Analyse this poem. (6)
Perspective — first person plural; unified image
Auditory imagery — bell motif — creates a melodic and cheerful atmosphere. Could also be alluding to church which will soon preside over it.
Universality — “Old John” — monosyllabic English name cliche — idyll in which all of the elderly bask in the joys of youths
Contraries: old and young — the old “laugh” and lament over their time on the village commonspace; the children partake in sports and being merry before returning to their mothers
Symbol: birds — “birds in their nest” — associated with freedom and also fragility
Passing of time — “darkening green” reframes the previous “ecchoing green” which emphasises the passing of time. This could also be a metaphor for ageing.
Rhyme - conveys harmony, between nature and humans
Echoing motif - Conveys the cyclical and repeated nature of life, with young and old shown.
What collection is The Ecchoing Green from?
Songs of Innocence and of Experience (1794)
Structural techniques in the Ecchoing Green
Rhyming couplets — harmonious
Enjambment — unrestricted play
Analyse this poem. (6)
Rhyme scheme falls into disarray: ABCB → internal — exclusion from within the church
Motif of flowers — flowers associated with youth but also fertility — poem could be addressed as either about the death on imagination or the Church’s imposition on sex
Doorway symbol — clipped commandment on the door emphasises how the Church’s dogma lies upon restriction of the human experience. Could also be a metaphor for exclusion or the Church ironically using the messages of god while shutting off from his teachings.
Imagery of death/darkness — Gothic imagery e.g gravestones and priests in black gowns — sharp contrast to the colourful image of a flower field
Internal rhyme — links religion and politics with the restriction of joy and the death of desires — explicit framing of Blake’s blame
Contraries: pastoral versus urban setting — contrasts the colours and also the Romantic versus Gothic imagery which emphasises the extent of the enforced changes
What collection is the Garden of Love from?
Songs of Innocence and of Experience (1794)
Structural techniques in The Garden of Love
Quadrains
ABCB rhyme → internal rhyme
Anaphora: “and”
What characteristics of Blake are evident in these poems?
Contraries — old/young, rural/urban
Criticism of institution
Simple imagery that contrasts the complexities of the issues he addresses
What characteristics of Romanticism are evident in these poems?
Imagery of shackles/net/chains
Pastoral imagery
Childhood innocence
Freedom from institution
What 5 points of specific context are relevant to these poems?
Various Inclosure Acts (e.g. that of 1773) permitted the enclosure with fences or hedges of former common land & village greens — institution encroachment
Swedenborgianism — sexual and religious liberation
Rousseau
Blake contrasts typical children’s works — no moral didacticism aimed at children
Industrial Revolution, French Revolution
Blake’s views on religion
Hirsch on “The Ecchoing Green”
“The natural harmonies in “The Ecchoing Green” are sacramental…just as meaning resides within the natural world, so the realm of eternity also resides within the human breast.”
Osborne on “Garden of Love”
“In the postlapsarian “Garden of Love” … nature has become a controlled object which has been transformed by religion.”