SI Like a kid with a wind-up toy, God gave creatures the means to live and then set them loose to roam around, eating to their heart's content. But the innocent perspective doesn't mention the chaotic, amoral, dog-eat-dog character of nature.

He is meek & he is mild, He became a little child: (lines 15-16)

Lamb Blake SI The child doesn't mention any of the important events from the life of Christ, like his teachings, his death, and his struggles against the local religious orthodoxy. Instead, he naively focuses on the similarities between Jesus and himself: they were both kids!

Softest clothing wooly bright (line 6)

Lamb Blake SI The speaker thinks of the lamb not as it relates to nature, but as it relates to human society and its needs. He regards the lamb's wool as "clothing," like a really nice sweater.

Gave thee such a tender voice, Making all the vales rejoice (lines 7-8)

Lamb Blake SI Throughout the poem, Blake personifies nature. The lamb has a "tender voice" like a singer, and the echoing valleys are like a church choir expressing its joy.

altar, sword, and pen, Fireside, the heroic wealth of hall and bower Have forfeited their ancient English dower Of inward happiness. (3-6)

London 1812 William Blake England, Wordsworth reminds us, used to have a lot to be proud of - but now its people have lost touch with these great things, and are unhappy as a consequence. Wordsworth hopes that the people of England can reclaim their rightful "dower" of pride and satisfaction in their country.

Milton! Thou should'st be living at this hour: England hath need of thee (1-2)

London 1812 William Blake This appeal to Milton is the first thing we see in the poem - Wordsworth's desperate plea to his fellow poet shows his great respect for him, and implies furthermore that the whole country is in need of him.

Thy soul was like a Star, and dwelt apart (9)

London 1812 William Blake This astronomical comparison demonstrates Wordsworth's great admiration for Milton - he calls the other poet literally out of this world.

England hath need of thee: she is a fen Of stagnant waters (1-2)

London 1812 William Blake This is pretty clear: any comparison to a swampland full of fetid, gross water is never a good thing. England is in a foul state of moral corruption, according to Wordsworth.

Infant Sorrow Class notes

Parents are prevalent topic in both SI and SE: However, much more prevalent in SE or more distinguished in the minds of the children Worldly version of being born--> departure from perfect environment (perfect forms) into a world of rules, objective, structures, and confines Safety of mothers womb parallels to original SI introduction where child is in cloud happily listening to the piper ACTIVATED DICTION: bounds, shackles, moments after birth, already enslaved the lively CHILD concedes to a tired weary world in moments

Earths Answer Summary

SE William Blake Earth replies to the bard's call from the "Introduction" by stating that Reason and the "Selfish father of men" have imprisoned her. She is chained in cold and darkness on the "watery shore," the bounds of the materialistic world, which is mentioned in the "Introduction." She seeks daylight, arguing that the creative forces of life such as spring blossoms, the sower, and the plowman, can only bring life by daylight. She asks that the bard, or the reader, "break this heavy chain" that binds even "free Love." Rather than hide the act of sexual congress natural to all creatures in the darkness of shame, it should be openly celebrated and acknowledged as a gift from her creator.

Infant sorrow Summary

SE William Blake The companion poem to "Infant Joy," this brief piece focuses on the pain and tribulation accompanying childbirth, but from the infant's perspective. He finds himself "helpless" and "naked," but also describes himself as a "fiend hid in a cloud," suggesting future harms he may perpetrate. To the infant fresh from the safety of his mother's womb, there is no comfort in the father's arms, so he settles for sulking at his mother's breast.

Blake was a supporter of what movement and why?

