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Introduction: Eminent critics on Blake speak of the 'Arcadian' beauty of Greek pastoral poetry and the beauty of the Garden of Eden with regard to the pastoral world of Blake's poems. Nature in Blake's poetry, however, is not an impassioned spectator; it is a spiritual mentor of both the poet and the characters in Songs of Innocence. Rare is the case where Blake has not mentioned natural beauty in this section. The very atmosphere of the poems expresses innocent gaiety and mirth. Blake's world of Innocence is not entirely untouched by unpleasant elements. 'The Little Black Boy' for instance, is a painful narration of the colour - consciousness of the white men who practise racial discrimination. The throes of the little chimney-sweeper when he is pressed to enter the suffocatingly narrow tunnels of chimneys are moving. Behind the colourful procession of the children of the charity school there lurk the usurous hands of "The wise guardians of the poor. Apart from these few elements of intruding darkness, however, the essence of Innocence is captured exquisitely in the Songs of Innocence.
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| Songs of Innocence (Childhood) |
Natural Joy, Innocence and Childhood go together: In Blake's songs of innocence are written in a considerably limited vocabulary, and this is mainly because the pieces are for the children and about the children. Blake's objective is, as we deduce from the 'Introduction', to please the children. The poet appears in the apparel of a piper and as he plays melodious music all over the valley, he comes across his beatific vision of a 'child on a cloud.' At the child's bidding the poet pipes a 'song about a Lamb' first and, later on, inspired by the child he writes happy songs. Every child may joy to hear. This poem can be considered a typical poem of "Innocence clearly suggesting the element of all that is embodied in the specimens to follow. Lamb, child, valley, song, angel and the rural elements are all mentioned here. The lyrical note of this poem is fundamental to all but a few of the other poems in Songs of Innocence.
Another extraordinarily beautiful picture of joy we get is in 'The Echoing Green.' Here, too, nature feels the pulse of life around it - in the shouting and hooting of the children, in the silent giggling of the flowers, in the sonorous ringing of the bells welcoming spring and in the warbling of the thrush and skylark - and it cannot help participating in these festivities of the spring season. Nature echoes the tumult actively and not indifferently, we feel. Moreover, there is security provided for the children. Old John and his friends who laugh away their senile cares are, symbolically, the guardian angels in the poem. Even they are influenced by the gaiety of the children and they ruminate over heir past childhood of joy and happiness. Though, at the close of the poem, darkness and gloom are impending, the keynote is that of unbounded rapture and happiness.
Another significant poem in this section is 'Nurse's Songs.' Here, the shining sun of rapture is momentarily engulfed by the dark clouds of bridling authority when the nurse utters:
Then come home my children, the sun is gone down,And the dews of the night ariseCome, come, leave off play, and let us awayTill the morning appears in the skies.
But the children protest, and the nurse easily gives in to their wishes, and the sun of rapture re-energes. The nurse is not a tyrant, she is not weak, but she is benevolent. We may note here that the natural background is peaceful, and night is merely a time for rest. The poet's psychological knowledge of infantine mind is also obvious.
The Lamb and Innocence: Many of Blake's poems celebrate the divinity and innocence of not merely the child but also the least harmless of creatures on earth, namely, the lamb. The child asks the lamb if it knows who has created it. The child does not wait but answers his questions himself. He does so, we feel, not because the lamb cannot communicate, but because the child is so enthusiastic and eager to mention the creator and his virtues. He refers to the meekness of Christ, his glorious infancy as well as his reference to himself as a lamb. He concludes with a reference to his own and the lamb's affinity to God and thus establishes their oneness. Qualities of simplicity, innocence and divinity are extended even to the world of animals and the innocent creatures like the lamb are raised from their level of lowness in the human eye. Both the child and Christ are unified with the lamb and the three form the Trinity on earth.
