Page 274 - DENG405_BRITISH_POETRY

Unit 26: William Blake: Songs of Innocence and Experience

And, sitting down before the heat of day, Notes
She took me on her lap and kissed me,
And, pointed to the east, began to say:
“Look on the rising sun: there God does live,
And gives His light, and gives His heat away,
And flowers and trees and beasts and men receive
Comfort in morning, joy in the noonday.
“And we are put on earth a little space,
That we may learn to bear the beams of love
And these black bodies and this sunburnt face
Is but a cloud, and like a shady grove.
“For when our souls have learn’d the heat to bear,
The cloud will vanish; we shall hear His voice,
Saying, ‘Come out from the grove, my love and care
And round my golden tent like lambs rejoice’,”
Thus did my mother say, and kissed me;
And thus I say to little English boy.
When I from black and he from white cloud free,
And round the tent of God like lambs we joy
I’ll shade him from the heat till he can bear
To lean in joy upon our Father’s knee;
And then I’ll stand and stroke his silver hair,
And be like him, and he will then love me.

Summary
A black child tells the story of how he came to know his own identity and to know God. The boy, who
was born in “the southern wild” of Africa, first explains that though his skin in black his soul is as
white as that of an English child. He relates how his loving mother taught him about God who lives
in the East, who gives light and life to all creation and comfort and joy to men. “We are put on earth,”
his mother says, to learn to accept God’s love. He is told that his black skin “We are put on earth,” his
mother says, to learn to accept God’s love. He is told that his black skin “is but a cloud” that will be
dissipated when his soul meets God in heaven. The black boy passes on this lesson to an English
child, explaining that his white skin is likewise a cloud. He vows that when they are both free of their
bodies and delighting in the presence of God, he will shade his white friend until he, too, learns to
bear the heat of God’s love. Then, the black boy says, he will be like the English boy, and the English
boy will love him.

Detailed Analysis
At first glance, Blake’s, “The Little Black Boy,” ends on a note of subjugation. The speaker holds fast
to a desire of acceptance by the white English child. While this desire remains in place, closer
examination reveals a subtle position of modest authority as opposed to a submissive stance.
The speaker no doubt longs for validation from the white opposition to his blackness. The exclamation
“but O! My soul is white,” (2) indicates despair and genuine longing to be recognized and understood.

LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY 267