The French Revolution because he regarded it as the purifying violence that portended the imminent redemption of humanity and the world.

the Tyger analysis

The opening question enacts what will be the single dramatic gesture of the poem, and each subsequent stanza elaborates on this conception. Blake is building on the conventional idea that nature, like a work of art, must in some way contain a reflection of its creator. The tiger is strikingly beautiful yet also horrific in its capacity for violence. What kind of a God, then, could or would design such a terrifying beast as the tiger? In more general terms, what does the undeniable existence of evil and violence in the world tell us about the nature of God, and what does it mean to live in a world where a being can at once contain both beauty and horror? The tiger initially appears as a strikingly sensuous image. However, as the poem progresses, it takes on a symbolic character, and comes to embody the spiritual and moral problem the poem explores: perfectly beautiful and yet perfectly destructive, Blake's tiger becomes the symbolic center for an investigation into the presence of evil in the world. Since the tiger's remarkable nature exists both in physical and moral terms, the speaker's questions about its origin must also encompass both physical and moral dimensions. The poem's series of questions repeatedly ask what sort of physical creative capacity the "fearful symmetry" of the tiger bespeaks; assumedly only a very strong and powerful being could be capable of such a creation.

The Tyger Summary

The poem begins with the speaker asking a fearsome tiger what kind of divine being could have created it: "What immortal hand or eye/ Could frame they fearful symmetry?" Each subsequent stanza contains further questions, all of which refine this first one. From what part of the cosmos could the tiger's fiery eyes have come, and who would have dared to handle that fire? What sort of physical presence, and what kind of dark craftsmanship, would have been required to "twist the sinews" of the tiger's heart? The speaker wonders how, once that horrible heart "began to beat," its creator would have had the courage to continue the job. Comparing the creator to a blacksmith, he ponders about the anvil and the furnace that the project would have required and the smith who could have wielded them. And when the job was done, the speaker wonders, how would the creator have felt? "Did he smile his work to see?" Could this possibly be the same being who made the lamb?

Introduction SE analysis

The rhyme is slightly more complex than the "Introduction" to Songs of Innocence, indicating the increased sophistication the reader may expect from the Songs of Experience. The first two stanzas urge the reader to hear the voice of the "Bard," while the second two are directed at the Earth herself, calling her to return to her prior state of primordial bliss to better hear and heed the Bard/Prophet's words. Also unlike the shepherd of Songs of Innocence, this bard is a prophet intent on calling fallen man to reclaim the world he lost to the "starry pole" of Reason. Man needs to return to his imagination and awaken from his slumber of materialism. However, the Bard's call must often go unheeded, simply because it is impossible for his audience (in some cases Earth, in others fallen human beings) to pull themselves up out of their spiritually diseased state. While recognizing the preeminence of God and the singular potency of His will to redeem a fallen world, the Bard unfortunately slips into the error of addressing others as if they could be self-redeemed and have a choice in the matter. The Bard's voice differs from Blake's own in this way: when Blake "sings" in such poems as "Holy Thursday" and "London," he recognizes the depravity of man and nature, and the inability of both to purify themselves without divine intervention.

Infant Joy analysis

The rhyming words are always framed by the repetition of "thee" at the end of the fourth and sixth lines, drawing the reader's attention to the parent, who speaks, and his or her concern with the baby. The infant's words, or those imagined by the parent to be spoken by the infant, are set off with dashes at the end of each line, turning this short poem into a dialogue between parent and child regarding the naming of the baby. That the baby names itself reflects Blake's desire to see the human spirit determine its own state of bliss, rather than to rely upon a form of happiness imposed upon it by social constructs or religious institutions. This baby is the perfect innocent who, when left alone to determine its own nature, find joy rather than guilt or repression within.

Introduction SE

The speaker urges his audience to listen to "the voice of the Bard!" who can see past, present, and future. In contrast to the "Introduction" for Songs of Innocence, this poem introduces a more mature and polished poetic voice in the bard. No rural shepherd converting his heart's songs to words using merely the tools at hand, this poet has heard "the Holy Word/ that walk'd among the ancient trees." This speaker's poetry is characterized by direct revelation rather than by the shepherds' inner melodies, and therefore holds the authority of both divinity and experience. However, despite the Bard's claims to see past, present, and future, he has only heard the Word of God walking and weeping in the Garden of Eden, in the past. The Bard's moment of divine revelation is singular, and does not continue throughout his present or into his future.

