A very vivid image is mentioned in stanza three it talks about Tom having a night mare about his many friends “locked up in coffins of black” the picture being painted in your mind is relating to the black, also meaning fear and dark, chimneys the boys have to climb and clean. It is suggesting that the sweeping of the chimneys will be the death of them. The term locked up could also suggest that they will be cleaning chimneys forever. Coffin is also a sense of claustrophobia, being locked up inside a coffin or chimney would be considered suffocating.
Stanza 4 makes reference to the bible where by an “angel” is mentioned which is usually sent from god. This stanza is specifically child like as it has a nursery rhyme quality describing the horror of the nightmare in a child like tone. The angel sets the boys free into a field of laughter and play, things they should be doing, it shows just how horrible life was for the boys by contrasting it with what they should have been doing at their age.
“Then naked and white” referring to the boys, in stanza 5, which means innocence as nakedness is a state of innocence in terms of Christianity. In the dream “all their bags left behind” bags represent what the boys would take to work but as it was “left behind” it symbolizes work being abandoned. Again god and angels are mentioned showing reference to the bible, one of the books which was most resourceful to Blake.
In the last stanza of the poem it shows the long hours the young chimney sweepers do as it says “we rose in the dark” early hours of the morning. The very last line is very effective because it shows that the boys have been taught to think that working will bring them no harm this is ironic because the work of a chimney sweeper is harmful to them.
The overall message Blake is trying to get across to his reader is the immoral manner in which these children are being treated.
The second poem, “The Chimney-Sweeper (experience)” has many similarities between the first poem. It is not narrated by the young chimney sweeper but an on-looker which shows difference between the two poems.
It also is a powerful poem trying to convey the wrong nature of child chimney sweepers. The first line of the poem is a contrast where Blake puts “A little black thing” with the purity and white of the snow. Similar to the first poem where soot and the white of the boys hair is also mentioned, both make use of anthisesis. This creates powerful colour imagery in the readers mind because it is such a contrasting image. The use of the word thing makes the child seem non human unable to distinguish whether it is a boy or a girl. “Black” is a reference usually made with corrupt and dirty. “Black” would imply the clothes that the boy is wearing and the black soot from the chimney that has stained his clothes, it also could mean his personality is corrupt and innocence stripped. A link is again made to the first poem where the child can not pronounce the word ‘sweep’ so instead says “weep” giving off distress and sadness of the young child. The child is described as “little” to induce sympathy from the reader as it shows the child’s youth. The part of the narrator is made in line 3 where he is shown as a considerate adult by asking where the child’s father is. In line 4 it mentions the parents have gone to church to pray, irony is conveyed here because while the parents have gone to pray the child is suffering, showing distance. Regular church goers didn’t see chimney sweeping as wrong as did many during this era, so many put their kids into this job.
Stanza two line one has a great shock over the reader as the line “Because I was happy” confuses the reader because it says he was happy that his parents sent him to an early death. Blake throws this sentence at the reader to show how totally wrong it is to violate the purity of a child. “Clothes of death” the phrase represents the clothes the child has to wear when they become a chimney sweeper which quickly becomes dirty because of the soot it also suggest the fate of the boy that being death. “And smiled among the winters snow” the snow that surrounds the boy could represent his innocence but once it was taken away from him he became “A little black thing” amongst the pure snow. The last line shows how the boys have to conform “taught me to sing the notes of woe” it echoes poem one as the narrator also had to conform and say “the notes of woe” It shows the corrupt nature of society the society at this age.
