Songs of Innocence

INTRODUCTION

FIVE disturbing words/phrases with reasons:

1. Because repetition is so widespread, the poem’s diction seems limited to a

narrow choice of words. This enhances the contrasting effect of those few words
which display some difference, such as ‘vanish’d’, ‘pluck’d’ and ‘stain’d’. These
words stand out for this very reason, they are sudden actions, and are more violent
compared to the other continuous verbs elsewhere in the poem, for example
‘piping’, ‘laughing’ and ‘wept’.

2. Moreover, the word ‘vanish’d’ is slightly disturbing. One can view the child
has been the audience, repeatedly demanding the piper’s song and feeling
delighted in the performance, so the suddenness of ‘vanish’d’ is an unexpected
shock to the reader; and ‘stain’d’ carries overtones of dirt and corruption, the
disturbing notion is that the piper interferes with water, spoiling nature’s purity or
innocence.

3. The qualities of the world of innocence are plainly invoked in this poem. The
emotions expressed harmonise with this picture of an innocent world. ‘Pleasant
glee’ and ‘merry chear’ give rise to ‘laughing’. As the emotions grow however,
we find that the child ‘wept with joy’. This is an interesting combination of
extremes. On one level, we can imagine happiness so intense and poignant that it
causes the child to weep with joy, on the other hand, it appeals to us as a
paradoxical truth – that opposite states of emotion tend towards each other. The
paradox is a surprisingly sophisticated, irresolvable kind of idea to find in a simple
innocent world.

4. The pen is ‘rural’, the word which balances the existence of its antithesis –
urban. It refers to an agricultural landscape, not ‘valleys wild’. So figuratively, in
this short and simple poem we have travelled far. We have moved from ‘wild’
nature to a still gentle and comforting but nonetheless tamed and exploited nature,
in ‘rural’; and we have moved from the expression of momentary happiness in
melody, to reminisced happiness recorded in words in a ‘book’. The words ‘rural’
and ‘wild’ may not necessarily mean the same thing, ‘wild’ encompasses all of
nature, including its powerful, sometimes frightening energy, ‘rural’ on the other
hand suggests a tamed nature.

5. The auxiliary verb ‘may’ is rather disturbing in the sense that we are provoked
to ask how far is the world of ‘Innocence’ already an artificial ideal, is it merely
an attempt to prolong innocence and protect it from change, by writing ‘joy’ into a
book. The crucial uncertainty in this poem is expressed by Blake’s indefinite word
‘may’ in the final line.

Literary Terms: Contraries, paradox, oxymoron, ironic (e.g. ‘wept’ and ‘joy’)
Features that make the poem song-like:

1. The ‘Introduction’ has an apparent simplicity of style reminiscent of a nursery

rhyme. It contains short sentences, simple vocabulary, using common words of
one or two syllables only. Yet despite only having three rhyme words in total
(‘hear’, ‘chear’ and ‘again’), Blake manages some very subtle effects within what
appears to be a simply and regular form. The rhyme scheme is in fact not regular.
The first stanza rhymes in the form of ABAB, yet it does not match stanza two,
three and five. Here, only the second and fourth line rhymes. However, in these
stanzas (two, three and five) Blake manages to create a sound-link because lines 6,
8, 10, 12, 18, and 20 all rhyme. This allows the poem to be read with a sense of
rhythm. (Trochaic rhythm)

2. The complex manipulation of rhyme contributes to the sense of a build-up of

repetitive events that runs throughout the poem as the piper performs his song
repeatedly. The element of performance is similar to the qualities of songs. Songs
are supposed to be heard, and in this sense, the rhyming can encourage readers to
read them aloud.

3. Literary tradition – in the form of a ballad and belongs to the oral tradition,
meaning it is meant to be sung or heard out loud. The use of diction is limited and
monosyllabic, keeping the poem simple. Blake wasn’t a romantic, since the term
wasn’t fully recognised or invented at that time, however he does adapt to the
Romantic tradition for example he produces a style of simplicity – the romantics
are known to reject difficult and abstract language.

4. There is liberal use of repetition, ‘piper/pipe/piping/piped; happy; chear;

sing/song/songs/sung; child; joy’ are all parts of a strong pattern of repetition in
the poem. This once again gives the poem rhythm and rhyme that emphasises the
emotion and meaning conveyed. It’s also an important element in songs, as it
emphasises and ensures key words are remembered.

5. It contains similar elements of a song, such as the word ‘pipe’ suggests the notion
of an instrument. The pure music of a moment’s pleasure changes into written
lyrics. When the child demands the Piper to sing instead, it is no longer just a
melody, it has words, which fits the music and expresses the Piper’s meaning.

6. Songs can also relate to the idea of hymns (religious songs). The child and ‘Lamb’
are both references to Christ, particularly evoking ideas of gentleness, humility,
love and innocence, associated with Him.

OTHER

Pastoral poetry: adapting to the countryside setting and scenery

References to Innocence:

1. The word ‘cloud’ can refer to a child’s figment of imagination. The figure
might represent a cherub/angel. Blake claimed, as a child that he met an angel
while out, playing on Peckham Rye, in south London – this could act as an
inspiration for the creative process.

2. In stanza two, this develops into songs with words. The subject is the lamb,
one of the key images of the collection; it is the most important not only as a
symbol of youthful and carefree innocence, but it is also one of the most
powerful biblical images of Christ, who is presented as a sacrificial lamb.
Words associated with ‘Lamb’ – white, sacrifice, young, child, innocent,
naïve, angelic, fragility, inexperience, not tainted, derives from the Old
Testament in Christianity

3. The constant changing demands of the child is very typical

4. The phrase ‘valleys wild’ can refer to the uncontrollable and untamed nature
of a child, full of energy needing to be spent
5. The rural setting seems pleasant and unthreatening

The purpose of the poem, what is it trying to convey?

♦ The poem provides an insight into the process of poetic composition.

♦ The ‘piper’ is the composer and the singer of the Songs that are to follow.
♦ Note how the poem begins with the piper already engaged in artistic activity,
playing his tunes of ‘pleasant glee’ – songs without words.

♦ The movement from unformed music to fully formed poems is reflected in the
transformation of the pipe into pen.
♦ The child’s instructions to the piper are very clear and offer the reader a
manifesto of Blake’s intentions. This suggests that Blake’s purpose in
composing the Songs of Innocence and of Experience is twofold:
- to write a collection of poems that are universal in their significance
- to write poems that are simple in form and expression so that they may be
read and understood by all

♦ The rustic simplicity of this poem, set as it is in the ‘valleys wild’, prepares the
reader to expect rural and idyllic subject matter.
♦ Why did the child weep? It represents confusion of feelings, destabilisation.
♦ At first glance, the poem gives off an air of innocence, conveys a simple story.
However, as you read deeper into the meaning you find there are contrary
emotions, such as of joy and weeping.