They clothed me in the clothes of death, And taught me to sing the notes of woe (7-8)

William Blake Chimney Sweeper SE Parents are supposed to make their children happy, or at least try to; in the poem, they seem to cause nothing but sadness. They teach their child the "notes of woe," which is the sweeper's way of saying they have forced him into a life that is miserable. They sound like great parents, right? Oh wait. The suggestion at the beginning of the poem is made clear here; the child is basically dead, garbed in a funeral shroud. He wears the "clothes of death" that his parents gave him. In that sense, they've as good as killed him. Yikes. The parents really don't look too good here; they clothe and instruct their child, but they clothe him in the "clothes of death" and only teach him about sadness. In a way, the parents have abandoned their parental duties, as well as their child.

Because I was happy upon the heath And smiled among the winter's snow

William Blake Chimney Sweeper SE The chimney sweeper says he was "happy upon the heath"; a heath is a wide open space, associated with wildness and freedom. So, for this kid, happiness is freedom to frolic. But now that the kid's no longer free, he can't be happy, right?

"Because I was happy upon the heath, And smiled among the winter's snow (5-6)

William Blake Chimney Sweeper SE The past tense is important; the chimney sweeper defines his sadness indirectly, by saying he used to be happy, back then, before his parents made him wear the "clothes of death." And it turns out the whole reason they made him wear those clothes is because he was happy. How does that work?

And are gone to praise God and his priest and king, Who make up a heaven of our misery" (11-12)

William Blake Chimney Sweeper SE The phrase "make up a heaven of our misery" suggests that happiness is often a product of sadness; "God, and his priest and king" can only make themselves a heaven, after all, if they have the child's misery.

A little black thing among the snow, Crying "'weep! 'weep!" in notes of woe! (1-2)

William Blake Chimney Sweeper SE The rhyme on "snow" and "woe" is a neat one, because we associate the whiteness of snow with goodness, not the evil blackness of the chimney. The rhyme, however, reminds us that part of the child's sadness has to do with the fact that he is out in the cold, both literally and metaphorically, in that his parents don't seem to care about him—at all. The child seems already dead; he's not a child but a "black thing," almost like a corpse that has rotted. The child is black partly as a result of the soot from his job, which is a handy way the poem connects chimney-sweeping and its most dire result—death.

Though the morning was cold, Tom was happy and warm; (23)

William Blake Chimney Sweeper SI Given the first twenty-two lines of the poem, this line has to be ironic, right? How could Tom be "happy and warm" when the life of a chimney sweeper is full of so much suffering? "Warm" rhymes imperfectly with "harm," which tells us that there is something fishy going on here.

And so Tom awoke; and we rose in the dark And got with our bags and our brushes to work. (21-22)

William Blake Chimney Sweeper SI In many ways the children are already dead. Dark doesn't just describe the absence of light, but also the condition of their lives. It recalls the "coffins of black" and suggests that children are sort of like zombies—the walking dead. Plus, the fact that "dark" kind of rhymes with "work" suggests that there is some connection between working and death. Yep, we can empathize with that one.

And the angel told Tom, if he'd be a good boy, He'd have God for his father, and never want joy. (19-20)

William Blake Chimney Sweeper SI Okay, let's break this down. The angel's comment sounds nice enough. But upon closer look, it almost sounds like he's laying down the law. Does God only accept people who are good? And does being good mean Tom has to do his chimney-sweeping duty, as the last lines of the poem suggest? This doesn't quite sound fair. In order to be good and get to heaven, Tom has to slave away in other people's chimneys down on earth? These lines, especially when you combine them with the last lines of the poem, definitely make us suspicious of the angel's meaning.

And by came an angel who had a bright key, And he opened the coffins and set them all free; (13-14)

William Blake Chimney Sweeper SI The angel is a savior. The poem suggests here that only God's representative—somebody with some serious connections up in Heaven—can release mankind from death. The strange thing is that this whole thing happens in a dream, the realm of fantasy and unreality.