In the last stanza rhyme and rhythm is apparent but echoes that of a nursery rhyme again relating to the innocent poem. Rhyming is used “sing” and king” as well as a para-rhyme with the two words “injury” and “misery” the para-rhyme stunts the poem and throws it off a constant rhythm, the effect could convey the boy as troubled and unhappy because of his hardship. Reference to religion and the church “priest” are made, similar to the first poem, monarchy is also mentioned by the word “king” the relevance these references have reflects Blake’s writing as Blake did not like the way the church and monarchy largely ignored the problem, it concerned him. The three things Blake felt had failed him, was disappointed in and strongly against is shown through the last line where it says “who make up a heaven of our misery”. The blind uncaring nature of the monarchy and church is shown by the line “they think they have done me no injury”
The message conveyed in this poem is apparent at the end of the poem where monarchy and the church are attacked and blamed for the cruelty act of chimney sweeping children. How both have power over many yet do nothing to stop it, Blake effectively shows it by putting it in the perspective of a youth as it evokes more sympathy. The structure of the poem is similar to the first poem all stanzas are written in lines of four and a similar message is conveyed where nothing is being done about the chimney sweeping children and the problem is accepted and ignored.
The poem “London” gives background to the misery of the poor and the gulf between those in power. The title “London” is a metaphor since it is not solely on the people of London but about society and mankind in general. The man is dazed, wandering the streets and is hearing the cries of the ones suffering "chimney sweeps", sighs of the "hapless soldier and feels the society should do something about them, the man represents William Blake’s views. Man’s lack of freedom is apparent in this poem and is the point trying to be made. Blake believed in an equal society and the only way the human spirit could exist and grow happily, he did not believe in human oppression.
Control is constantly mentioned throughout the poem. For example in the first stanza “chartered” is mentioned which means governed by law. It clearly says in the second line that the Thames is chartered which is impossible because you can’t control a river. It shows London’s extreme extent of control at that time. Even the mention of chartered streets suggests an uptight lack of freedom setting for Blake’s contemporary people. The most powerful metaphor used in this poem is “mind-forged manacles” found in stanza two the last line. Manacles associated with restriction unable to have absolute freedom, also a common object associated with prison, imprisonment and portraying deep human truth. “Mind-forged” means the manacles have been created by peoples mind set trapping everyone in restrictions that must be followed. The image created via this metaphor would be a distinct one for Blake’s contemporary day because convicts would be seen on the streets making their way to prison or commonly in London, during that era, off to ships for transportation to Australia. The metaphor strongly demonstrates Blake’s belief, that the lack of freedom came from the ideas and outlooks placed on them by external authority, mentally people were controlled. The repetition of the word “every” is a word commonly used in stanza 2 it is to emphasize that everyone is effected by this state of depression and lack of freedom. It is also written in stanza one although relating to the amount of people that have the mark of weakness and woe. “Mark” is another word repeated found in the first stanza it is to signify the look of distress that is etched on their faces also to mark the lines that have been created because of their worries and weakness.
A reference is made that links to “The Chimney-Sweeper” innocence and experience; this portrays Blake’s obvious strong disagreement with the treatment of child chimney sweepers as he mentions them a lot. The next line in stanza 3 says “Every black’ning church appalls” churches at that time were black because of the pollution present and soot coming from the chimneys. On a deeper meaning it could be said that the churches ignorant behavior towards the chimney sweeper’s problem has blackened them with shame. The irony is that the church is meant to be helpful place where many seek for help but the church chose to ignore and over look the problem. This is what Blake noticed unlike the people living in his society.
The second strong image that is painted to the reader is the “hapless soldier’s sigh” They show weakness and woe because they had fought in the French revolution and “Runs in blood down palace walls” Blake is trying to show that by oppressing freedom of speech, in England, at that time by the government the unhappiness of the English soldier could, its causes were ignored, lead to similar bloodshed here.
