If the Romantic poet is as William Wordsworth said a man speaking to men

If the Romantic poet is as William Wordsworth said a man speaking to men

where does this leave women and children? Discuss, with reference to the

work of Blake.

If the Romantic poet is as William Wordsworth said 'a man speaking to

men' where does this leave women and children? Discuss, with reference

to the work of Blake. "In the preface to the Lyrical Ballads

Wordsworth, when describing a poet, says that a poet is a 'man

speaking to men' and is someone 'who rejoices more than other men in

the spirit of life which is in them'. It needs to be definerated what

Wordsworth means by 'man', whether he is refering to 'man' as a gender

or man as in humanity. When refering to poets he always uses the term

'man' or 'men' implying that all poets must be male. Later in the

Preface to the Lyrical Ballads Wordsworth goes on to say that

"poets... sing a song in which all humans beings join", surely

suggesting that women and children are included in this as they are

part of mankind. Blake, as one of the most renouned romantic poets,

focuses much of his work around images of mankind. Although in saying

this, "mankind" is collective and includes women and children, and

Blakes work is undoubtedly preoccupied with these two groups. He

distinguishes "man" very differently to "children" depending on the

context. In London (songs of expereince) he clearly identifies "man"

as a separate group to the "infant" in the poem as he refers to them

by different names and as a separate category, highlighting their

differences. Children to Blake are extremely important, especially in

the context of poetry, indeed in '"The introduction to Songs of

Innocence' he says that the poems are "for children to hear" and

concentrates on a child's view of life. It is not possible to say that

Blakes poetry excludes women and children as so many of his poems are

based around these themes. Even the titles of the poems represent

this, such as "The Little Girl Lost", "Infant sorrow", "Little Black

Boy" and "Nurse's Song", compared to very few centred primarily around

men. Blake uses his poems to express the view and plight of suppressed

groups in society, such as children. Poems such as Holy Thursday are

expressed through the eyes of a child. He shows the innocence and

purity of the children by their 'clean' 'faces' and other physical and

mental attributes. He also shows the reality of their situations,

especially in Songs of experience, by highlighting the fact that many

of them are orphans and alone in the world, such as in 'The chimney