That thousands of sweepers, Dick, Joe, Ned, and Jack, Were all of them locked up in coffins of black. (11-12)

William Blake Chimney Sweeper SI The children are locked up in coffins when they should be out playing and enjoying their childhood. It doesn't get much more horrifying than that. It's like these tykes are doomed from the start. How can you have a childhood, when you know you'll come to an early end? These poor kids are prisoners—condemned to death—and yet they haven't done anything wrong. How is that fair? And note the passive construction here. The children are "locked up" by somebody else, which reminds us of the beginning of the poem, when the speaker is forced into this work by his own dad. From youth to death, it seems, these kids have no control.

Then naked and white, all their bags left behind, They rise upon clouds and sport in the wind; (17-18)

William Blake Chimney Sweeper SI The image of the children rising on clouds makes it kind of seem like they're on their way to Heaven. They are leaving their "bags" and clothes "behind," but the bags and clothes here might just be a symbol of their mortal life. They are leaving that behind and going to a better place. But are they really? What's this angel really offering them?

Then down a green plain leaping, laughing, they run, And wash in a river, and shine in the sun. (15-16)

William Blake Chimney Sweeper SI The image of the children washing in a river suggests baptism, the process by which children are cleansed of their sins after they are born (in Christian faiths). The lines suggest that somehow the children have sinned, or are covered in sin, and must be cleansed. The image of the children washing in a river suggests baptism, the process by which children are cleansed of their sins after they are born (in Christian faiths). The lines suggest that somehow the children have sinned, or are covered in sin, and must be cleansed.

So if all do their duty they need not fear harm. (24)

William Blake Chimney Sweeper SI The lines suggest that children should just suffer, if that is their lot, and nothing bad will happen to them. Wait. What? That doesn't sound right. Frankly, it's hard not to read these lines ironically, as if they were a parody of the kinds of advice we usually give children (things like, "stay in school," or "follow the rules").

Then naked and white, all their bags left behind, They rise upon clouds and sport in the wind; (17-18)

William Blake Chimney Sweeper SI The nakedness and whiteness of the children suggests innocence, because they're in their totally pure, natural state. But there's something weird about that rhyme on "behind" and "wind." The fact that it isn't perfect suggests that there is something imperfect about this picture of innocence. Maybe that imperfection comes from the fact that this isn't real at all; it's a pipedream. The children rise on clouds, almost as if they were on their way to Heaven. In a way, they haven't been released from death, but from their horrible lives. Now, in the dream at least, they're well on their way to a happy afterlife... maybe.

There's little Tom Dacre, who cried when his head, That curled like a lamb's back, was shaved: [...] (5-6)

William Blake Chimney Sweeper SI These lines remind us of the expression "lambs to the slaughter." The shaving of Tom's head is the first step in a process or career that will slowly kill him. It may not literally kill him, but it will definitely destroy a part of his life that he can never have back. The lamb is an important symbol in Christianity. Jesus is often described as the Lamb of God, the one who sacrificed himself to atone for the sins of humanity. So does that make Tom Dacre a Christ-like figure? If so, how does that change the way we see the kid?

Though the morning was cold, Tom was happy and warm; So if all do their duty they need not fear harm. (23-24)

William Blake Chimney Sweeper SI This description reminds us of the children playing in the dream, but it's more than a little weird. Tom shouldn't be happy, since he's living a pretty rough life, right? But he just woke up from an awesome dream, and that dream seems to help him get through the day.

Then down a green plain leaping, laughing, they run, And wash in a river, and shine in the sun. (15-16)

William Blake Chimney Sweeper SI Ugh, what a bummer. Tom's dream shows us what innocence should look like, and yet the only place it exists in the poem is in his mind. In a way, innocence is just a fantasy, something to hope for, and nothing more, at least for the children in the poem. It is a dream, in more senses than one.

When my mother died I was very young, And my father sold me while yet my tongue Could scarcely cry 'weep! 'weep! 'weep! 'weep! (1-3)

William Blake Chimney Sweeper SI We're gonna go out on a limb here and say that this is a kind of metaphorical murder. This father literally took away his kid's personhood. The guy who buys the child is guilty of the same crime, a crime that doesn't see children as children but as objects or slaves to be exploited for profit.

