“Infant Joy” from “Songs of Innocence” by William Blake is a simple song that highlights the joy of childbirth from a mother’s perspective. The mother asks the child what she should name the newborn child. The newborn names itself Joy, because that is all it knows. In contrast “Infant Sorrow” from “Songs of Experience” by William Blake is a simple song that focuses on childbirth from the infants perspective. It is a much less pleasant experience compared to that of the mother’s. The newborn struggles as it leaves the comfort of its mothers womb and enters the world. Romanticism is defined by Margaret Drabble from and emotional perspective as “an extreme assertion of the self and the value of individual experience”(Drabble 842-43). The songs “Infant Joy” and “Infant Sorrow” bring contrary experiences of childbirth, which is a result of the infants loss of innocence due to an increased amount of experience in the world, to light due to the emphasis that Romanticism places on human experience. The poems also highlights the individual newborns experience of imagination, which is “a watchword” in Romanticism, and whether it is bound and repressed or encourage to flourish by parental authority (Drabble 842-43). The different personal experiences of childbirth and imagination is seen through the language that the poet uses to describe childbirth, the nature that the infant decides for itself, and the amount of constraint that the parents place on the infant, which can be related to the newborns capacity to imagine.
“Infant Joy” brings to light the positive personal experience of child birth from a mother’s perspective by having a conversation with the newborn. The mother asks the newborn what its name should be: “What shall I call the...
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...omfortable and as a result, the infant decides upon a negative nature in contrast to “Infant Joy.” The infant in “Infant Joy” experiences less of the world than the infant in “Infant Sorrow.” The extra experience that the infant in “Infant Sorrow” has, causes the infant to see the world in a less blissful state which results in a stifled imagination. The different perspectives from the infants prove how important personal experience is, especially in Romanticism.
Works Cited
The Oxford Companion To English Literature (5th ed.). Ed. Margaret Drabble. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1985. Print.
Blake, William. “Infant Joy.” The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 8th ed. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt. New York: Norton, 2006. 87. Print.
Blake, William. “Infant Sorrow.” The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 8th ed. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt. New York: Norton, 2006. 95. Print.
In the poem, “My First Weeks” by Sharon Olds, Olds makes an ordeal for her storyteller, gives her the recollections of this time we all might want to recall. The foundation of this piece has various pictures depicted so well they turn out to be outwardly captivating, and an all-inclusiveness of human experience. Regardless of whether the elocutionist’ owns particular experience was as delicate as the speakers or not, every one of us was conceived and (more than likely) can't remember our first weeks.
Stanza two shows us how the baby is well looked after, yet is lacking the affection that small children need. The child experiences a ‘vague passing spasm of loss.’ The mother blocks out her child’s cries. There is a lack of contact and warmth between the pair.
In one of Brooks’ first poems “The Mother”, Brooks discuses the heartache and the pain of a mother who has had numerous abortions and now feels remorse for what she has done. She speaks of how the child is created and growing in the womb of the mother, but how the child’s life is ended before the child could ever become someone successful. The mother never gets a chance to watch her child grow or to discipline their child for being disobedient or ever get to comfort the child when the child is sad. Towards the end of the poem, the mother apologizes to the child because the child will never have a chance to grow and experience life on their own. Though the mother has killed her child, she states that she still loves her unborn child for the rest of her life.
Stillinger, Jack, Deidre Lynch, Stephen Greenblatt, and M H. Abrams. The Norton Anthology of English Literature: Volume D. New York, N.Y: W.W. Norton & Co, 2006. Print.
Greenblatt, Stephen, and M. H. Abrams. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 9th ed. Vol. A. New York: W.W. Norton, 2012. Print
Throughout history the concept of innocence in literature has been a topic in which author’s have held an obsession with. According to Harold Bloom, the loss of innocence has played a large role in western literature since the Enlightenment when man was said to be initially good and then corrupted only by his institutions. (Bloom 6) The institution in which Bloom speaks of is nothing more then society. Society is what is believed to be the cause for the loss of innocence in children. Bloom has stated that a return to the childhood mindset would eliminate the social problems in which people suffer. This is unerringly why the cause of many physiological problems can be traced back to a problem or unsettlement in one’s childhood. (Bloom 7) The history of innocence continues further back in history as it is said that the first encounter of loss of innocence or “original sin” was from Adam and Eve when they ate the fruit of the forbidden tree. (Bloom 7) These historical events and ideas are what influence the works of authors from the 19th century to modern day.
