Blake Comparative Analysis
My assignment was to select a poem and its companion plate from Song of Innocence to compare in my analysis. There is a strong religious theme in this poem which Blake uses the idea of sorrow to show how we deal with it in the perspective of God and humans. Whereas, he splits the poem, looking at how an infant, individual, and God deal with sorrow. I will be reviewing “On Another’s Sorrow by William Blake through a Psychoanalytic point of view. I will attempt to answer this question; what might a given interpretation of a literary work suggest about the psychological motives of the reader? Blake demonstrates the humans’ experience of sorrow and the infants’ experience of sorrow. While examining this complex poem, it seems to point out three different individual’s perception of sorrow; the innocent individual, the infant, and God response to sorrow. The speaker of this poem explains the psychological feeling of sorrow in the world. However, the speaker also believes that once you see another’s sorrow, then you should feel that same sorrow. In Blake's words, “ Can I see another's woe, / And not be in sorrow too? / Can I see another's grief, / And not seek for kind relief? ” This is a rhetorical question,which brings thoughts of how we cope with with sorrow. I agree to disagree with the speaker because you have sensitive people in the world that can care for others and put others before themselves, but there are also senseless people who only care about themselves. I can honestly say that I’ve been in both of these situations myself.
Today in the 21st century there is a lot of sorrow. Such as famine, economic condition, obesity, and other hardships which people tend to turn their backs on. The speaker asks, “And he who smiles on all / Hear the wren with sorrows small, / Hear the small bird’s grief and care / Hear the woes that infants bear.” The speaker is question Gods ability and position in the sorrows of humans. It also refers to a “wren” which is a very small bird. The small bird could possibly represent very small infants. The speaker is referring animals to humans, in other words they can react the same way in a psychological point of view. Blake’s certainty of the existence of sorrow in human beings is reflective of his views that the world is full of innocence and joy. Blake says in the last stanza, “O he gives to us his joy / That our grief he may destroy / Till our grief is fled and gone / He doth sit by us and moan.” The speaker not only questions God’s position in the sorrows of humans, but also provides its own views of God’s involvement in humans’ difficulties as well as his own views on religion. In the last stanza he mentions “he”, I believe he is referring to God. This is not a poem that concentrates on a plot, but rather, it focuses on Blake’s inquiry about the existence of sorrow from both the mortal and divine point of view. Blake is clearly very religious and his work seems to take on a propaganda towards religion.
William Blake’s “On Another’s Sorrow” is a thoughtful and intense poem about the understanding between human beings and as well as Gods sympathy. The most obvious of the poem are that humans have the ability to inherent sorrow for others and God has the power to feel sorrow for the entire world. Blake’s writing give the interpretation of different ideas, but here is what I thought what the text had read to me. It could also change the reader’s psychological motive to where they can think or feel something different than what speaker is saying.
My assignment was to select a poem and its companion plate from Song of Innocence to compare in my analysis. There is a strong religious theme in this poem which Blake uses the idea of sorrow to show how we deal with it in the perspective of God and humans. Whereas, he splits the poem, looking at how an infant, individual, and God deal with sorrow. I will be reviewing “On Another’s Sorrow by William Blake through a Psychoanalytic point of view. I will attempt to answer this question; what might a given interpretation of a literary work suggest about the psychological motives of the reader? Blake demonstrates the humans’ experience of sorrow and the infants’ experience of sorrow. While examining this complex poem, it seems to point out three different individual’s perception of sorrow; the innocent individual, the infant, and God response to sorrow. The speaker of this poem explains the psychological feeling of sorrow in the world. However, the speaker also believes that once you see another’s sorrow, then you should feel that same sorrow. In Blake's words, “ Can I see another's woe, / And not be in sorrow too? / Can I see another's grief, / And not seek for kind relief? ” This is a rhetorical question,which brings thoughts of how we cope with with sorrow. I agree to disagree with the speaker because you have sensitive people in the world that can care for others and put others before themselves, but there are also senseless people who only care about themselves. I can honestly say that I’ve been in both of these situations myself.
Today in the 21st century there is a lot of sorrow. Such as famine, economic condition, obesity, and other hardships which people tend to turn their backs on. The speaker asks, “And he who smiles on all / Hear the wren with sorrows small, / Hear the small bird’s grief and care / Hear the woes that infants bear.” The speaker is question Gods ability and position in the sorrows of humans. It also refers to a “wren” which is a very small bird. The small bird could possibly represent very small infants. The speaker is referring animals to humans, in other words they can react the same way in a psychological point of view. Blake’s certainty of the existence of sorrow in human beings is reflective of his views that the world is full of innocence and joy. Blake says in the last stanza, “O he gives to us his joy / That our grief he may destroy / Till our grief is fled and gone / He doth sit by us and moan.” The speaker not only questions God’s position in the sorrows of humans, but also provides its own views of God’s involvement in humans’ difficulties as well as his own views on religion. In the last stanza he mentions “he”, I believe he is referring to God. This is not a poem that concentrates on a plot, but rather, it focuses on Blake’s inquiry about the existence of sorrow from both the mortal and divine point of view. Blake is clearly very religious and his work seems to take on a propaganda towards religion.
William Blake’s “On Another’s Sorrow” is a thoughtful and intense poem about the understanding between human beings and as well as Gods sympathy. The most obvious of the poem are that humans have the ability to inherent sorrow for others and God has the power to feel sorrow for the entire world. Blake’s writing give the interpretation of different ideas, but here is what I thought what the text had read to me. It could also change the reader’s psychological motive to where they can think or feel something different than what speaker is saying.
Works Cited
Blake, William. The Book of Thel, copy F, pl. 2. The William Blake Archive. Ed. Morris Eaves, Robert N. Essick, and Joseph Viscomi. 13 November 1997
Girl I love the way you took different stanzas and interpreted it. Makes sense. Thank you for touching up on what the word "wren" means. I felt that it was connected with the next line "hear the small bird's grief & care", but wasn't so sure. I agree with you on the fact that this poem connects to something religious because after you read the poem a couple of times you can tell that God is written somewhere even though he didn't literally put God's name there. I love you analysis. :) Great job.
ReplyDeleteYour analysis is very good. I agree with you on "The most obvious of the poem are that humans have the ability to inherent sorrow for others and God has the power to feel sorrow for the entire world." On a side note your post on my computer, don't know if its the same for anybody else, it being all together with no breaks was a little difficult for me to read.
ReplyDeleteOther than that Very well Done!
Your analysis of on another s sorrow was lengthy and great. I agree that we humans can feel another s pain and sorrow. I like the part of the poem that says that he will sit by our side until the pain of sorrow leaves. When i first read the poem i did not recognize that there was a religious aspect to it until the third time i read it. Over all great job on the analysis.
ReplyDeleteGreat comments everyone!
ReplyDelete