It is a strange thing, time that is, not simply the distant past but also the recent past. It wasn't so long ago that I read this same collection of poetry for an another English class. The poetry hasn't changed so it must be me. Poetry is sometimes difficult for me to discepher which is one reason why I've always enjoyed Blakes's "Songs of Innocence", they have in the past been easier for me to understand. Their meanings are clear. And while I might not necessary agree with that message, I can understand it.
As I examine this poetry as it relates to children's literature I focus directly upon conditioned and learned behaviors. The selections we considered in "Songs of Innocence" would serve to reinforce the social hierarchy of the time. They reinforce the master/servant relationship. They reinforce the idea that humans are made in the image of God by likening human children to lambs. Unlike goats, lambs are meek, mild and teachable. These are appealing qualites in and of themselves, but coupled with religion, the young child learner would be more inclined to want to develope these qualities. Additionally, after repeated exposure to works like these, the young learner would be conditioned to believe that his or her station in life is exactly as God has preordained. They expecially would be less inclined to raise objections and question authority. The conditioning would have been from infancy and would be instilled in them by their very first caregivers and parents.
To some extent, we are all products of our environments. These factors though are not all environmental in nature, they are deeply entrenched teachings that require an enormous amount of time to be overturned. And because they have not been overturned our innocence is often lost to our experiences. This week's readings help us see both the cause and the effect.
Short of getting into a religious debate, I see Blake's work as if he were being somewhat cynical of God's creations. Particularly in "The Lamb" and "The Tyger." I say this, perhaps from my own cynicism, but also because of how these two poems distort each other. He claims the Lamb as meek and mild, as a representation of God. But the Tyger is ferocious and causes fear and dread. He questions who could have made such a creature that also made the Lamb. I take these two poems together as a look at loss of innocence from childhood to adulthood and asks how God could make such dualistic creatures as human beings. And we are still left wanting, asking questions that perhaps can't be answered.
ReplyDeleteI don't know that I would agree with Scott that Blake is necessarily cynical of God's creations, but I think there is definitely a critical element in Blake's works that would belie your assertion that children would be less inclined to raise objections. Think of the two Chimney Sweeps-don't they leave us questioning the position of children. However, I think the religious questions are mainly toward the organized church, and not God himself. Blake is definitely still acknowledging a higher power.
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