Infant joy and Infant sorrow Flashcards
summary of infant joy
Explores the miracle of new life.
summary of infant sorrow
In summary, a baby tells us about its birth. Its mother groaned with the pain of childbirth, but its father wept, possibly because he knew the full horrors of the world the infant was being born into. Indeed, the infant tells us that the world it was born into was dangerous.
quotes for infant joy
“I have no name.” Imagined voice of a child
“What shall i call thee” Not christened yet—not corrupted—need to christen the child immediately, otherwise it might die unbaptised?
“Joy is my name.” natural state of innocence, joy is repeated 5 times from this line through to the next stanza—a repetitive, constant state of security—honey moon phase of having a child?
“Thou dost smile; I sing the while.”
intertwined voice of the child and the parent
quotes for infant sorrow
The verbs are ones of suffering - ‘groan’d’ as in pain, and ‘wept’ in sadness at the fact his child is born into a corrupt world (it is not one of joy).
The simile ‘Like a fiend hid in a cloud’ conveys religious corruption and deception - a devil is in the place of God - removing all hope for society.
The rhyming couplet ‘loud’ and ‘cloud’ reflects the Industrial Revolution - ‘loud’ connotes the busy, crowded workplaces, and ‘cloud’ connotes the smoke from factories - implying the inevitable future role of this child.
The semantic field of struggle (‘Struggling’, ‘Striving’, ‘swadling’, ‘Bound’) has its adjectives placed at the start of each line to emphasise the extent of the child’s suffering; also conveys how he cannot escape the corruption of the Industrial Revolution.
Poetic form and structure in Infant Sorrow
There is no dialogue in this counterpart poem - which gives the children no authority and no identity - the child is never named to show its universality and lack of individuality.
The poem is written in past tense to create a retrospective hindsight.
The rhyming couplets are deceptive - children are excited to explore the world but are forced into experience; it also conveys the confinement of individuals in society as a result of the Industrial Revolution.
Poetic form and structure in Infant Joy
Blake uses something that resembles a question and answer format in ‘Infant Joy’ to convey the conversation between mother and child. The first two lines of the first stanza are spoken by an infant child, while the following line comes from the mother. This is then repeated- Traditional Form: The poem does not adhere to a strict traditional form, but it consists of two stanzas, each with four lines.
Traditional Form: The poem does not adhere to a strict traditional form, but it consists of two stanzas, each with four lines.
Syntax: The syntax is straightforward and conversational, reflecting the simplicity of the interaction between the mother and the newborn. The use of short, declarative sentences contributes to the poem’s sense of intimacy and immediacy.
Metre: The poem follows a predominantly iambic rhythm, maintaining a gentle and soothing cadence throughout. There are no significant shifts in rhythm, as the steady beat reflects the peacefulness and serenity of the moment.
(AO5) Critical Readings:
“In Blake’s view, the only hope for a child born in such circumstances […] is through the eyes of the imagination, but here the very foreshortening of the poem prevents any such possibility.”
“The world of experience is one in which development has been frozen.”
“In this poem, existence is inseparable from suffering: being born means the soul being trapped in a dependent infant body ‘like a fiend hid in a cloud’.”
“The baby’s physical restrictions also suggest societal ones: civilised conventionality, the poem suggests, stamps out people’s individuality and independence - the ‘fiend[ish]’ energy they’re born with.”
