Nurse's song innocence Flashcards
“When the voices of children are heard on the green”
This line is paralleled by a matching line in ‘The Nurse’s Song in Songs of Experience
This first stanza wastes no time in bringing the focus directly to the children and their happiness by diving right into the sounds of their “voices” as they enjoy the day. The scene is officially set as taking place on a hill, which in itself could be conceived as another means of showing the heightened levels of joy the children experience. Rather than taking place in a flat area, this choice of occurrence offers a physical elevation to mimic the rise of happy emotions the children are experiencing.
“on the hill”
The children are elevated, on a hill, an external manifestation of their freedom and nearness to God
this choice of occurrence offers a physical elevation to mimic the rise of happy emotions the children are experiencing.
“my heart is at rest with my breast and everything else is still”
This present tense voice tells the story in the present tense, as if the happy children are suspended in time; a vision of eternal happiness.
This also suggests the selflessness of the Nurse, who finds happiness when the children are happy.
From the first stanza onward, the attention shifts from the children’s actions to go into the nurse’s reaction to the circumstance, which offers a contrast to the liveliness of the children. Instead of “laughing” in merriment as the children are doing, the nurse is “at rest” and feels that “everything is still” because of the gleeful sounds the children are making. This is an important moment of distinction within the poem since it shows a difference in the adult’s actions in contrast to the children’s behavior. The children are laughing to show their excitement, but the nurse sits in a peaceful stillness. This variation not only highlights that adults are different, maybe even incapable of embracing that same unabashed joy that children can exude, but it brings to light the concept that an adult does not need to showcase his or her happiness in the same manner to appreciate and share in that unabashed joy. The nurse hears and is happy, but exists in that happiness in a much calmer fashion than the children—because of the children. They are what bring her joy just by being near their joy and laughter.
“dews of night”
The Nurse is concerned for their safety. The ‘dews of night’ could be dangerous for children, in the days when a temperature (fever) could be fatal.
“leave off play, and let us away”
The perspective of Nurse’s Song remains on the nurse for this second stanza as he or she beckons for the children to “leave off play” for the sake of going home. Night has come, and as can be expected from a rational adult, the nurse knows the practical thing to do is to end the games the children had relished in during the daytime. The language within this stanza shifts into something simpler than what the reader encountered in the first stanza, and that change is reasonable as the nurse is conversing directly with the children rather than in open narrative form.
Phrasing like “leave off play, and let us away” not only embraces alliteration between the phrasing, but it sounds endearing in a way that feels like it’s custom made for children. It’s spoken as a command, but with words so simple that only one is over one syllable long—and even that word, “away,” is something a child would be familiar with. The language is familiar and basic, and there’s an affection in the stanza that highlights a softness the nurse feels for the children
The nurse’s language hardly differs from the children’s in grammar and vocabulary. This suggests her inner sympathy with them. Although she is a nurse, her language does not convey authority but relationship – ‘my children’ ‘let us away’. She is a watchful figure who is with, rather than above, her charges.
“my children”
By calling them “my children,” the nurse has created a definite appearance of connection with them, as if they have become incredibly dear to his or her heart. The stanza finishes with a promise of later play, proving that the nurse has no intention of keeping the children from their merriment beyond the very adult mentality of bringing them indoors after dark.
The nurse is portrayed as a kind, gentle and compassionate woman, almost seen as a mother like figure. It seems that the children really look up to her and obey her rules and regulations. The nurse takes pleasure in watching the children play, its as if their cheerfulness inspires her to be at peace. She supports them rather than overshadowing their innocence. In the poem we also see that the children are not threatened by her; if they ask for more play time she allows it. There does not seem to be any evidence of alienation between the nurse and children which emphasizes the happiness and joy of the poem.
“No, no, let us play”
In the time in which Blake lived children were required to obey and had little say in their lives. Here they have a voice, are able to plead for more time to play and are granted it. Blake’s vision was way ahead of his time.
The perspective in this stanza shifts to the children as they reply to the nurse with their arguments as to why their play should be allowed to continue. In contrast to the nurse’s earlier declaration that “The dews of night arise,” the children are arguing that night is still coming. This differentiation of argument could be a number of things. Perhaps the children are lying to get their way, and if this scenario were the case, it would speak to the limitless reach of children to attain something that they desire, like creating a tall-tale for the sake of playing a little longer.
An explanation that seems just as likely—maybe more so—is that the children are interpreting the situation differently. The adult is seeing the beginning of the “dews” as an indication that night has come. The children, however, are fixated on other details that do not indicate that the day is gone. Their focus on the livelier things to prove their point, birds and sheep, highlights a child’s nature to look for the most active elements around him or her, while simultaneously mimicking the children’s own merriment. They children laugh and such, and that behavior is reflected in their choice of evidence that “it is yet day” as everything they reference is a living—and presumably awake—being. The adult, contrariwise, is focused on the detail that was as “still” and “at rest” as he or she was told to be in the first stanza.
Their insights then reflect who they are and provide a very different viewpoint about night and day. When the adult sees the stillness of dew, to him or her, the time has come to go home. For the children, so long as living beings are about, they “cannot go to sleep” as “it is yet day.”
