Images of Innocence in "The Nurse's Song" Poems
Throughout William Blake's Songs of Innocence the reader is introduced to the same reoccurring images of innocence. These images, such as infants sleeping, children playing, and little lambs grazing, all contain related meanings. Most contain religious significance because they are frequently seen throughout the Bible and therefore are well-known for their connotation of pureness. Blake uses these holy images constantly through "Songs of Innocence" to convey messages of true innocence to the reader. Some of the strongest images of innocence that Blake uses are found in the poem "Nurse's Song". In this poem, Blake creates the delightful image of children playing irresponsibly until dusk. This enchantment is not, however, continued into Blake's Songs of Experience poem "Nurse's Song", where all images of innocence are stripped from the nurse, as well as the children. These contrary poems highlight Blake's overall intentions in creating The Songs of Innocence and Experience. Before examining "Nurse's Song", let us first look at some of the general images of innocence that William Blake describes in his poems and discuss their meanings in relation to the text as a whole. The images that Blake creates for us of innocence are
The nurse feels that they are wasting their youth playing. She now looks through jaded eyes and she thinks the children are kidding themselves with this foolish play. They are not restricted by social constraints, which Blake so greatly despised. Her childhood is over and she can't regain the innocence that she once had. These two poems are highly effective in portraying this through the eyes of a nurse who grows both more insightful and bitter with time. The nurse allows the children more time to play in this poem because she is so at peace that she too feels no restrictions. The images of innocence such as the birds flying, children laughing, and sheep grazing on the hill are all absent. The images have shifted to create a more experienced and even disturbed scene. Since she has shed her youthful spirit, the nurse calls the children to come inside because she thinks they are wasting their time. The images of the lamb and the sleeping child can be traced back to Christ's birth, the Nativity scene, which was his most pure and innocent moment. Blake uses the same images in many different poems and in many different ways. She turns green with envy, regret, and remorse. The reason why she now is so woeful is because she has looked back on her youth, perhaps presented in the first "Nurse's Song" and realized all that she wasted by playing. The sleeping infant ("The Cradle Song") and the playing and laughing child ("The Ecchoing Green") are used throughout the text. The children in the second poem no longer highlight innocence, but are used as way for the nurse to realize all she has lost.
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Acceptance Essays
