Blake writes about his thoughts and feelings concerning the society around him Essay

In his poetry Blake writes virtu each(prenominal)y his thoughts and feelings concerning the nine around him. Comment on Blakes attitudes in several poems of your resource and explain how potent the poems atomic number 18 in presenting his watchs.William Blake, who lived in the latter half of the eighteenth century and the early part of the nineteenth, was a profound poet who was, in large part, responsible for bringing about the Romantic Movement in poetry. Blake was an extremely eccentric man, who was viewed by nearly of the battalion of the time as mad, except for a sm only group of loyal followers who apothegm him as a genius.Blake was an individual to say the least, who had his own views on anything, He didnt automatically agree with set views that were seen to be proper, kinda he acted exchangeable his own man and do decisions for himself. His views at the time would name calculateed rebellious and actually unorthodox, which is probably the reason that his work only became noted long after his death. Yet seeing his paintings, and reading his poems and engravings in the new-fangled realism, where allone has freedom of speech, the somewhat outrageous aspect that they used to comport has diminished.To bear up me convey his views on the society that he lived in I mystify selected three poems. All of my chosen poems be taken from the Songs of Experience, which shows the realness as he saw it, where iron laws devised by Blakes vitriolic god, crush the soul of sweet delight. In this book he uses intelligence activitys, which fag be understood on different levels. Therefore to encounter the poems fully you need to look below the surface meanings.The poems that I have selected areThe domesticate BoyThe Chimney s holloerLondonThe teach Boy is a poem in which Blakes views on the shallowtime system of his time are strongly portrayed. It explains that the peasantren get taught unimportant things, and purge if they were taught some thing important they wouldnt be able to take it in right because they are miserable. It says how take wears away their minorhood, and by taking away their ecstasy and gladness they are not be prepared for later life, instead their individual qualities are being stripped.In The Chimney Sweeper Blake tries to show up his views on the lamp chimney sweep trade. He explains that it is as bad as death, and the parents can go off to church (to follow Christianity, where you should treat others equal you would like to be treated yourself) leaving their tyke in bondage. And because the barbarian doesnt voice their objection the parents sound off that it is all right.In London Blake criticises the state of the city and shows his pity and sympathy for the suffering people that live there people that are repressed, exploited, poor and miserable.The Chimney Sweeper (experience)A smallish black thing among the snow,Crying weep weep in notes of woe.Where are thy father and mother, say?They are both departed up to the church to pray.The poem starts off by playing on the innocence of the chimney sweeper by u carol the word little to deliver the sweep appear straightforward and defenceless. The following(a) descentline over again plays on this by u talk the word weep which makes the child seem more defenceless and to a degree pathetic, it is also similar to the chimney sweeper cry of sweep sweep. The next line is trying to buck the parents by give tongue to where are the parents when the child is suffering. The next line says that the parents are praying in church. As before this is a dig aimed at the parents, it is precept that the parents are praying to matinee idol possibly to stop suffering in the world when their own child is suffering and they arent doing any thing about it.Because I was quick-witted upon the heath,And smiled among the winter snow,They clothed me in the clothes of death,And taught me to sing the notes of woe.In the second s tanza the child in a way blames his dilemma on his own happiness. The child says that because I was happy and smiled, the parents thought it was all right to make him a chimney sweep. The stanza hangs on the word because, this make it sound like it is his fault when it isnt. Then next line has dickens slightly different meanings. The archetypal is that because the child seemed happy they dressed him as a chimney sweep, which to the child was as bad as being dead. The other is that the dirty grey smelly clothes reminded him of death. The poem next says that the parents taught the child to sing the notes of woe. This is saying that after being dressed as a chimney sweep, the parents taught him to how to sweep the chimney. The song being the actual move and the notes of woe (sadness) being the grim task.And because I am happy, and dance and sing,They think they have through with(p) me no injury,And are gone to praise God and His Priest and King,Who make up a Heaven of our failure .This stanza starts much like the last one it says that because I am happy, they think they have done me no misery. It means that just because I am happy doesnt mean that what you did was all right. The injury that they have caused was the enslavement into sweeping. Yet because the child seems happy and endures the treatment the parents cant see that it isnt a good thing to do. The next line refers back to the root stanza in which the parents went to pray here they have gone to pray leaving the child behind, where they are blindly making out the misery that the child is stomach to be something happy and bright like heaven. He is also criticising the church by implying that the church seem to support the parents decision to enslave the child.The School BoyI love to rise in a summertime mornWhen the birds sing on all(prenominal) tree,The distant huntsman winds his horn,And the skylarks sing with me.Oh what sweet companyThe poem starts off nice and cheerfully, Blake uses strong hap py words like love to emphasise the delight of the rime. The happiness is again emphasised by using happy images like singing birds. This is made more powerful by saying that birds were singing on every(prenominal) tree. Although the image of a huntsman isnt exactly a happy, buoyant image it helps to display the free atmosphere that he is trying to create. On the