How "The Little Boy Lost" and "The Little Boy Found" relate to each other

William Blake’s two poems, “The Little Boy Lost” and “The Little Boy Found” convey a message of fear. Such as children having a fear of their parents leaving or losing them. On the other hand, parents have a similar anxiety, of losing a child or harm inflicted on their children. The first two stanzas of “The Little Boy Lost”, portrays that the father that walks fast and does not slow down leaves the boy on purpose. In stanza 3-4 the boy tries to keep up with his father, since the boy knows he will not come back. Once the boy can’t keep up the night soon draws near, dew then overcomes the child. The boy then wandered into a thick mud. With the child full of fear he seems to give up and starts to cry. Once this happens the mist of dew disappears as if all of the boy’s fears should also and that he also has a bright future ahead of him. “The Little Boy Found” explains what happens after the dew disappears which brings up the question of why they are two individual poems instead of one. The reason for the similar titles shows the relationship between the poems, also the title having “The Little Boy” indicates the same boy in both poems. When reading, “The Little Boy Found” in the first stanza he is led from the mire by a wand’ring light. A wand’ring light can indicate a spirit, an angel, his father, or the Lord. Which ever it was the boy thought it was God even though it had “Appeared like his father in white”. A reason for this could relate to the Bible, where God represents a father to all. In the Bible God presents his self as a leader that leads his children in the right direction. So, when God leads the boy home to his mother all fear disappears just as the Lord has promised. The last two stanzas “Who in sorrow pale, Thro’ the lonely dale her little boy weeping sought.” describe the mother as sorrow pale. Which indicates the mother could not find her son without the Lord’s help. If this sentence refers to the mother then I believe that when searching in the lonely dale she hadn’t searched the mire. So, when she was close by the Lord had directed the little boy to his mother. Also when taking a look at the two poems one can see they both reside in the Songs of Innocence. A reason for this could relate to the fact that the poems describe a little boy’s fear. By all children having a sense of innocence this boy could still have his innocence. So, therefore that’s why the Lord decided to help guide this child back to his mother.

How innocence is portrayed in William Blakes, "A Cradle Song."

A Cradle Song

Sweet dreams, form a shade

O'er my lovely infant's head;

Sweet dreams of pleasant streams

By happy, silent, moony beams.

Sweet sleep, with soft down

Weave thy brows an infant crown.

Sweep sleep, Angel mild,

Hover o'er my happy child.

Sweet smiles, in the night

Hover over my delight;

Sweet smiles, Mother's smiles,

All the livelong night beguiles.

Sweet moans, dovelike sighs,

Chase not slumber from thy eyes.

Sweet moans, sweeter smiles,

All the dovelike moans beguiles.

Sleep, sleep, happy child,

All creation slept and smil'd;

Sleep, sleep, happy sleep,

While o'er thee thy mother weep.

Sweet babe, in thy face

Holy image I can trace.

Sweet babe, once like thee,

Thy maker lay and wept for me,

Wept for me, for thee, for all,

When he was an infant small

Thou his image ever see,

Heavenly face that smiles on thee,

Smiles on thee, on me, on all;

Who became an infant small.

Infant smiles are his own smiles;

Heaven & earth to peace beguiles.

“Songs of Innocence and Experience,” written by William Blake expressed how Blake felt about life in his era. The poems in “Songs of Innocence,” were written in a young child’s perspective. Blake believed that children were born innocent, in his words innocent meant being born with imagination. Imagination was thought to be the key to life, and imagination faded as a child became older and became influenced by the world. The poem, “A Cradle Song,” clearly reflects what Blake was trying to get across in “Songs of Innocence.”  In the first couple stanza’s Blake talks about sleeping and dreaming. Dreaming is a huge part of the imagination and Blake is talking about how the child is happy when he sleeps and how the world is created in dreams when he says, “All creation slept and smil'd; Sleep, sleep, happy sleep.” Blake believes that imagination creates the world around us, and without it the world would not be present. When he talks about how the mom is sad or weeping while the child is asleep, it illustrates that adults do not support the imagination because their minds are infected with reason. They want their child to develop reason in the world because they believe reason is how the world works. While on the other hand Blake believes that reason destroys the connection between humans and nature. Blake portrays that the child has an innocent mind that is going to be destroyed with reason by hinting that the mother is crying. Blake believes that all children are born with imagination and as life goes on adults influence them to think with reason. Blake fears that if the imagination is absent then the world will come to an end because nothing can be created without imagination. He also believes that God does not want us to know everything and that the imagination keeps us from finding out the truth, reason is a sin because we are trying to find a reason for everything. With this poem Blake shows how children are born with innocent minds and how innocence is happiness because reason shines truth on life and children should not have their imagination stripped from them.

