Blake: Songs of Experience: Infant Sorrow: Flashcards
Plot summary:
What is the plot summary?
The poem a new-born’s entry into a painful world, contrasting with the innocence of childhood.
It highlights the harsh realities of life and the loss of innocence.
Quotes:
Key Quotes (CLUE: There are 2)
‘Like a fiend hiding in a cloud’ - simile - devilish imagery - how parents/society sees children. - life made obscure/hard
‘Striving against my swaddling band’ - metaphor - supressing innocence and freedom - constricting - shape it the way society wants - no agency - linked to mind forged manacles ‘London’
Form and Structure:
What is the form/structure like?
The poem uses an ABAB rhyme scheme in both stanzas, with alternating rhyming lines.
The structure, with its short lines and straightforward rhyme, mirrors the simplicity and inevitability of the infant’s sorrowful experience, emphasising the directness and bleakness of the poem’s theme.
Themes:
Key themes e.g. loss of innocence
In contrast to the innocence found in Songs of Innocence, this poem reflects the loss of that purity, showing the harshness of life as the child enters the world.
Context:
What is the context of Blake?
The poem reflects Blake’s critical view of the harshness of life, contrasting the innocence of childhood with the suffering and oppression experienced in adulthood.
It critiques societal institutions and the loss of innocence, symbolising the difficult realities children face as they enter a corrupted world.
Other poems it could link to:
What other poems could it link to?
“The Chimney Sweeper” (SOE) – Focuses on children’s suffering and the harsh realities of life.
“Holy Thursday” (SOE) – Critiques the exploitation of innocence.
