Studying William Blake

William Blake s treatment of Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience plays an important part in reading England in the late 17^th and 18^th ury. Even though his work wasn t fully appreciated in his time, the contemporary audience now relates his work to current political dilemmas. The change in tone is evident in both corresponding poems like The Chimney Sweepers , The Tyger and The Lamb and also in London and Holy Thursday that only share similar thematic ideas and imageries. This essay analyses Blake s treatment of the two collections through focus upon politics and religion, whilst also considering the effect of the illustrations on the overall meaning of both collections.

The Chimney Sweepers in both Songs act as a socio-politically motivated poem which comments on child exploitation and effect of the industrial revolution on the natural world. However, the first poem in Songs of Innocence has undertones of religious and political criticism as the first collection portrays everything from an innocent perspective. The child is also unaware of his own degradation and enslavement by his family as the first line of the poem makes the contemporary reader expect a poem full of grief and sorrow, but it s soon juxtaposed in the next line as the child is sold [1] by his father. The line is normalised by the narrator and the verb sold loses its meaning as child enslavement becomes normal to the narrator. The narrator s ignorance is also evident in his mispronunciation of sweep [2] which comes out as weep [3]. This is clearly intentional as it highlights the child s tender age as he cannot even pronounce sweep correctly which shows how child enslavement took place from a very young age. The parliamentary committee s report in 1817 on the employment of child sweepers also points out that children as young as four were sold by their families which emphasises Blake s intentional mispronunciation[4]. Furthermore, the children s obliviousness is again evident in the symbolism of the lamb which has religious connotations with the sacrificial lamb in the bible highlighting the children s vulnerable and fragile nature. Whissell notes that even though Songs of Innocence can be interpreted from a child s perspective, as modern readers we can t help but to look at it through an experienced lens[5]. This is true as the religious undertones in this poem are heavily criticised by Blake such as the false promise of religion. If the boys behave well in this life, the angel will send them to heaven [6] which shows how the church becomes an institute that uses the promise of salvation and liberation to justify child labour meaning if the children are passive and obedient to their masters, for the hope that there s a heaven after death.

In contrast to The Chimney Sweepers in the Songs of Innocence collection, the experience version shows how child-like hope and optimism descends into hopelessness and hate. The narrator now acknowledges that he s dying soon as he described to wear clothes of death [7] which again highlights his awareness of his doomed fate. The narrator also dehumanises himself by referring to himself as a thing [8] which shows that there s no grief or sorrow in this version. Blake also creates a juxtaposition between the snow and the narrator s black clothes to highlight his life lacking hope. This is because black symbolises death and white symbolises solitude which shows how the child s life lacks any other colour meaning no happiness is present and everything is just black and white. The narrator also openly criticises the trio of God and his priest and king [9] which points out that Blake blames them for robbing the children of their innocence. Therefore, instead of praying or hoping for God to save him, he blames the church for his agony which juxtaposes the Songs of Innocence version as the child still believes that God can help them. Blake also points out the church makes a heaven [10] out of the children s misery [11] which shows how the upper class cared very little about poor children. Considering that taxation was implied in Blake s time, the heaven of poor s misery means that the lower class were subjected to suppression and forced labour whilst the upper class enjoyed their lives in economical peace.

The illustrations for The Chimney Sweepers in the innocence collection uses light colours especially white which represents hope whereas the experience version uses dark colours emphasise the lack of hope and the narrator s absolute pessimism. Eaves points out that in Blake s collections, the illustrations act as resources that are available to the audience in order to illustrate meaning and sustain an interest throughout[12]. This is true as in the first poem, there are many children present in the illustration but in the second one there s only one child present which shows how death is inevitable for them. The black walls in the experience version also symbolise the church which acts a dominant feature of the illustration showing the heavy influence of the church on the children s misery. This shows how the illustrations also reflect on Blake s heavy focus on religion and politics as the transition is visible through the choice of colours and the location.