Images of darkness are made similar to Blake’s poems of the ‘Chimney Sweeper (Experience) and (Innocence)’ “through midnight streets” The last image that Blake highlights has a shock factor because it talks about child prostitution. This can be seen as a type of child labour similar to Blake’s view of the child chimney-sweepers, however instead they are child prostitutes. Also both youths lose their innocence through what society decides to ignore. “Youthful harlots” emphasises their youth and “harlots” gives a biblical tone. “Blasts the new-born infants tear” shows the birth of the child is not a happy event but a curse for the prostitute as it wasn’t born out of love but through commerce. The new-born will only mean having to support the child with money, which these young children didn’t have, it just continued the cycle of misery. “The marriage hearse” an oxymoron, what Blake is trying to convey is that the wedding carriage is basically a hearse leading to a kind of death. Men usually didn’t marry out of love so would be unfaithful to their wives, they would usually contract a disease from the young harlot, said as the “plague” in the poem, and then pass it on to their wives and any babies that the married couple may want to have. This contradicts the idea of marriage which is a time that is meant to symbolise joy the contradiction is apparent through the word “hearse” Blake makes many of his messages clear in this poem, such as the abuse of child prostitutes by cruel adults and the abuse of chimney sweepers. He does this by stating their sad emotion, “chimney sweeper’s cry” “the hapless soldiers sigh” and “youthful harlot’s curse” these descriptions have a strong effect on the reader as they simply explain the hardship different people are going through. Blake makes sure he bases it on a wide range of people to convey to his reader that it is affecting everyone not just a small group of society.
The Title of the poem “The Human Abstract” is a poem about the human spirit; abstract suggests non definite intangible quality found in the human brain. He uses a tree to represent the human brain and how it is easily controlled. Blake uses nature to convey his ideas this is shown in the poem “A poison tree” as well as this poem. His respect for nature is apparent and makes him a romantic writer. The poem has constant rhythm; the rhythm change helps present subject and tone. This poem is hard to understand and the least easy to depict the social message compared to the evil of anger, which Blake explains in A Poison Tree. The structure of Blake’s poem consists of 6 stanzas and simple lines to convey his complicated messages. The rhyme scheme is ABAB although odd Para-rhymes are present for example “fly” and “mystery”. Many components of this poem echo the bible such as imagery and words.
The first stanza has an arrogant tone one which is strange to Blake’s writing. The reason for this verse is to show the attitude of several people in the society Blake was living in. A different tone to the rest of the poem is given where the phrases are stated as facts. Blake through the first stanza states that “pity”, an act of compassion, would not be possible if someone was not “poor”. Although Blake chose the word “make” as if society forces people into poverty so they can receive “pity”. The same is done with the word “Mercy” if mercy was not present if everyone was “happy”. Blake could be describing the way life was and trying to put across his message in an ironic way by placing it in the uncaring tone. The stanza is relevant to contemporary times but would shock many in Blake’s time because British society was built on the principles of clear inequality, Blake certainly didn’t approve of this inequality.
An immediate tone change is made after the first stanza where the rest of the poem argues with stanza 1. Through out this poem Blake uses a lot of antithesis, also done in “The Chimney-Sweeper”, for example “selfish love” through these controversy phrases and words Blake might be trying to show everyone has an ulterior motive to anything which is usual an act of good nature. He puts “mutual fear” and “peace” in the same line trying to convey that there is only peace because would-be enemies are living in fear of each other.
Blake makes good use of personification, “Cruelty knits a snare”, and the use of the word cruelty adds an uneasy quality. “Cruelty” in this poem is suggesting that all of us have some of this quality in each of us. The suggestion is that “Cruelty” makes a “knitted snare” and “spreads his bait” with “care”. The image is a strong one because the word choice is odd, “knit” and “care” is often associated with care and to place it with “cruelty” and “bait” makes it sinister. It then moves onto “cruelty” sitting with “holy fears” and watering the ground, to grow the plant, with “tears” Again images created are vivid and help explain his ideas, things seen as good acts and kindness have been transformed and linked with pitiless words to make it menacing. The tree that is growing is being made up of unappealing qualities “Humility takes its roots”. To show the tree is not something of beauty and nature “soon spreads the dismal shade” The colour image created is darkness and creates mystery, often used in Blake’s poetry, darkness and mystery foretells the unknown which scares many because it links with fear. Nature is apparent by the mention of a “caterpillar” and “fly” which feed on the mystery, they could represent the idea of corruption and sickness. Biblical reference is often pinpointed by Blake, “fruit of deceit” this reminds us of the Garden of Eden and the fall from grace. This once more makes the reader see the tree as sinister with the inviting fruit that is actually “deceitful”. Mentioning of the raven conveys bad things as it is seen as a symbol of death. The raven is creating a nest with the “thickest shade” suggests mystery and shadows of the “Human Abstract” described. The word “Thickest” shows it’s the worst of death and that it is inevitable.
