The Echoing Green

 Songs of Innocence THE ECHOING GREEN

The Echoing Green evokes much thought into religion, nature, innocence and reflection of life. In this poem, Blake has created an idyllic society. The children are free to play from dusk to dawn in the secure surroundings of the green village watched over by their mothers and the old folk. The infants are comforted and safe ‘round the laps of their mothers’, gaining security from their small community. The simple carefree happiness described may seem childish but it is shared equally by the old people. ‘The birds of the bush’ creates a parallel to symbolise the relationship  between children and parents, which is seen in terms of nature. The main focus appears to be on the children, ‘While our sports shall be seen’ indicates that the poem is written from their point of view. The opening stanza sets the scene of bright sunshine and joyful sounds. The young children playing happily in the rural area gives a very innocent and blissful setting. Words such as ‘merry’ and ‘Sun’ reflect a positive and jovial attitude, it also emphasises how natural the countryside is, ‘arise’ and ‘Spring’ indicate the freshness of life that is clearly seen through the naïve and innocent nature of the children playing. In the second stanza, there is a strong sense of nostalgia, especially when we read, ‘Such, such were the joys’, this is further emphasised by the repetition on ‘such’. Among the ‘other folk’, one is an old man called ‘John’ where he laughs ‘away care’, suggesting there is a sense of freedom. It appears that he, as well as the other old  people is able to escape from any of his worries, just through this simple form of  enjoyment. ‘When we all, girls & boys’ suggest that the elderly people like to reminiscence back when they were young too, bringing back sweet memories. This notion of reflecting on life conveys the theme of youth and age or lost childhood. We  begin to understand that time goes on and youth grows old, we learn the lessons of  experience. The end of the children’s playtime coincides with the sunset, and the tired children find peace and security with their family. The third stanza is a direct contrast to the first and describes the events again but this time with the opposite reaction, ‘No more can be merry’, ‘sun does descend’ and ‘our sports have an end’, it provokes readers into deep thoughts about life, for example, life like everything else is mortal and must come to an end. It also represents a beautiful cyclical passage of time and life. Blake portrays an underlying sense of transience that is a familiar theme in poetry of  the eighteenth century. The idea of passing time in two places in the poem is seen for  example, the fact of old age depicted in the second stanza and the end of the games and the setting of the sun in the third. It is a scene spoken of poignantly. There are undoubted hints of Blake’s disquiet here in his emptying of the scene. The ‘green’ is no longer echoing but ‘darkening’ – surely a menacing epithet. The sense of  omniscience is further developed when we read, ‘In our youth-time were seen’. However, this may simply reflect how they were always watched over by an adult to ensure their safety.

Blake uses simple diction to express the happiness and innocence of a child's thoughts. The short sentences can reflect the simple mind of a child, which further  emphasises the innocence children retain at their young age. The rural life is presented as very simple and this creates a contradiction in comparison to Blake’s time, where the countryside was soon disappearing as Britain became industrialised. It holds this forewarning that life may no longer be as simple as it used to be, but become more complex. Towards the end, in the last verse, the word ‘darkening’ gives us the feeling of  moving on, and losing the childish innocence described in stanza one and two. There is a clear movement from pure innocence of childhood to the reminiscence of  childhood and then the inevitable idea of growing up, moving on from being a child to  becoming an adult. It may be that Blake wanted the transition from the sun rising and sun setting to symbolise the change of the innocent children into adulthood. This change does not seem to show an inspiring confidence but a rather ominous feeling hence the sudden change from ‘Ecchoing Green’ to ‘darkening Green’. One message that Blake may be trying to convey is that as life moves we lose the capacity to enjoy simple joys in life.

 Additional Points

In terms of FORMS ♦ ‘Weary’ and ‘descend’ all have connotations of deaths and sickness. You have this feeling of losing innocence, followed easily after the ‘Introduction’. We feel extremes of emotions. ♦ Pastoral, tradition, writing about the countryside (literary) ♦ Regularity, rhythm, rhyming couplets, sound, stanza structure ( 10 lines) ♦ Rhyme – use of repetition, the use of refrains ‘echoing green’, rhyming can be internal, part time, repetition of ‘And’ helps the poem gain rhythm ♦ Many contraries, there is a warning/message: let children enjoy themselves, allow them to savour the moment In terms of STRUCTURE ♦ There are 3 versus: 1) creating this pastoral image, full of sound, euphoria 2) provides a contrast, no focus on children but adults 3) At the end we have a feeling of reflection, built on contraries, which is Blake’s forte and philosophy ♦ Diction is limited to monosyllabic, it’s very symbolic, literal and the use of   personification, simile, metaphor, allegory, ironic, connotations (multiplicity), contrast, similarity all help contribute to paint vivid imagery In terms of LITERARY TRADITION ♦ Voice of childhood experiences – common in romantic poetry. During the Augustan period, its freshness put forward a new topic: about maturity. While Wordsworth, Coleridge, Keats and others did reflect childhood experiences, they rarely presented the child’s voice or point of view. Blake would use the child’s voice to give the persona of the poem. It captured that sense of  spontaneity and naivety.