During the process of growing up, we are taught to believe that life is relatively colorful and rich; however, if this view is right, how can we explain why literature illustrates the negative and painful feeling of life? Thus, sorrow is inescapable; as it increase one cannot hide it. From the moment we are born into the world, people suffer from different kinds of sorrow. Even though we believe there are so many happy things around us, these things are heartbreaking. The poems “Tips from My Father” by Carol Ann Davis, “Not Waving but Drowning” by Stevie Smith, and “The Fish” by Elizabeth Bishop convey the sorrow about growing up, about sorrowful pretending, and even about life itself.
Infant Sorrow by William Blake is about the birth of a child into a dangerous world. The meaning behind this poem is that when a baby is born, they are entering a place that is unfamiliar to them and is full of hazardous circumstances and then seeks for safety and comfort by sulking on the mother's breast. Instead of blatantly telling the reader, Blake uses several poetic devices to deliver the meaning of Infant Sorrow. Some of the devices he uses are images, sound, figurative language, and the structure to bring out the meaning of his poem.
Korb, Rena. "Critical Essay on 'Désirée's Baby'." Short Stories for Students. Ed. Jennifer Smith. Vol. 13. Detroit: Gale Group, 2001. Literature Resource Center. Web. 01 Mar. 2014.
Greenblatt, Stephen, and M. H. Abrams. The Norton anthology of English literature. 9th ed., A, New York, W.W. Norton & Company, 2012. Pp
In “Desiree’s Baby,” Kate Chopin writes about the life of a young lady and her new family. In this short story, the fond couple lived in Louisiana before the American Civil War. Chopin illustrates the romantic atmosphere between Armand and Desiree. Chopin also describes the emotion of the parents for their new born. When the baby was born, Armand’s heart had softened on behalf of others. One afternoon, Desiree and the baby were relaxing in a room with a young boy fanning them with peacock feathers. As they were relaxing, Desiree had sniffed a threatening scent. Desiree desired Armand’s assistance as she felt faint from the odor that she could not comprehend. Armand had denied the request his wife sent. Therefore, he cried out that she nor the baby were white. Thus, Desiree took the baby and herself and walked into the bayou and they were never seen again. In this short story, Chopin illustrates the psychological abuse Desiree faces from her husband.
In her story, Desiree’s Baby, Kate Chopin underlined the contrast between lust and love, exploring the problem of a man’s pride that exceeded the love he has for his wife. Armand, the main character of the story, is a slave owner who lived in Louisiana during the era of slavery. He married an adopted young woman, Desiree, and together they have a son who eventually became an obstacle in the way of his father’s happiness, thus removing out the true character of Armand. Desiree’s Baby, by Kate Chopin is a love story, love that ultimately proved to be a superficial love, a story that shed light on the ugly relationships between people. “Lust is temporary, romance can be nice,
‘Some idea of a child or childhood motivates writers and determines both the form and content of what they write.’ -- Hunt The above statement is incomplete, as Hunt not only states that the writer has an idea of a child but in the concluding part, he states that the reader also has their own assumptions and perceptions of a child and childhood. Therefore, in order to consider Hunt’s statement, this essay will look at the different ideologies surrounding the concept of a child and childhood, the form and content in which writers inform the reader about their ideas of childhood concluding with what the selected set books state about childhood in particular gender. The set books used are Voices In The Park by Browne, Mortal Engines by Reeve and Little Women by Alcott to illustrate different formats, authorial craft and concepts about childhood. For clarity, the page numbers used in Voices In The Park are ordinal (1-30) starting at Voice 1.
Greenblatt, Stephen. The Norton Anthology Of English Literature. 8th. A. W W Norton & Co Inc, 2006.
In the William Blake’s Songs of Innocence and of Experience, the vision of children and adults are placed in opposition of one another. Blake portrays childhood as a time of optimism and positivity, of heightened connection with the natural world, and where joy is the overpowering emotion. This joyful nature is shown in Infant Joy, where the speaker, a newborn baby, states “’I happy am,/ Joy is my name.’” (Line 4-5) The speaker in this poem is portrayed as being immediately joyful, which represents Blake’s larger view of childhood as a state of joy that is untouched by humanity, and is untarnished by the experience of the real world. In contrast, Blake’s portrayal of adulthood is one of negativity and pessimism. Blake’s child saw the most cheerful aspects of the natural wo...