In 'The Shepherd' the shepherd is depicted as enjoying vast freedom, and his fortune is praised. He is so fortunate that he can wander about in carefree way wherever he chooses and sing in praise of God. Not only is he always near his lambs, listening to their innocent cries, bleats and answering bleats, but he is never exposed to the world of 'Experience' where he may be startled by roars of cruelty and fierceness. This is a simple pastoral poem in which liberty and freedom are praised. We are again brought to realize the affinity of lamb and innocence.
Pure Joy and Gaiety Enjoyed only in Innocence: Another poem that at tracts and invites our attention is 'Spring'. The consummation of joy and rapture is given so touchingly that it excels other poems in beauty and splendour. The lines are noticeably short and we feel the speaker is out of breath due to joy. The refrain sung in chorus, perhaps, echoes in our ears and we burst out as Wordsworth does in the following lines:
Ye blessed cretures. I have heard the callYe to each other make; I seeThe heavens laugh with you in your jubilee;My heart is at your festival.My head hath its coronal;The fullness of your bliss, I feel - I feel it all..
At the advent of spring, the valley is imbued with some sort of Bacchanalian revelry, and it overflows with the sound of joy in every quarter. The Blossom is another portrayal of innocence by the poet. In the season of flowers, the sparrow, flying like an arrow is an added beauty: The robin that sobs joyfully is an animated object escalating the beauty of spring and the blossoms.
The Intrusion of the World of Experience: 'Blossom' strikes the last note of sunny pastoral scenes in the Songs of Innocence. The other poems are relatively more sober in the sense that they are either philosophical or depict the descending canopy of darkness or experience. The Divine Image, for example, functions as a mouthpiece of the poet's philosophy on the concepts of true religion or divinity. We can simply compare the first four lines of the poem, Night and those of 'The Echoing Green' and easily observe the underlying difference in their setting or background. In 'Night' we sense the impending clouds of darkness. Though angels are there, the buds and flowers are dormant and the whole field is silent. Nor are the angels as powerful as the guardian angels of 'The Echoing Green' because -
When wolves and tigers howl for preyThey pitying stand and weep...
The most that they can do is to help the dead animal's soul inherit 'New Worlds'. True, the mild spirits are restored into higher innocence, the lost emmet is restored to her home, the hazards of the chimney-sweeper is put to an end and he is restored. though only in his dream, to the divine vision of freedom, and finally the lostboy is restored to his mother by God himself, but before restoration there is a sense of anxiety, which is not present in the sunny pastoral songs of the first few poems. As Swinburne observes, the last few poems of the Songs of Innocence constitute "the prelude for the section of Experience and since they border two sections it is natural, that they may be having a slight colour of experience." In 'Holy Thursday' the poet's compassionate heart makes him speak out against the malpractices of the society of England. So he accepts the method of satire to fight against it.
The 'Little Boy Lost', and 'The Little Boy Found', are somewhat different from these poems of a humanitarian tenor. The childhood or childlike quality of the child is lost and he feels the loss bitterly. He finds himself far off from the divine vision of God and he laments his predicament. Under the disillusionment of experience he thinks the dim light (will-o'-the-wisp) is God and cries for help. But in 'The Little Boy Found' the innocence, the childhood or the divinity is restored by God Himself. God is very near him though he does not sense it.
Conclusion: The world of innocence, for the most part, is happy, blemishless and spiritually exalted. No rigid oppression, no repression of instincts or impulses, no jealousy or hypocrisy darkens the atmosphere. The poet has almost prescribed the sanctity of this Eden on earth, peopling it with innocent creatures, girls and boys. But the world of experience is round the corner and sure to over-take innocence. It is only after going through 'experience' that a higher innocence can be gained.
University Questions also can be Answered:
Q. The world of Songs of Innocence has a peculiar charm of its own. Comment on Blake's evocation of this atmosphere in the poems.
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Q. What vision of innocence do we get in Blake's Songs of Innocence? Illustrate your answer from the poems you have read.
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Q. Write a note on Blake's vision of childhood as expressed in Songs of Innocence.