It is not only in the education system that Blake observes children being abused by society. In ‘The Chimney Sweeper’ poems of ‘Innocence’ and ‘Experience’, Blake describes the hard and dangerous work of the children who are sent up to clean the chimneys. In ‘Songs of Innocence’, the voice of one of the sweeps themselves is used to portray the tragic lives that these youngsters lead; how their parents sell them when they can “scarcely cry ‘weep weep weep weep’”, how their hair is shaved and how “in soot (they) sleep”. By using specific details such as names and speech, a strong sense of vulnerability is built up and one is forced to sympathise entirely with the children, who have only the afterlife and having “God for his father” to look forward to. However society is not directly criticised in this poem, as compared to the attacks made on “God and his priest and king” in the ‘Experience’ version. Blake’s religious cynicism is obvious here, as the parents who have left their “little black thing among the snow”, have gone to church to pray, thus blaming an institution that is supposed to be moral and considerate, and involves all areas of society.
However Blake does not always seem to look at children in this very individual way. In ‘Holy Thursday’, he describes the parading of the charity schools to the Cathedral, and here the children are portrayed as “a multitude”, “seated in companies”, “thousands of little boys and girls” and other such terms focusing on the quantity of the children. By having this panoramic vision of the scene, Blake is able to generalise those there, and describe them all as “innocent”, “lambs” and “flowers of London town”, which gives us an idea of the poet’s attitude to the charity schools. Such institutions would have been a common feature of Blake’s society, and also a part of a Christian outlook, and it is perhaps for this reason that the end of ‘Holy Thursday’ changes from being merely illustrative to being quite didactic: “cherish pity, lest you drive an angel from your door”. However this seemingly sentimental line is in fact a biblical reference to Hebrews 13, 2. and by slotting this conclusion in, Blake is able to alter one’s view of the children. The reader may perhaps now view them as lambs to be slaughtered by an uncaring society, rather than the meek creatures which perhaps they were supposed to be at first, as the religious element also draws a moral aspect into the poem.
However a prominent feature in ‘Holy Thursday’ is the integration of young and old, “beneath them sit the aged men” and this theme is carried through into ‘The Echoing Green’. Here, among a restful pastoral scene, children play on the village green whilst the “old folk…laugh away care”. The two different sections of the community seem to become one, and the older people comment and enjoy the childlike games that are going on: “such, such were the joys, when we all, girls and boys, in our youth-time were seen on the echoing green”. Here Blake is able to not only present his observation of children but also of society; in this case a traditional society where childhood is regarded as a special and “merry” time, and where all involve themselves in the lives of the young. This poem, which seems to be very fitting for the ‘Songs of Innocence’ contrasts strongly with other works such as ‘The Chimney Sweeper’ poems, where the general public were portrayed as being indifferent to the harsh treatment of the children. Here in ‘The Echoing Green’, the life of the community seems to be almost cyclical, as the joyful children will too one day take their seat as the old people under the oak, unlike the lives of the chimney sweeps, who will only really begin to ‘live’ and be free when they die.
Blake uses several different images of childhood and society in just this short selection of poetry in order to present a certain view to the reader, and these can range from a simple illustration to a full and painful description. However, despite occasional ambiguities, the poet makes certain that his often critical view is recognised and acknowledged, and one withdraws from the poems being sure of Blake’s opinion on the very topical themes.