The last line of the poem obviously states the concept of the whole poem that the mysterious tree that has been growing made up of cruelty; humility etc is simply found in the human mind. Blake conveys that its existence is metaphorical rather than literal but the use of a tree shows the stages of growth and how the things surrounding it affect the way it is. The last line is very simple, conflicting with the rest of the poem, and accepting of this idea it shows the accepting nature of the society that Blake was surrounded by. The abstract way in which Blake described the human mind is far from clear given life isn’t clear so the poem represents a human’s life.
The next poem is “A Poison Tree” a simple poem able to hold and reveal complicated messages. A Poison tree shares the nature aspect with “The Human abstract” the idea of a tree growing. Although “The human abstract” tree represents good and evil being part of every ones spirit and mind. In “A Poison Tree” the growing tree symbolises the growing of hate when anger is not expressed. The title is a central metaphor; it’s ironic because trees aren’t perceived as poisonous. The poem “A Poison Tree” is about anger and if kept inside could grow and become poisonous to one and others. Reference to the bible, like in “The Human Abstract”, is constantly made and the reader has to have some amount of knowledge on the bible, many in Blake’s time understood his references as the bible was the most common book. All through out this poem the rhyming scheme is AABB. Similar to “The Human abstract” William Blake’s mention of nature is common, linking him to the Romantic Movement.
Blake conveys, simply, in the first stanza that when angry with your friend you express to them your anger and it will end. He put it simply by using the two words “friend” and “end”. Although it is a different situation when angry with your foe, by not expressing his feelings to his foe the anger grew insinuated through the words “foe” and “grow” It has a nursery rhyme like quality with simple choice of language and regular rhythmic words. Child-like ton is present “I was angry”
He indicate that his anger and hatred has taken the form of a tree by the term “watered” By watering the plant with his tears and fears (metaphorically) it will encourage his hatred. The “smiles” and “deceitful wiles” represents the sunshine, simple natural metaphor. It could also represent the false attitude towards the foe.
The tree then bears an apple, indication of the bible, the story of Adam and Eve where the couple is forbidden to eat the fruit of “the tree of knowledge” the fruit being an apple. The apple, since it is forbidden is tempting. In this poem the apple is suspicious when it is described as shiny; shiny also makes the apple seem tempting. The foe steels the apple because “he knew that it was mine”. Darkness is again mentioned in Blake’s poem “when night had veiled”, it is also mentioned in London to represent sinister acts. The narrator is cunning because he uses the apple to capture the enemy knowing that he would eat it because it belonged to him.
A sense of immediacy is brought to our attention in the last two lines by the use of enjambment and quick change from past to present. The narrator finds his enemy dead after eating the tempting apple. At this point he is pleased “Glad I see My foe outstretched beneath the tree” This shocks the reader because the extent he has gone to because he did not express his anger, it then becomes apparent that the narrator is no longer feeling anger but wrath. The way he dies is quick and simple and shows anyone can feel hatred to this extent and perform this cunning deed. Simply Blake conveyed the message that if anger is expressed it’s good and relieving but if held, it turns into resentment, fear and hatred grows.
William Blake’s poems do not fit the age in which they were written as his ideas and messages he attempted to put forward have a contemporary outlook. The poems reflect the type of society Blake was living in. In each poem he expresses different controversial ideas; In “The Chimney-Sweep Innocence and Experience” he puts forward the immoral use of child labourers by putting it in the perspective of a child. In “London” it is stated how people are controlled easily and how he was against inequality. The message in “The Human Abstract” however complicated, talks about the human mind and how good and evil are two correlating things. Lastly in “A Poison Tree” Blake makes it clear that hate, to the extent of wrath, can be present in anyone, and that fear can grow into hate if not expressed. Today Blake’s views would not be condemned and most would agree with his ideas. William Blake’s views were strongly portrayed in his poems through his poetic devices, language, tone and structure.