next line when he says the skylarks sing with me he is again foreground that every thing is happy, and that he is in harmony with nature. The last line in the stanza summ bone ups the whole verse, and ends it with a very cheerful line.But to got to school in a Summer Morn,Oh it drives all joy away.Under a cruel pith ou dickensrnThe little ones spend the dayIn sighing and lightThe first two lines show what he thinks of school. That on a summer morning when you should be happy and joyful, having to go to school makes you miserable. Then on the third line he portrays an evil image (cruel eye) in attempt to get the reade rs to agree with his views. He also tries to do this in the last two lines of the verse, he refers to the children as little ones, this makes them seem pathetic and innocent. He follows that up by portraying the image of the innocent defenceless children sighing.Ah then at times I drooping moldAnd spend numerous an anxious hour,Nor in my book can I take delight,Nor sit in nobbleings bower,Worn thro with the down in the mouth shower.He starts the third stanza with a sigh (Ah) to emphasise the misery that the children are feeling, he then portrays another strong image of children drooping over their desks. The next three lines depicts the way that he thinks that school isnt the beaver place for children to learn. He is saying that the children are too worried to learn. And because they are so anxious they cant enjoy books, nor can they learn powerful. The last line shows that he is haggard out with his life.How can a bird that is born for joySit in a cage and sing?How can a chi ld, when fears annoy,But droop his tender wing,And draw a blank his youthful retract?The first two lines are analogies, which mean that how can a child, have fun, if it is cooped up in school where they are miserable. The brain of the bird in a cage is a very effective image because it distinctly portrays the enslavement. The next three lines suggest that the breeding system is wearing away the childs precious childhood.Oh pay off and mother, if buds are nipped,And blossoms blown awayAnd if the tender plants are strippedOf their joy in the springing dayBy sorrow and cares dismayThe verse opens with another exclamation, this is used to emphasise the feelings towards the life of the schoolboy. The end of the first line and the second are analogies that mean that the childs disposition is curved and it cant develop fully, the next line reinforces this view by saying that these qualities will be lost. The next lines mean if that if the child isnt allowed to play and have fun on a spring day then the child will be damaged.How shall the summer arise in joy,Or the summer fruits appear?Or how shall we gather what griefs destroy,Or bless the mellowing year,When blasts of winter appear?This verse like many of the previous ones is in anomaly. In this verse Blake is asking the readers how can the child do well in later life as an adult, if they was restricted as a child. It is suggesting that if a childs joy and happiness is taken away then they are not being properly prepared for later life.LondonI wander thro each charter street,Near where the chartered Thames does flow,And mark in every face I meetMarks of weakness marks of woe.The whole of this poem has a very rhythmic feel to it the last words on pitch lines also rhyme. The first verse is very negative and depressing. In the first two lines he describes each streets (which suggests that there are lots) and the Thames to be owned by something. That nothing is left to be and everything has a price. It the n ext two lines he goes on to say how there are signs of weakness and woe in peoples faces. This is very negative and suggests that they are fed up and worn out.In every cry of every manIn every infants cry of fear,In every voice, in every ban,The mind-forged manacles I hear.In the first three lines of this stanza he repeats the use of the word every to emphasise his point. This is effective because he compared both men and children. By saying every ban it makes it sound as though every thing is forbidden. He then says how mans mind has devised laws to confine himself in. The strong image of chains is use here to great effect.How the chimney-sweepers cryEvery blackening church appalsAnd the hapless soldiers sighRuns in blood down palace walls.He again dwells on the misery by stating the crying chimney sweeps. The next line has a manifold meaning, it refers to the pollution of the time but more significantly the fact that the church is black because it condors dark deeds such as chim ney sweeping. The unredeemed soldiers sigh because they are sent of to war by those in power. The blood running down the palaces walls is that of the soldiers and is meant to signify that the soldiers deaths were the responsibility of the palace/rulers.But most thro midnight streets I hear.How the youthful harlots curseBlasts the new-born infants tear,And blights with plagues the marriage hearse.This verse is about the collapse of marriages and as a result, childrens lives. He is saying that men turning to prostitutes help to destroy marriage, and the babies, whether born to harlots of married women footstall little chance in life. He uses very strong tomography to convey his views, like blights with plagues the marriage hearse. Normally marriage is associated with joy and happiness, the ascendent of a new life, not with death and misery.After analysing the three poems it is very clear to see what his views are regarding the society of the time. The Chimney Sweeper clearly portr ays his views on both the trade and of the Church. He comments and describes the trade as being like death, and the church seaming to agree with the awful trade seams like a hypocrisy. In The School Boy he clearly shows how he sees the schools.He describes them as places of misery, places where children are too scared to learn. He shows how he thinks the school does more harm than good in preparing the child for later life. In London his views cover both the people and the land. He discusses how the land is all owned, and nothing is free. He talks about the rules and regulations that man has set upon himself and how the hurriedness of marriages leads to the child having little chance in life. He also refers back to his views of the church and chimney sweeping.