“A Little Boy Lost” is a poem which portrays a boy of age about 10 – 12, and during this age he has brought upon the need for knowledge; where he contemplates whether one can love their self more than they love God. Upon hearing this, a priest then grabs him and punishes him for questioning God; where the priest believed that to some question something means to eventually rebel against it and doubt it.
“A Little Girl Lost” is a poem which portrays a girl disobeying her father by having an informal and secret affair with a boy; where they would meet during night and day and share casual and intimate activities with each other. This seem to really upset her father as he sees it as an act of betrayal towards the him and to the church which are the authorities, and during those times; unmarried couple were not allowed to be doing intimate things with each other which is apparently are the words of the Church as they were essentially the words of the Lord.
Blake demonstates the "anti-religion" theme in "A Little Boy Lost", where the priest heard a little boy talking about his childish idea of love, parades him at the front of the church and calls him a fiend before handing him over to be "burned" (or perhaps branded). The boy's view of love was that he could not love his father, or perhaps God, or perhaps the priest, any more than the "little bird" at the church door loved those who gave it crumbs.
The use of irony is furthermore emphasized in the song “A Little Boy Lost”. On the third stanza we are told that the boy is being led by his little coat and with following passage says that “And all admir’d the Priestly care”, this is ironic because a priest is supposed to be a holy figure who does not adopt violence in their way of dealing with things but in fact, on the rest of the song we can see that the priest is abusing his authority to “take care” of the boy, such actions as stripping the boy to his little shirt and bounding him in an iron chain. The capital “P” reinforces this point as it conveys a sense of power and authority. Overall, the irony mixed with the illustrated images of violence and authority and power is used by Blake to convey his idea of how the organizations with the authority and the power are abusing it and harming people around them; with specific references to the church. Alternatively, Blake could have also been conveying his ideas of how the churches are starting to become more disconnected from God; where God wouldn’t have resorted onto violence.
In the fourth stanza Blake, once again, uses juxtapositions and metaphors within the poem to convey his ideas:
“The weeping child could not be heard,
The weeping parents wept in vain:
They strip’d him to his little shirt,
And bound him in an iron chain.”
The whole stanza juxtaposes between a violent image and an image of an innocent and fragile child. Once again, irony is conveyed due to the fact that the harming of the child is done by the priest, a holy man and the fact it’s a priest emphasizes the irony. The word “strip’d” conveys and emphasizes the violence within the stanza of the poem and the word “little” once again suggests vulnerability, innocence and the delicate nature of the child which further emphasizes the violence portrayed within the stanza.
The quote “And bound him in an iron church” refers to how the church oppresses the society; making them believe upon their words who is said to be words of God; they did not believe the freedom of expression.
Overall, the irony and violence portrayed within the fourth stanza express Blake’s idea of how the church or organizations with power in general, are abusing their power and harming people.
Alternatively, it could portray one of Blake’s other ideas of how the church is becoming more and more out of touch with God and are participating in more and more unorthodox activities.
The same aspects can be referred to the line “And burn’d him in an iron chain”.
The repetition of the word “weeping” and the phrase “The weeping parents wept in vain” suggests sadness and grief within the whole poem, as crying or weeping are commonly associated with events of sadness and grief.
The parents are weeping as their child is being punished by the priest; a person of high authority and part of the church upon which many trusted in helping them during times of distress, not cause further harm.
This conveys irony within the extract as a holy figure, like a priest, is hurting an innocent child.
This irony portrays Blake’s idea of how organizations with authority and power i.e. churches, are abusing their power and harming the people around them.
Alternatively, it could portray one of Blake’s other ideas of how the church is becoming more and more out of touch with God and are participating in more and more unorthodox activities.
Conclusion
To conclude my points, Blake seems to be dismissing religion as unnatural, exclusive and restrictive and he believes that people should be able to pray and interpret the scriptures in their own way, without the help of priests. Blake also seemed to be very concerned with the social condition of the Britain that came with the .
Above all, the whole poem is ironic as it illustrates upon how a priest punishes an innocent, small and pleading child; the fact that the priest, a messenger of God and a holy man is harming a small and innocent child is the reason for the irony.
The violent and innocent imageries portrayed within the poem only further emphasize the irony conveyed within the poem. The irony portrayed within the poem is used by Blake to convey his idea of how he believes that organizations with authority and power are abusing their position and causing harm to the people around them. Alternatively, Blake could also be referring to his belief upon how he believes that the church is becoming more and more out of touch with God; where they’re practicing unorthodox ways.
If the church were ever to read Blake’s work; they may pick upon some of Blake’s criticism as some are obvious but some are quite subtle and well hidden that they may miss it.