“Well, well, go and play till the light fades away”
The Nurse allows them to play a little longer. That the ‘hills echoed’ suggests communion between the children and the world around them; they are one with their environment. This can be compared to the sad children described in ‘The Chimney Sweeper’ whose world is tainted with the soot that will destroy their lungs and kill them
Once more, the nurse is the speaker, and he or she submits to the children’s whims to allow them to play longer. Within this stanza, we find evidence that the children were not, in fact, lying about it still being day because they’re now instructed to “play till the light fades away.” With that in mind, either the nurse has succumbed to their untruth to permit it to stand, or he or she is admitting that the children’s logic held validity. Though the dew has come, there’s still light, and as long as there’s light, it’s still day enough to play.
the nurse gives them the opportunity to enjoy the result of growth
“The little ones leaped, and and should and laughed and all the hills echoed”
The echo also suggests an eternal replication of their laughter, perhaps down the generations.
Children see things differently than adults, and while adults cannot be children, they can find happiness—and in this case, reason—from a child’s thoughts. The children’s reasoning could be expanded as a moral that adults can take, that livelihood and happiness should be kept and treasured for every moment that circumstances allow. The idea that the children rejoiced so grandly at the extended playtime supports this theory since the small offering was sufficient to incite a joy enough to have them “leap[ing] and shout[ing].”
Worth noting as well is the idea that this poem ends with what, for the first time, is not a perfect ABAB rhyme scheme since “echoed” would only rhyme with “bed” if you extend “echoed” to pronounce the “ed” sound at the end. Only if one pushes boundaries to their fullest, like extending “echoed” until the very last letter, is conclusiveness found in the stanza to match the previous ones. It can be inferred from that detail that a theme within the poem is that a person must push the limits, like a child, to find the most vivid happiness available
In the poem it mentions “And all the hills echoed” meaning that the children’s happiness is rebounded around them- in other words it symbolizes that joy is carried and spread around the playground. This ending quote sums up the poem nicely as it brings an content atmosphere for the audience.
The large number of words involving liquid ‘l’ sounds – laughing, little, leave, light etc – create a soft and gentle voice.The large number of words involving liquid ‘l’ sounds – laughing, little, leave, light etc – create a soft and gentle voice.
Structure and versification
The poem is also rhymed with an ABCB pattern, allowing the poem to become much more interesting and fun to read. This highlights the main theme of innocence and happiness throughout the poem as William Blake’s words and patterns make the audience happy too.
The poem has four quatrains, rhymed ABCB. The first two stanzas contain an internal rhyme in the third line which adds to the calm rhythmic quality of the song, which is enhanced by the rolling anapaestic metre. The third stanza, depicting the children’s voice, has internal rhymes in both first and third lines, perhaps conveying the repetitive nature typical of pleading. They copy the adult’s syntax but:
Resist the authoritative ‘Come, come’ with ‘No, no’
Exchange ‘leave’ (stop) for ‘let’ (allow)
Turn ‘away’ into ‘play’.
In the fourth stanza, the internal rhyme is in the first line, as if the Nurse now echoes the children, conveying the symbiotic relationship between them. In the third stanza, the harsh spondee and C consonants of ‘Come, come’, and the heavy sounding ‘leave off’ conveyed anxiety. But at the start of stanza four the pattern is softened into the more relaxed:
‘Well, well, go & ..’
the ampersand suggesting ease and speed. There is a firmer authority in the three iambic feet of the second line however. The only shadow is conveyed by the abrupt last line, which ‘wrong foots’ the reader by missing the final stress (even if the last word is pronounced ‘ech-o-ed’). Does darkness encroach more rapidly than anticipated?
Symbolism of the nurse
The image of the nurse is used to represent the caring and nurturing capacity within human beings. This can be used to protect the freedom of what is carefree, innocent and vulnerable. When this is so, the nurse or care-giver delights in their charge and has no desire to repress or rule. But this capacity can also be distorted into a desire to control what is carefree and vulnerable.
Symbolism of fading light
Unlike The Ecchoing Green, the darkness appears much earlier in Nurse’s Song. The children focus only on making the most of the daylight. However, the nurse is aware of the threat that lurks in darkness (‘the dews of night arise’ seems unhealthy) and the need to be responsible in terms of the day to come. That the children desire to play as the light fades could symbolise their developing maturity and fading innocence. The Nurse’s acquiescence can be variously interpreted as:
A wise realisation that the children need to learn to cope in the dark
Permission to play as long as possible is a way of extending her charges’ innocence given the inevitability of darkness / experience
Her continuing pastoral care
An abdication of responsibility.
The nature of authority
A central theme in Nurse’s Song is the nature of authority and leadership, related to the theme of parental care. This nurse is someone who is with, but not in charge of, her children. Her care does not repress or restrict them; she responds to their needs for freedom and enjoys their capacity for play.
Childhood innocence
A secondary theme is the nature of childhood innocence. There is a positive representation of un-self conscious delight in freedom and play, suggesting the life of the imagination. However, the gathering gloom threatens to curtail innocent activities.