"A Little Girl Lost" and "The LIttle Girl Lost"

A LITTLE GIRL LOST 

 Children of the future age,
 Reading this indignant page,
 Know that in a former time
 Love, sweet love, was thought a crime.

 In the age of gold,
 Free from winter's cold,
 Youth and maiden bright,
 To the holy light,
 Naked in the sunny beams delight.

 Once a youthful pair,
 Filled with softest care,
 Met in garden bright
 Where the holy light
 Had just removed the curtains of the night.

 Then, in rising day,
 On the grass they play;
 Parents were afar,
 Strangers came not near,
 And the maiden soon forgot her fear.

 Tired with kisses sweet,
 They agree to meet
 When the silent sleep
 Waves o'er heaven's deep,
 And the weary tired wanderers weep.

 To her father white
 Came the maiden bright;
 But his loving look,
 Like the holy book
 All her tender limbs with terror shook.

 "Ona, pale and weak,
 To thy father speak!
 Oh the trembling fear!
 Oh the dismal care
 That shakes the blossoms of my hoary hair!"

 THE LITTLE GIRL LOST

 In futurity
 I prophetic see
 That the earth from sleep
 (Grave the sentence deep)

 Shall arise, and seek
 for her Maker meek;
 And the desert wild
 Become a garden mild.

 In the southern clime,
 Where the summer's prime
 Never fades away,
 Lovely Lyca lay.

 Seven summers old
 Lovely Lyca told.
 She had wandered long,
 Hearing wild birds' song.

 "Sweet sleep, come to me
 Underneath this tree;
 Do father, mother, weep?
 Where can Lyca sleep?

 "Lost in desert wild
 Is your little child.
 How can Lyca sleep
 If her mother weep?

 "If her heart does ache,
 Then let Lyca wake;
 If my mother sleep,
 Lyca shall not weep.

 "Frowning, frowning night,
 O'er this desert bright
 Let thy moon arise,
 While I close my eyes."

 Sleeping Lyca lay
 While the beasts of prey,
 Come from caverns deep,
 Viewed the maid asleep.

 The kingly lion stood,
 And the virgin viewed:
 Then he gambolled round
 O'er the hallowed ground.

 Leopards, tigers, play
 Round her as she lay;
 While the lion old
 Bowed his mane of gold,

 And her breast did lick
 And upon her neck,
 From his eyes of flame,
 Ruby tears there came;

 While the lioness
 Loosed her slender dress,
 And naked they conveyed
 To caves the sleeping maid.

 

These Two poems by William Blake may seem similar at first because of there titles, “A Little Girl Lost” and “The Little Girl Lost”. I’m not quite sure why Blake chose to have two entirely different poems with titles almost exactly the same. The difference between the two was not obvious at first, I examined the poems over and over to decide why the titles were the same. I then realized that one poem used the word “A” when the other used “The”. The only reasonable explanation I can come up with is that “A” refers to any girl where “The” can specify one girl. “The Little Girl” indicates more meaning and reveals an acquaintance between two individuals, where “A Little Girl” can refer to several girls without knowing them. These two poems also both appear in the Songs of Experience. I believe the reason for putting the two poems in the Songs of Experience determines, that to understand the girls misfortune it must be experienced. The girl Ona in the poem “A Little Girl Lost” describes love in the rules of the church. By following Ona’s heart and not the rules set by the church Ona’s father and the church seem to abandon and disown her. Then the Lord forgives the maiden for loving outside of the church for greater sin has occurred. Lyca in “The Little Girl Lost” depicts that she has lived on her own for seven years. If she found out that her mother cared and missed her, Lyca would then go back home. Once night comes and Lyca has no answer from her mom sleep then takes over her. Nature then surrounds her as if trying to protect Lyca from harm. This seems to me as if God had sent nature out to watch over her so nothing could harm her any longer. These poems run together, simply because Ona was disowned by not following the rules of the church and Lyca knew what it felt like to live on her own trying to survive. The Songs of Experience relate to these two poems because with each other’s knowledge they could of made better choices. If Ona knew what it was like to live on her own she would of obeyed. Lyca would know that her mother cared and loved her. This solves the mystery of the titles for, “A” sets an example of obeying. Since, several girls disobey, they should learn from Ona’s mistake and start listening and following rules so their destiny turns out right. For the second title with “The” it explains the select few girls that actually disobey horrifically and eventually leave since their fate has changed courses. Afterwards, Lyca feels guilty for what she done and wants to go home but can not confront her mother.

