William Blake

Holy Thursday

"It is a land of poverty!" (line 8)

When a nation is as prosperous as England during the 18^th century, the cleft between wealthy and poor becomes even wider than normal. Focusing on the poor, William Blake comments on the horrible status of life that exists low on the social scale. His lyric poem Holy Thursday is filled with attempts to reach the reader’s emotions and display why poverty should never even exist.

The Lamb

"I a child, and thou a lamb, / We are called by His name." (lines 17-18)

As a symbol, the lamb (in the poem of the same name by William Blake) represents a person; literally, of course, it is a lamb. The poem asks the question, "Dost thou know who made thee?" of the lamb, and the answer is God; who, it is revealed, is also referred to as a lamb. As a lamb, God is meek and mild, and we, as lambs, are kept by the Lord, our shepherd. Essentially, the lamb in the poem represents man and the Lord in addition to its literal meaning.

The Tiger

"Did he who made the Lamb make thee?" (line 20)

By using a symbol, William Blake was able to achieve his purpose (to encourage caution towards evil intents) in his poem The Tiger with many less words that would normally be required to explain. Man commits evil deeds in the world, and the tiger represents what "possesses," or "drives" man to do this. By describing the tiger in a very evil, foreboding, and hell-associated way, Blake instills a sense of fear in the reader of not only the literal figure (the tiger) but of the symbolic figure (evil drive) as well.

The Human Abstract

"And the Raven his nest has made / In its thickest shade." (lines 19-20)

In his poem, The Human Abstract, William Blake uses the symbol of a tree’s life to describe the confusion and evil nesting in a human brain. He begins by theorizing what characteristics a utopia would possess, such as no poverty, happiness, and peace. By the end of the second stanza, it is evident that Blake is not writing about a utopia, but rather on the deceptions of the human brain. The tree of humility within a human brain casts a shade of mystery over brain and bears "fruit of Deceit." Furthermore, the Raven, evil, nests in the trees darkest shadows. Thus, Blake uses a tree to symbolize the evils that can exist in even minds founded in "holy fears" and "humility."

Infant Sorrow

"Like a fiend hid in a cloud." (line 4)

Infant Sorrow, by William Blake, is a poem which uses a symbol to represent any trying time in one’s life. In particular, the poem literally addresses the stresses of birth on a newborn. The infant is thrust, helpless and struggling, into a "dangerous" world. He eventually becomes "bound and weary," and resorts to sulking. This analogy between birth and other hard times can hold true whenever trying situations seem to have one beaten.

A Poison Tree

"And he knew that it was mine," (line 12)

Blake’s A Poison Tree provides a superb look at how a symbol can be used to demonstrate consequences. In the opening stanza, it is revealed that when wrath felt towards a friend is internally confronted, it goes away. On the other hand, wrath unchecked grows by fears, smiles, deceitful wiles, and tears. The unchecked wrath is symbolized by an apple tree, which is watered and sunned by the same aspects that encourage the growth of wrath. Eventually, the fruit grown on the tree will flaunt before the friend, who will succumb and attempt to steal and eat it in the night. His impending death from this "poisoned" apple symbolizes the hurt a friend can feel, and the resulting loss of friendship, when wrath remains unconfronted.