["]You know that the soot cannot spoil your white hair." (8)

William Blake Chimney Sweeper SI While the whiteness of Tom's hair seems to suggest innocence, we can't help thinking of old age as well. The fact that Tom already has white hair suggests that he is already old, that he has already lost his childhood, while it also suggests that he's innocent and unspoiled at the same time. Nifty contrast, huh?

When my mother died I was very young, And my father sold me while yet my tongue Could scarcely cry " 'weep! 'weep! 'weep! 'weep!" So your chimneys I sweep & in soot I sleep.

William Blake Chimney Sweeper SI Child is so young, he cannot even pronounce "Weep weep" In many ways the children are already dead. Dark doesn't just describe the absence of light, but also the condition of their lives. It recalls the "coffins of black" and suggests that children are sort of like zombies—the walking dead. Plus, the fact that "dark" kind of rhymes with "work" suggests that there is some connection between working and death. Yep, we can empathize with that one.

There's little Tom Dacre, who cried when his head, That curled like a lamb's back, was shaved: [...] (5-6)

William Blake Chimney Sweeper SI Tom Dacre is compared to a lamb, which is pretty much the most adorable, innocent animal on the planet (save sloths, of course). The fact that he is shaved, and no longer resembles a lamb, suggests that his childhood, his lambishness, is gone, all thanks to the brutal chimney-sweeping industry.

Introduction SI

William Blake Songs of Innocence Blake sets the scene for his collection envisioning himself as a shepherd who encounters a child who encourages him to play a song about a lamb. After hearing the music, the child asks the shepherd to drop his pipe and sing the words to song. AFter enjoying the lyrics the child tells to shepherd to write in a book that all may read. So he does so that every child may be delighted by his "happy songs" Poet sees child in the sky upon a cloud--> child is embodiment of innocence and inspiration behind poetry CLASS NOTES: "piping down valleys wild --> Happy songs TRANSFORMATIVE: evolution from passive to active prophetic voice. VEHICLE of change, weapon in the apocalypse. PROGRESSION OF PROPHET: maturation of voice and conception of poet as prophet ***Song has an effect in this world. "Wept with joy" effect is available for all to read. PIPE SING WRITE--> a book for everyone --> poet chose

How do children see things

as they ARE, are. The perfect forms are only accessible to the child in this sense--> communication with angels, rivers that run, perfection, happiness

William Blake believed what about forces and what did this cause

believed ominous forces were at work in the contemporary world after being accused of sedition and sentenced to hang (acquitted) CAUSE: complicated the symbolic and allusive style by which he veiled the radical religious, moral, and political opinions in his poems

similarity between wordsworth and blake

blake says social structures are limiting because they are orthodox, repressive, constricting, where Wordsworth believes the lack of oneness between nature and humanity, as reason instead becomes emphasized--> CALLS FOR the NEED for reconstruction in social arenas of this era--> Both poets believed literature of this era concerned "class" and that was a FAULT. Wordsworth looks at Old Simon Lee where Blake looks at oppressed children characters.

Innocence

childhood "visions" of the world, naivete, positive, childhood. imagination--> tied with innocence= OPTIMISM ; ignorance is bliss

symbols in SE

harsher sounds, multi-syllabic words, suffering, BLACKNESS, crying, howling, patriarchy, "Adult" worldly view, priest, no parents, blighted, sick, BARD tells stories: bard demands to be heard and demands audience to listen, city, urban life is focus

My heart leaps up when I behold A rainbow in the sky: (1-2)

my heart leaps up wordsworth From the jump we know that the relationship between man and nature in this poem is a friendly one. Our speaker doesn't tell us about the rain that likely precedes these rainbows, but instead he idealizes nature, choosing to focus on its beauty rather than its wrath. Wordsworth lived in England, where it rains a lot—but all we hear about in this poem is how wonderful it is to be able to look at rainbows. The poem starts by telling us something about the speaker: he gets really super-happy whenever he sees a rainbow. Right away we know that he finds this part of his identity very important. (We doubt our speaker would start a poem off with something unimportant, like the fact that he likes to brush his teeth.) Throughout the poem, we keep in mind that the person we're reading about really loves nature.