Commenting on “All About Blake” blog, Period A4

Lichelle Garcia’s “Dreams”, annotates the quote of Blake’s, “No bird soars too high, if he soars with his own wings.” Garcia clarifies that people have to go after their own dreams and not someone else’s. I had not viewed this quote as Lichelle had but now that I read her explanation I agree entirely. Her description of the quote gives an enlightenment of the true meaning. When I first examined Blake’s quote my first thoughts came as, if someone does something by their self without cheating they would get further in life. After reading the quote again another thought crossed my mind, that there are no limits to anything that you obtain. If your willing to take chances and do whatever you want nothing appears impossible. I didn’t really have a clear understanding of the quote so I didn’t have many clear thoughts. But, with Lichelle’s annotation I can see what Blake was trying to say. Which was even by doing things by ourselves it does not necessarily mean that we will get far in life. We count on our dreams, if we had no dreams their would be no point in moving on. Dreams are what brings us further in life. We all have dream life’s with dream jobs, dream cars, dream homes, and just about everything else that evolves around dreams. When these dreams are ruined or taken away nothing else matters. A quote caught my attention which supported my agreement with Garcia’s explanation even more, she said “Whether it be reaching for your dreams or striving to improve, when pursuing them on your own ambitions, they will never be out of arms reach.” This quote made me believe that by going for your own goals or dreams nothing seems impossible. Impossible shows up when following after someone else’s dreams. That’s the reason why the want or enthusiasm disappears, no one will go further or achieve what they don’t want. An example that was found in Lichelle’s post indicates that many parents burden their children into a profession. The children will then create fake dreams to please their parents. Once these false perceptions develop standards are then made that the children can not meet. So, therefore by following your own dreams and taking actions to reach them, anything is possible. Overall, this blog provided in dept details of the quote. For someone that is recently learning about Blake this post would be a great one to look over. This post displays that the poetry William wrote had an impact on him. There was a reason for everything he wrote or said. All of his pieces of work had some sort of significance to them. Especially the ones that describe things people can relate to and annotate in different ways. I enjoyed how this blog displayed the poems with the post. This way people could understand what they were talking about. The blog could also teach people that Blake viewed things in his own way. He had not taken others ideas but transformed them into how he viewed them and influenced his ideas on others. Even if William's work was not understood people could see it how they wanted to without forcing an idea into someone's head. 


To view Lichelle’s post click the hyperlink below.
"Dreams" by Lichelle Garcia

The Story of My Life

Drugs, crying, yelling, and hiding, a few of the many things that make up who I am. I can see everything now my Mom sitting on her old, stained bed with her bong between her legs, she’s weighing out how much Meth, coke, and weed she got this time.
My Father hiding behind our small, torn, smelly couch as the police come in looking for him. Mother trying to find another place to hide her drugs, the vacuum? What about the toilet? Or under all of the dirty clothes?
Even when it was time to sleep it never ended. The smell of drugs, alcohol, and cigarettes surround me, as I‘m sleeping in my mothers bed.
I try to keep my eyes closed as the yelling starts. Then my arms wrap around myself to keep myself from crying. When the yelling starts to die down and everyone goes home I know what’s coming.
The bed starts to rock and the smell of sweat overwhelms me as I hear my parents having sex next to me. I want to run but I’m too scared I just move as close to the wall as I can and think of anything to forget what’s going on. I’m tired of it all.
Tired of having to steal so my parents can get their hit, their drag, their alcohol and cigarettes. Exhausted of having to dive in dumpsters for cans, a daily routine. Hiding behind bushes in the backyards of neighbors so we won’t get caught. My mom whispers “Jackie you’re the smallest, you wont get caught go get those cans.” or “ Jackie you’re the lightest let me just lift you over the fence, you can find a way out.” or “Jackie no one is in the house go through that open window and let us in at the door”.
It ended when I started middle school. I finally moved in with my sweet, loving, grandma. Always cooking hot, fresh meals, a clean house, no drugs or yelling, and thankfully no sex. No matter what, I’m glad my life turned out so bad in the beginning. Today I am a strong individual, getting great grades, and doing things on my own. My life has turned me into who I want to be, different from my parents, more like my grandmother, my own individual and that is what matters.