The Tyger and The Lamb are also corresponding poems in both collections that again question religion and politics. Pechey notes that the lamb s existence is defined without any interrogation which is true as there are not any interrogatives in the poem[13]. The questions are simply answered unlike The Tyger with constant questions. The Lamb also acts as a didactic poem that questions the existence of good and purity. As a reader you re encouraged to identify the child in the last stanza as Jesus who answers all the questions with absolute certainty. The Christian symbolism continues as the adjective meek [14] recalls Jesus words from the Sermon on the Mount which links the lamb to purity and innocence. Another possible Christian reading is the identification of Jesus as the lamb which means that Christ is also meek and mild. Christ was also a child when he appeared on earth as Son of God which means that he can also identify as the narrator forming a trinity of child, lamb and Jesus. This sets a contrast to The Tyger as it represents the good and holy in this world whereas the tiger represents the evil creating binary opposites. The sweet and pure nature of this poem is also evident in the soft vowels making it song-like and euphoric whilst The Tyger uses harsh and cacophonic sounds. The change in the sound technique also highlights Blake s transition from innocence to experience as the harsher sounds reflect on a hopeless and doomed society.

In The Tyger , there s a long list of interrogatives which question the existence of evil followed by no answers. Unlike the heavenly imagery in The Lamb , this collection focuses on the hellish imagery and fiery imagery to highlight the tiger s fearsome aura. The chain [15], hammer [16] and fire [17] all act as a symbol for hell and misery which raises questions as to why God created both heaven and hell. The first line is also much harsher as there s strength behind rhythm to evoke the power of the tiger but The Lamb is slower with more euphoric sounds used to evoke innocence and vulnerability. Blake also cross-references the lamb in the experience collection which raises the question of how can a meek and fragile lamb exist next to a tiger? Therefore, it again questions God s intention in creating for good and evil. This constant questioning with no answers opposes theological values as in how a benevolent God can exist. In the experience collection, after the fall of faith it becomes impossible not to question God which is evident in the level of uncertainty presented in this poem. Pechey also notes that The Lamb ends with an end point whereas the The Tyger ends with a question mark which shows how the narrator transitions from certainty to uncertainty in the experience collection[18]. This creates a cyclical structure for The Tyger as the poem still remains uncertain about God s benevolence. This cyclical structure also reminds the audience to question the existence of good and evil as these two strong opposing forces which only create misery and agony in society.

In the illustrations, Blake combines the child-like imagination of the tiger with the poem that contemplates this dangerous creature which is still a near myth to people in the 18^th ury. For Blake the beauty of the tiger is not as important as its ferocity which is evident in the harsh tone of the poem. Therefore, the illustration only acts as a resource tool for the reader which makes Blake doubly available to the audience. The tree in The Tyger is also dry unlike the lively green trees in The Lamb illustrating the fine line between life and death. Therefore, the illustrations in both act as heaven and hell which is also evident in the choice of colour palates as The Lamb uses white and green to emphasise hope and holiness whereas The Tyger uses dark colours to emphasise hopelessness and misery with orange to highlight the fiery imagery creating the image of hell.

Unlike the previous poems, London and Holy Thursday are not corresponding poems but share similar themes which again criticise religion and politics both covertly and overtly. Holy Thursday also focuses on the naivety and innocence of the impoverished children through the use of holy imagery as the children are associated with the lamb [19], symbol of fragility and vulnerability. Blake again juxtaposes the innocence of the children with the beadles who are holding wands [20] which shows how the church as an institution hides the real problems by putting up a good appearance for a public ceremony. Even though, it s not an open criticism towards society, Blake still shows how violent authority is masked by a public ceremony as the children are cleaned up for this occasion only. Fairer also comments on the fact the children act as a symbol of innocence in the church which was vital for fund-raising showing how the children are exploited by the preacher for money, which is evident in their clean faces [21] to attract more people to donate[22]. Blake also describes the children as flowers [23] because of the beauty of their clean faces and attire which will fade away soon as flowers are short-lived highlighting how they re stripped from their innocence by society.

