THE ECHOING GREENWilliam Blake

THE ECHOING GREEN

The Sun does arise,And make happy the skies.The merry bells ring,To welcome the Spring,The sky-lark and thrush,The birds of the bush,Sing louder around,To the bells cheerful sound,While our sports shall be seenOn the Echoing Green.

Old John with white hairDoes laugh away care,Sitting under the oak,Among the old folk.They laugh at our play,And soon they all say,Such, such were the joys,When we all, girls & boys,In our youth time were seen,On the Echoing Green.

Till the little ones wearyNo more can be merryThe sun does descend,And our sports have an end:Round the laps of their mothers,Many sisters and brothers,Like birds in their nest,Are ready for rest:And sport no more seen,On the darkening Green.

“nature is a cycle of joyful new life and quiet death, which is mirrored in the human lives of carefree, innocent

youth and their eventual aging”

FIRST STANZA

• uplifting words with positive connotations

• vivid imagery• cheerful and optimistic tone• sense of renewal and rebirth• personification of the sun• auditory imagery• celebratory mood• children connected to nature

through their carefreeness and innocence

The Sun does arise,And make happy the skies.The merry bells ring,To welcome the Spring,The sky-lark and thrush,The birds of the bush,Sing louder around,To the bells cheerful sound,While our sports shall be seenOn the Echoing Green.

• children laughing in the bright sunlight and running on a green lawn• “Chimney Sweeper”:

hope of the poor working children for a blissful life in heaven

• “The Echoing Green”: ability of children to enjoy life

• confidence that the children will be playing on

Then down a green plain, leaping, laughing they run,And wash in a river and shine in the Sun.

“The Chimney Sweeper”

While our sports shall be seenOn the Echoing Green.

“The Echoing Green”

SECOND STANZA

• experiences of maturity• common name and generic

description of “white hair” • commonplace names• white hair

Old John with white hairDoes laugh away care,Sitting under the oak,Among the old folk.They laugh at our play,And soon they all say,Such, such were the joys,When we all, girls & boys,In our youth time were seen,On the Echoing Green.

-"Hush, Tom! never mind it, for when your head's bare,You know that the soot cannot spoil your white hair."

-That thousands of sweepers, Dick, Joe, Ned, & Jack,Were all of them locked up in coffins of black

“The Chimney Sweeper”

• Old John is sitting under an oak tree

• older life that coexists with the new

• Old John and the other “old folk” laugh away their worries

• repetition of the word “such”

• lingering quality• reminiscent tone

Old John with white hairDoes laugh away care,Sitting under the oak,Among the old folk.They laugh at our play,And soon they all say,Such, such were the joys,When we all, girls & boys,In our youth time were seen,On the Echoing Green.

THIRD STANZA

• complete contrast• darker, sobering imagery • does not include any auditory

imagery• both darkness and silence are

related to the nigh• children “ready for rest” • intertwined with nature with

simile • penultimate line is missing

“our” removes the presence

Till the little ones wearyNo more can be merryThe sun does descend,And our sports have an end:Round the laps of their mothers,Many sisters and brothers,Like birds in their nest,Are ready for rest:And sport no more seen,On the darkening Green.

• detachment from the other stages represented by the other two stanzas

• simple, subdued diction • tired, fading tone

Till the little ones wearyNo more can be merryThe sun does descend,And our sports have an end:Round the laps of their mothers,Many sisters and brothers,Like birds in their nest,Are ready for rest:And sport no more seen,On the darkening Green.

• rhyme couplets• slant rhyme in “The Chimney Sweeper”• simple diction• speakers are children

OVERALL REMARKSThe Sun does arise,And make happy the skies.The merry bells ring,To welcome the Spring,The sky-lark and thrush,The birds of the bush,Sing louder around,To the bells cheerful sound,While our sports shall be seenOn the Echoing Green.

Old John with white hairDoes laugh away care,Sitting under the oak,Among the old folk.They laugh at our play,And soon they all say,Such, such were the joys,When we all, girls & boys,In our youth time were seen,On the Echoing Green.

Till the little ones wearyNo more can be merryThe sun does descend,And our sports have an end:Round the laps of their mothers,Many sisters and brothers,Like birds in their nest,Are ready for rest:And sport no more seen,On the darkening Green.

And so Tom awoke; and we rose in the darkAnd got with our bags & our brushes to work.Though the morning was cold, Tom was happy & warm;So if all do their duty, they need not fear harm.

“The Chimney Sweeper”

• simile • green is a repeated motif• parallel structure• vivid imagery of children playing• motif of cycles • repetition of “on the echoing green”

OVERALL REMARKSThe Sun does arise,And make happy the skies.The merry bells ring,To welcome the Spring,The sky-lark and thrush,The birds of the bush,Sing louder around,To the bells cheerful sound,While our sports shall be seenOn the Echoing Green.

Old John with white hairDoes laugh away care,Sitting under the oak,Among the old folk.They laugh at our play,And soon they all say,Such, such were the joys,When we all, girls & boys,In our youth time were seen,On the Echoing Green.

Till the little ones wearyNo more can be merryThe sun does descend,And our sports have an end:Round the laps of their mothers,Many sisters and brothers,Like birds in their nest,Are ready for rest:And sport no more seen,On the darkening Green.

CONCLUSIONS

• false hope vs. acceptance• cyclical nature of human life.

And so Tom awoke; and we rose in the darkAnd got with our bags & our brushes to work.Though the morning was cold, Tom was happy & warm;So if all do their duty, they need not fear harm.“The Chimney Sweeper”

Till the little ones wearyNo more can be merryThe sun does descend,And our sports have an end:Round the laps of their mothers,Many sisters and brothers,Like birds in their nest,Are ready for rest:And sport no more seen,On the darkening Green.“The Echoing Green”