So be it when I shall grow old, Or let me die! (5-6)

my heart leaps up wordsworth Not only does the speaker want his audience to know that rainbows are more than just a childish joy for him, he goes so far as to say that if he stopped loving rainbows, he'd just as soon die. Why bother living, he seems to ask, if you can no longer appreciate something so beautiful? He loves nature—to the extreme! The speaker considers rejoicing in nature so integral to his identity that, if he stopped loving nature, he would want to die. That's intense. We've now followed the speaker through his entire lifespan, or at least the lifespan he projects for himself.

And I could wish my days to be Bound each to each by natural piety. (8-9)

my heart leaps up wordsworth These lines succinctly show what the speaker was talking about in the rest of the poem—that nature is something he wants in his life every day. The addition of the word "piety" makes the lines more than a summary of the rest of the poem. "Piety" means that the speaker views nature as something to be revered, just as someone who is super-religious would revere God. We can picture our speaker skipping church on a Sunday morning in favor of a long walk in the woods. The word "piety" makes us think of sacrifice and duty more than happiness, but the speaker is letting us know here that he would like his days to be filled with piety toward nature. We can imagine that he'd rather go sit in a grassy field than a hard, un-comfy church pew. If going for walks in the woods is his idea of duty, then this duty is probably a source of great happiness for him. The speaker sums up the poem with a statement about what he wants his identity to be: he wants every day of his life to be connected with nature. The word "pious" implies that our speaker wants to be dutiful and reverent toward nature. He digs it so much that he defines his entire identity around nature and his ability to experience joy through it.

So was it when my life began; So is it now I am a man (3-4)

my heart leaps up wordsworth We doubt the speaker could remember how he felt about rainbows from the time his life literally began, but the idea is that they made his heart leap up when he was young, and they still do. We bet the speaker is guessing that some people will scoff at the first two lines, finding them childish. So here he's saying: yeah, sure, I got excited about rainbows when I was a kid—but I still get excited now that I'm all grown up too! The speaker is walking us through his identity from birth to adulthood here. That's a long walk in a short poem. He got excited about rainbows as a child, and he still does as a man. So we know that his personality is fairly constant, at least in terms of his love of nature.

Wordsworth class notes

renewed interest in nature, emphasis on role of the child, emphasis on feeling, emotion over reason, FOCUS in a new way of seeing the worlds thru creative imagination as facilitated thru nature.

symbols in SI

soft sounds, PIPER sings , lamb, child, whiteness, music, song, sun, fertility, loving parent, loving god, nature, fertile plants, loving parents

Holy Thursday class notes

unlike in "London" children are "flowing" like the Thames River *Colorful flowers that flow like rivers MARCHED TO CHURCH= effect SITTING IN COMPANY=effect SINGING=effect Gray headed beadles lack radiance and exuberance of children children's innocence transcend any societal earthly claims. Lambs singing praising worship. Songs become harmonious. CHERISH PITY OR you will send away angels. Society tells us to judge people--> homeless and downtrodden but these people are ANGELS

Infant Joy class notes

voice of parents "sweet joy befall thee" child calls himself gift to parent and parent agrees and smiles--> joy radiates to thee= exchange of blessings Religious government structures limit/bind PATRIARCHAL father decides name The baby naming itself reflects blakes desire to see the human spirit determine its own state of bliss rather than rely on social constructs/religious institutions to supplement and impose happiness This baby who is unscathed by societys constructs is left only to feel joy instead of guilt and repression

So was it when my life began; So is it now I am a man; (3-4)

wordsworth my heart leaps up These lines show us that the feeling the speaker has for rainbows continues through time. We can imagine that lots of other things in his life have changed since his childhood—perhaps he's finished school, gotten a job, gotten married, had kids. He may have worries that he could never have dreamed about when he was a child. (It happens, Shmoopers.) Yet, with all the changes time brings, he continues to rejoice in the beauty of rainbows.

Experience

worldly, knowledgeable, aware, seeing hings as they are is knowledge