William Blake's "A Little Girl Lost"

           Katelin Trowbridge’s “Blake’s A Little Girl Lost”, annotates and explains William Blake’s poem, “A Little Girl Lost.” Trowbridge identifies that society impacts on civilization by taking away innocence and controlling each individual. This poem clearly states Blake’s wrath of how religion steers people into a direction they don’t want to go. By doing so it causes stress and unhappiness to all. When living by the Bible every action or thought needs guidance. So, therefore shame overcomes the lovers whenever they come together. Even though the maiden and her lover have freedom, rules of the church create limitation. William believes the Bible that inflicts “love” actually justifies the injustice that appears all over the world. The small fraction of freedom earned by the church has created control over an individual. So, every thought or action may be influenced severely. When a individual disobeys many believe that, The Garden of Eden disappears. These ideas shown through Katelin’s annotation of “Instead of enjoying Eden’s eternal spring, these lost souls can only lament their own misery and exhaustion as they blunder through the dark night.” This quote shows great significance because it explains that by not following the churches rules darkness will overcome the individual and The Garden of Eden will be lost forever and never experienced. Overall the article explains that freedom and innocence create a loss in society, due to religion having so many rules. Also by living in a self-imprisonment of self-denial and guilt. Throwbridge’s annotation of “ A Little Girl Lost”, relates to my groups blog because this article explains one of Blake’s many masterpieces revealed along with his emotions throughout the text. Throwbridge’s annotation creates importance to our blog since it identifies how important these poems meant to Blake. William’s poems mean more then words they influence and explain life that expresses everyday occurrences. When expressed as what they mean and not what they seem. Blake did not take these occurrences for granted so therefore changed them into beautiful figures. By doing so these occurrences could be transformed into something more beautiful just as Blake viewed them. Even though Throwbridge’s annotation explains the aspects of life through the lines in Blake’s poem, an individual may have different viewings of “A little Girl Lost“.
          Throwbridge and I had a few of the same views about the poem, “A Little Girl Lost”. In the first stanza Throwbridge believes that anger behaves as the culprit and that in the future, civilization will then convert to pure souls again. I interpreted this stanza as a simple piece of advice. When it mentions the “ children of the future age”, I feel as if it speaks to those of the future, just as Throwbridge annotated it as. A difference appears through our annotation through “Love! Sweet Love! Was thought a crime.”, this section of the poem came to me as advice to the future children that we should be lucky to have what we got and to enjoy it while we can. The piece of advice creates importance because in the 1800’s they did not have as much freedom or choice as we do now. Throwbridge annotates the following lines (7-9) as two young lovers that will get to know The Garden of Eden and experience freedom without limitations. When the poem states “Naked in the sunny beams delight.” Throwbridge explains the mood of happiness without worry or stress. When looking at the poem at first glance I can relate to where she gets her annotation but when looking closely at the text one can see that once were dead we will then experience love without limits. Once these limits disappear great fortune and love with overcome us all to where no worries or concerns will surround us. The third stanza I believe depicts that once death comes amongst us that the rules of the church will not exist any longer. Also that the world of darkness will then have light and all of our worries will disappear. Where Throwbridge’s explanation of the stanza transforms the lines into a pitiful parody of the “Children of the future age.” Katelin describes (15-19) that before The Garden of Eden everyone would sneak around even if afraid of disapproval, which I happen to agree with. My interpretation of the following stanza lays entirely on “Tired with Kisses Sweet” the reason is because when evaluated one can see that after awhile sneaking around and with disapproval can make someone tired of another. So, therefore want to take a break from each other. Throwbridge does not identify this line but explains line 24 as not enjoying The Garden of Eden because these lost souls keep hiding in the dark. The most important stanza is the last which I had interpreted as the Lord forgiving the maiden for sinning. His hoary hair represents the old in him and that worst things have happened for him to not forgive her. Where Katelin describes the final stanza as being told in two different perspectives with the voice of Ona’s angry father and of Blake having a great appeal to Ona.