Songs of Innocence

THE ECHOING GREEN

The Echoing Green evokes much thought into religion, nature, innocence and
reflection of life. In this poem, Blake has created an idyllic society. The children are
free to play from dusk to dawn in the secure surroundings of the green village
watched over by their mothers and the old folk. The infants are comforted and safe
‘round the laps of their mothers’, gaining security from their small community. The
simple carefree happiness described may seem childish but it is shared equally by the
old people. ‘The birds of the bush’ creates a parallel to symbolise the relationship
between children and parents, which is seen in terms of nature.

The main focus appears to be on the children, ‘While our sports shall be seen’
indicates that the poem is written from their point of view. The opening stanza sets the
scene of bright sunshine and joyful sounds. The young children playing happily in the
rural area gives a very innocent and blissful setting. Words such as ‘merry’ and ‘Sun’
reflect a positive and jovial attitude, it also emphasises how natural the countryside is,
‘arise’ and ‘Spring’ indicate the freshness of life that is clearly seen through the naïve
and innocent nature of the children playing.

In the second stanza, there is a strong sense of nostalgia, especially when we read,
‘Such, such were the joys’, this is further emphasised by the repetition on ‘such’.
Among the ‘other folk’, one is an old man called ‘John’ where he laughs ‘away care’,
suggesting there is a sense of freedom. It appears that he, as well as the other old
people is able to escape from any of his worries, just through this simple form of
enjoyment. ‘When we all, girls & boys’ suggest that the elderly people like to
reminiscence back when they were young too, bringing back sweet memories. This
notion of reflecting on life conveys the theme of youth and age or lost childhood. We
begin to understand that time goes on and youth grows old, we learn the lessons of
experience.

The end of the children’s playtime coincides with the sunset, and the tired children
find peace and security with their family. The third stanza is a direct contrast to the
first and describes the events again but this time with the opposite reaction, ‘No more
can be merry’, ‘sun does descend’ and ‘our sports have an end’, it provokes readers
into deep thoughts about life, for example, life like everything else is mortal and must
come to an end. It also represents a beautiful cyclical passage of time and life.

Blake portrays an underlying sense of transience that is a familiar theme in poetry of

the eighteenth century. The idea of passing time in two places in the poem is seen for
example, the fact of old age depicted in the second stanza and the end of the games
and the setting of the sun in the third. It is a scene spoken of poignantly. There are
undoubted hints of Blake’s disquiet here in his emptying of the scene. The ‘green’ is
no longer echoing but ‘darkening’ – surely a menacing epithet. The sense of
omniscience is further developed when we read, ‘In our youth-time were seen’.
However, this may simply reflect how they were always watched over by an adult to
ensure their safety.
Blake uses simple diction to express the happiness and innocence of a child's
thoughts. The short sentences can reflect the simple mind of a child, which further
emphasises the innocence children retain at their young age. The rural life is presented
as very simple and this creates a contradiction in comparison to Blake’s time, where
the countryside was soon disappearing as Britain became industrialised. It holds this
forewarning that life may no longer be as simple as it used to be, but become more
complex.

Towards the end, in the last verse, the word ‘darkening’ gives us the feeling of
moving on, and losing the childish innocence described in stanza one and two. There
is a clear movement from pure innocence of childhood to the reminiscence of
childhood and then the inevitable idea of growing up, moving on from being a child to
becoming an adult. It may be that Blake wanted the transition from the sun rising and
sun setting to symbolise the change of the innocent children into adulthood. This
change does not seem to show an inspiring confidence but a rather ominous feeling
hence the sudden change from ‘Ecchoing Green’ to ‘darkening Green’. One message
that Blake may be trying to convey is that as life moves we lose the capacity to enjoy
simple joys in life.

Additional Points

In terms of FORMS
♦ ‘Weary’ and ‘descend’ all have connotations of deaths and sickness. You have
this feeling of losing innocence, followed easily after the ‘Introduction’. We
feel extremes of emotions.
♦ Pastoral, tradition, writing about the countryside (literary)
♦ Regularity, rhythm, rhyming couplets, sound, stanza structure (10 lines)
♦ Rhyme – use of repetition, the use of refrains ‘echoing green’, rhyming can be
internal, part time, repetition of ‘And’ helps the poem gain rhythm
♦ Many contraries, there is a warning/message: let children enjoy themselves,
allow them to savour the moment

In terms of STRUCTURE
♦ There are 3 versus: 1) creating this pastoral image, full of sound, euphoria
2) provides a contrast, no focus on children but adults
3) At the end we have a feeling of reflection, built on
contraries, which is Blake’s forte and philosophy
♦ Diction is limited to monosyllabic, it’s very symbolic, literal and the use of
personification, simile, metaphor, allegory, ironic, connotations (multiplicity),
contrast, similarity all help contribute to paint vivid imagery

In terms of LITERARY TRADITION

♦ Voice of childhood experiences – common in romantic poetry. During the
Augustan period, its freshness put forward a new topic: about maturity. While
Wordsworth, Coleridge, Keats and others did reflect childhood experiences,
they rarely presented the child’s voice or point of view. Blake would use the
child’s voice to give the persona of the poem. It captured that sense of
spontaneity and naivety.