The transition in Blake s attitude is highly evident in London as he openly criticises religion and politics through the use of blunt expressions throughout the poem. The narrator describes the streets as chartered [24] reflecting on how everyone even including the children are imprisoned in society with no other escape other than death. The streets becoming chartered also reflect on the effect of the industrial revolution on England as natural life no longer exists. In the innocence collection, children still hoped for a better future and prayed to God but in this poem, cries of fear [25] and mind-forg d manacles [26] are not heard by God which illustrates defeat and acceptance of their looming death. Swearingen notes that religion and politics are connected in Blake s poetry which in this case is significantly important in London as the church is describes as blackening [27] showing how religion is used to mask political dilemmas[28]. the verb blacken also accuses the church of being responsible for the chimney sweepers, and in another possible reading it shows how the church is infected with hypocrisy and lies that are told to people. The reading presents the church as an institute that feeds society with lies to raise money which won t go towards impoverished adults and children. this connection also shows how political figures use religion as a way to control people and their behaviour with a promise of a heaven after life.

The illustrations still use different colour palates but more importantly they both seem to openly criticise society through space organisation. In Holy Thursday , the children are at top of the page and the beadles are at the bottom which shows how there s a heaven and hell where the beadles will be punished for their treatment of the impoverished children. In contrast, London doesn t show a collection of children but only two which can again signify death out of misery and poor nourishment. There s also a smoke cloud surrounding one child which presents the industrial revolution affecting the natural world, and it can also show the looming presence of church dictating what the child should behave in society for the promise of a heaven after death. Therefore, Blake s material becomes doubly available creating a visual aid for the audience to see how cruel politicians and religion s effect on society can be.

In conclusion, through analysing Blake s treatment of the two collection by focusing on politics and religion, it is evident that Blake criticises society in both collections. However, Blake openly criticises the effect of politics on religion in the experience collection as the transition shows how misery and pain affects the quality of life forcing society into losing their hope for a better future. In contrast, the innocence collection has undertones of religious and political criticism with elements of elements of hope and optimism. This shows how the child-like perspective on life turns into an adult perspective who is hopeless and acknowledges the fall of society as all values are lost and respect no longer exists.

[1] Blake, William, Selected Poems, ed. by Nicholas Shrimpton (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019). p. 18,

[2] SI, p. 18

[3] SI, p.18

[4] House of Commons, Employment of Boys in sweeping of Chimneys (London,1817).

[5] Whissell, C. (2001) The Emotionality of William Blake s Poems: A Quantitative Comparison of Songs of Innocence with Songs of Experience , pp. 459 467.

[6] SI, p. 19

[7] SE, p. 34

[8] SE, p. 34

[9] SE, p.34

[10] SE, p. 34

[11] SE, p.34

[12] Eaves, M. (1995). On Blakes We Want, and Blakes We Don`t , pp. 413-439.

[13] Pechey, G. K. "BLAKE`S "TYGER"." Theoria: A Journal of Social and Political Theory, pp. 81-92. www.jstor.org/stable/24247673-

[14] SI, p. 12

[15] SE, p. 36

[16] SE, p. 36

[17] SE, p. 36

[18] Pechey, G. K. "BLAKE`S "TYGER"." Theoria: A Journal of Social and Political Theory, pp. 81-92. www.jstor.org/stable/24247673-

[19] SI, p. 14

[20] SI, p. 14

[21] SI, p. 14

[22] Fairer, David. "Experience Reading Innocence: Contextualizing Blake`s "Holy Thursday", pp. 535-62. www.jstor.org/stable/30054004-

[23] SI, p. 14

[24] SE, p. 35

[25] SE, p. 36

[26] SE, p. 36

[27] SE, p. 36

[28] Swearingen, James E. "William Blake`s Figural Politics.", pp. 125-44. doi:10.2307/2873421