Blake features children in several poems. In “The Lamb”, a speaker tells a child of the God who made him, all the while referring to the child as, “little lamb”. The imagery of the lamb has religious significance. John the Baptist heralded Christ as the, “Lamb of God” (John 1:29) A name is a marker of identity, so a shared name implies that there is something divine in the child. It is precious, and should be protected. Sheep are not particularly intelligent animals. They tend to follow their herd, sheep dog, or shepherd without much resistance. So there is a good bit of trust between them and their shepherd. It seems to be Blake’s opinion that civil authority has been misusing power and abusing this trust, particularly in the case of the chimney sweeper.
Blake ideally portrays children as joyful beings in poems like, “Nurse’s Song” and, “The Echoing Green”. The description of children who, “leaped & shouted & laugh’d” (p. 83), sat, “round the laps of their mothers,” (p. 79) contrasts heavily with the children in “The Chimney Sweeper” poems. These children are, “crying, weep weep, in notes of woe!” because society has, “clothed [them] in the clothes of death” (p. 89). They are forced to serve society while sacrificing their childhood, and their health. Yet, their cries fall on deaf ears. In Paul’s letter to the Romans, he speaks of obeying authority because power has been given to it by God, for, “the one in authority is God’s servant for your good.” (Romans 1:4) Therefore, to be good children, they must submit to the demands of society. “So if all do their duty they need not fear harm.” (p. 81) Blake portrays this as a great injustice. Children have a divine connection to Christ. They don’t deserve to be sold like property, to be treated like tools. It adds insult to injury to even try to justify such a policy. Blake has nothing but disdain for a government that cannot even protect the smallest, most innocent members of society.
Similarly, in the “The Fly”, Blake continues to show compassion for the small ones. Society, science, and human pride would have him believe that a fly was unimportant. Yet, the speaker likens himself to it. “If thought is life/ And strength and breath:/ And the want/ Of thought is death;/ Am not I/ A fly like thee?/ Or art not thou/ A man like me?” (p. 87) In all honesty, it seems easy to put the speaker above the fly on the food chain. With very little effort, the speaker killed it. The speaker, however, puts this in perspective, saying that his own life could be just as easily ended if, “some blind hand/ Shall brush my wing”. (p. 87) The role of the fly could be analogous to the chimney sweeper. Both are portrayed as playing and dancing until someone bigger and stronger comes along and kills that joy. Similarly, both are compared to superior beings, who by association, dignify the status of the chimney sweep and the fly. To quote Dr. Suess, “A person’s a person, no matter how small.” (Horton Hears a Who). Socioeconomic status and/or age does not change that. In glorifying the “little people”, Blake clarifies why he believes that certain social norms are wrong.
Heather,
ReplyDeleteVery ambitions post, with lots of quoted examples from numerous poems! This approach risks seeming haphazard or becoming confusing for your reader, and I caution you against making a habit of it. In this case, though, I think you are able to pull the diverse strands of observations together into a more coherent insight about Blake's attitude toward the weak and vulnerable in society. That ending salvages your post!
(On a lesser issue, note that the speaker in "The Lamb" really is addressing a lamb, not a child. The lamb does not reply, however, and the speaker does all the talking in the poem.)
I agree that Blake is using his poetry to try and protect children and their innocence. He sees how society abuses children and wants to try and change perceptions of children while condemning the government.
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