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Introduction
William Blake was born on 28 November 1757. He was an English poet and printer. Although at those early times he was not largely recognized, he is now considered a great figure in the world of poetry. Some people say he is one of the greatest artists Britain has ever had (Mona 3-13). He was ranked number 38 in 2002 by the BBC in a poll that consisted of 100 greatest people in Britain (BBC 1). His painting and poems have been categorized as part of the Romantic Movement. He has also been said to be hostile to the Church of England. He died on 12 August 1827 (Mona 3-13). This essay is going to analyze the poem of William Blake The Little Black Boy.
The Analysis of The Little black Boy
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One of Blake’s work that is still relevant today is The Little Black Boy poem which was published in his poem collections called Songs of Innocence and Experience. The collection is in two halves the first one Songs of Innocence has poems that talk about childhood and purity while the other half the Songs of Experience contains poems talking about adulthood, oppression, corruption, and violence. The Little Black Boy is in the Songs of Innocence collection (William 8).
The poem was composed in 1788 and published in 1789 a period when slavery was legal. At this time some people had realized slavery was inhuman and had begun to fight it although the fight was at its early stage. The poem was written to show the oppression of the blacks by the white and at the same time try to show the two races are equal before God. The boy explains though his skin is black his soul is white which means the color should not be used to segregate people. His mother makes him know that his black skin “is but a cloud”. The boy preaches the same to his friend who is white and tells him that his skin is likewise a cloud. The boys continue to say when he will be like the white boy; he will love him. It all point out how all people are before God and one day this equality will reign (Poetry Foundation 1).
Blake has used various themes to convey his message, and they are as follows. Firstly, he has pointed out the vulnerability of innocence. When people lack awareness, they may worship a master who is misleading them. They become vulnerable to injustice and exploitation. Innocence alone is not sufficient because people need to be enlightened. The mother of the black boy explained to him that the skin color did not mean a lot hence the color should not be used to justify oppression. If the white and the black boy will one day be same before God it means also the color should not separate them while on earth (Crossref-it.Info 1).
Secondly, he has pointed on the distortion of the religion belief on the future life. The poet does not support some Christian believes. Believes that teach people to accept suffering and injustice because the sufferings will be exempted in the next life (Crossref-it.Info 1). Thirdly, unity is essential and people should come together regardless of their color of the skin because human beings are not determined by their color. All races come from God and none is superior to the other (Alan 19).
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Fourthly, love must be manifested in all human to bring unity. People should not only love others but also themselves. In the poem, the black boy want to be like the white boy when he says he want to be white too. He appears not to be happy with his skin as he says “bereaved of light”. It appears as a self-affliction. The black boy feels he is not loved by the white boy and he want to be loved and for him to beloved he must be white (Poetry foundation 1). Lastly, slavery has been questioned in the Christian value. The poem was composed in the era when the slave trade was on peak. The white were in rule and the boy is pointing out the conditions of the blacks. In the poem Blake shows his hatred for slave trade and the black boy should not be subjected to slavery because all people are equal-his soul is white (Alan 31).
The content of the poem has been brought out in various ways as follow. The poem is set on a spiritual revival to a divine love which transcends race. The poet has structured the poem on an imagery of light and dark. The persona in the poem is a boy from Africa who is to accept his own color. There is a contrast in the first stanza where the boy is comparing his skin color and his whiteness of the soul (Poetry foundation 1). The mother of the boy is a symbol of natural and selfless love which is the idea of the poem. She is concerned about her child self-esteem as well she wants him to know God is the equalizer of all things. She convinces him that what they are passing on earth is just a preparation of the good things stored in heaven for them. In their earthly context, the skin color was only seasonal. The boy explains to his friend about the skin color and tells him they are equal. This occasion shows that the black boy is prepared to go to heaven maybe because of the pain his black skin has caused him. Although, it is a vision that his mother has consoled him to change the challenges he is going through to pride and source of hope.
The tree shows source of knowledge. The tree is taken to be in the mind of the boy. After the boy learnt about love and endurance its link with version of reality is manifested. The east direction is portrayed to be the direction of the rising sun and it signifies eternal life. The lamb implies innocence, meekness and the Christ. Jesus in the Bible is referred as the sacrificial lamb who came to the save the human kind. The child signifies innocence and humbleness. Relating the life of Jesus and the boy with that of Jesus, they are going the same situation as Jesus childhood included experience from different fields including human violence. He was subjected to human cruelty as the son has been subjected (Crossref-it.Info 1).
The themes addressed by Blake still have relevancy today. Some of the issues he addresses has changed dimension on how they used to happen and how they are happening now although other issues are still taking place in the same dimension they used to take some centuries ago. Vulnerability of innocence is still rampant today and many people are perishing because they lack knowledge. Many innocent souls are suffering under the York of their ruthless leaders, be it national, institution or family leaders. For example, many women are suffering in domestic violence mostly because they lack knowledge that domestic violence is inhuman or because they have a stereotype that women must suffer under men.
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Distortion of the religion belief about the future life is rampant today as many people are using the religion to their benefits. People have accumulated millions of money by setting up churches to con the innocence followers. Other are using religion to justify war and killing. It is common to the extremist groups who in return are left to control billions of wealth coming from oil and terror activities like kidnapping and end up justifying themselves with religion. The theme of unity has been embraced largely by people because they have realized no one is self-sufficient regardless of one’s color or geographical area. People have come together to form military unions, trade blocks and assist each other in time of need.
The bitter truth is that slavery still exists in the 21st century. It might not be realized by many people because it does not exist as it used to exist in time of slave trade era. A good example of the slavery today is the human trafficking where desperate people are being lured to be taking to other countries for better jobs. In most cases, it turn out to be untrue, when the people land in the foreign countries their visas, passports and other documents are withdrawn from them and are forced to practice prostitution, work as maids in inhuman conditions or as laborers in construction sites. In addition, the citizens of countries ruled by dictators are slaves because they don’t enjoy the freedom guaranteed by human rights (New internationalist Magazine 1).
Conclusion
The literature work was written to fit a certain context and might lose some meanings or depict other meanings to those people who read it in a different setting. For example, the core aim of the poem was to address slavery and race differences in conjunction of religion. Blake tries to bring out the importance of race justice especially to the vulnerable races. The poem is still applicable to today’s life for example some people are being viewed to be of a lower race hence subjected to inhumane treatment. People should also appreciate who they are for them to fit in the society.
Work Cited
BBC. The Top 100 Great Britons. 1 January 2016. Web. 17 July 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20021204214727/http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/programmes /greatbritons/list.shtml/
Blake, William, and Andrew Lincoln. Songs of Innocence and of Experience. Vol. 2. Princeton University Press, 1994. Print.
Crossref-it.info . The Little Black Boy - Imagery, symbolism and themes. 2016. Web. 17 july 2016.
Poetry Foundation. The Little Black Boy.2016. Web. 17 july 2016. http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poems/detail/43671#
Richardson, Alan. "Colonialism, Race, and Lyric Irony in Blake's" The Little Black Boy". Papers on Language and Literature 26.2 (1990): 233. Print.
Wilson, Mona. The Life of William Blake. Cooper Square Pub, 1970.Print.
New Internationalist Magazine. The Facts. 2016.Web. 17 July 2016. https://newint.org/features/2001/08/05/facts/
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