'The Echoing Green' is a poem about a grassy field on a warm morning in late
spring. T he poet gives a very beautiful description of a dawn and morning of ...
The poem 'The Echoing Green' is written by William Blake. It is taken from SONGS OF INNOCENCE. It is divine voice of childhood unchallenged by the test and doubts of later years. Blake expresses in si mple and lovely diction the happiness and innocence of a child's first thoughts about. This is a pi ctorial poem. 'The Echoing Green' is a poem about a grassy field on a warm morning in late spring. T he poet gives a very beautiful description of a dawn and morning of spring. The spring represents th e life. Morning is the beginning of life and the dark evening is the end. This poem is a blend of ch ild like innocence and grayness of later years. It is symbolic and draws a contrast between youth an d old age. Blake has expressed broad meaning of the playground. The children are carefree and they a re not surrounded by any kind of worries because worries are associated with old age and pleasures w ith childhood. The children are busy in games. They are showing vibrant attitude and display high en ergy in their games. They are laughing and thoroughly enjoying themselves. Their voices echo in the field. They travel on the wings of leisurely fancy and float far into the realm of calm and sweet ch ildhood joy; unaware of the pains and cutting realization they are going to encounter as the years f all in on them. The nature also seems to join in with their joy as the sun shines with sheer brilli ance over the playing children. The azure sky also seems to be smiling at the joy of these innocent children. The whole atmosphere further seems drunk with high-spirited fervor; the church bells add t heir sonorous chimes to this festive atmosphere. The poet symbolizes the innocence and delicacy of c hildren with the birds. The birds are happy and they sing their heart out. The mellifluous chirping and singing of these feathered friends represents the joys and blessings of our lives. The beautiful songbirds like the delicate thrush and the sweet sounding skylark create a marvelous fusion of thei r cute chirping with the sonorous bell chimes. From this point the poem shows a subtle recession in the mood as the focus eases on to the old people sitting under the oak tree and draw a strange sort of pleasure from the games and the frivolous activities of the children. The old oak tree also symb olizes a rather enigmatic entity of existence- time. The old oak tree represents the all-pervasive t ime that draws a calming balance between the contrasting old age and the joyous childhood. The old p eople sitting under the cool shades of the old oak tree show a rather reflective attitude as they br ood over the time of their own childhood. For some time they forget their own worries and pains whic h they have realized with the passage of time. This shows that the children are a blessing and they have the ability to make ones life happy. The old people enjoy the children's sports. The old folks are also laughing at the simplicity and innocence of the children. The children are ignorant about the hardships and the difficulties in the life ahead. The older generation has gone through the ups and downs of life and can actually understand the sweetness of the time of childhood, as that is a t ime that they have lost. In fact they are ready for their eternal rest in the womb of Mother Nature. Thus the old people are absorbed in the games of the children and recall their own childhood and yo uth - the golden period of life. As W B Yeats said, ' The days of the youth are the days of our glo ry.' But this joy of the old people is mixed with a subtle somberness as they realize the sad fact that after all these children will also be swept with the current of time and then one day they will take their place under the shade of the oak tree, and a new generation will take their place. And s o the rise and fall will go on and on. The poet here is underlining a very resonant fact of life i.e . the inevitability of death. The last stanza is laden with a rather pathetic mood. It indicates th e end of life. The children are tired and they have stopped playing. This is a sign of old age- the tiring of the children symbolizes the old age, when man becomes old and heads towards his eventual d emise. Moreover a sad mood prevails over him as he realizes the approaching death. So the harbinger of death is symbolized by the evening as the evening shadows creep on the green announcing the arriv al of night-death. The green takes on an unpleasant and sordid look. The game ends! So does the life . The children return to their homes to rest. The home symbolizes the grave and the rest is the eter nal rest. Thus the poem is a splendid pen picture of joys of child hood and their eventual fading a way into eternity. Blake has further laid stress on the potent entity called 'change'. The poet has through useful symbol of oak tree, old people, evening etc has discussed the mechanics, which act as a fulcrum in moving the paddles of life. The poet has showed superb mastery as he changes the mood of the poem along with the progression of the poem. The poem is in fact a very fine presentation of the philosophy of life resting on the hinges of the magnificent time. 'And sport no more seen On th e darkening green.' poem echoing green written william blake taken from songs innocence divine voic e childhood unchallenged test doubts later years blake expresses simple lovely diction happiness inn ocence child first thoughts about this pictorial poem echoing green poem about grassy field warm mor ning late spring poet gives very beautiful description dawn morning spring spring represents life mo rning beginning life dark evening this blend child like innocence grayness later years symbolic draw s contrast between youth blake expressed broad meaning playground children carefree they surrounded kind worries because worries associated with pleasures with childhood children busy games they showi ng vibrant attitude display high energy their games they laughing thoroughly enjoying themselves the ir voices echo field travel wings leisurely fancy float into realm calm sweet childhood unaware pain s cutting realization going encounter years fall them nature also seems join with their shines sheer brilliance over playing children azure also seems smiling these innocent whole atmosphere further s eems drunk high spirited fervor church bells sonorous chimes this festive atmosphere poet symbolizes delicacy birds birds happy sing heart mellifluous chirping singing these feathered friends represen ts joys blessings lives beautiful songbirds like delicate thrush sweet sounding skylark create marve lous fusion cute chirping sonorous bell chimes from point shows subtle recession mood focus eases pe ople sitting under tree draw strange sort pleasure from games frivolous activities tree also symboli zes rather enigmatic entity existence time tree represents pervasive time that draws calming balance between contrasting joyous people sitting under cool shades show rather reflective attitude brood o ver time some forget worries pains which have realized passage shows that blessing have ability make
ones life happy people enjoy sports folks laughing simplicity ignorant about hardships difficulties ahead older generation gone through downs actually understand sweetness that have lost fact ready e ternal rest womb mother nature thus absorbed recall youth golden period yeats said days youth days g lory mixed subtle somberness realize fact after these will swept current then will take place under shade generation will take place rise fall poet here underlining very resonant fact inevitability de ath last stanza laden rather pathetic mood indicates tired stopped playing sign tiring symbolizes wh en becomes heads towards eventual demise moreover mood prevails over realizes approaching death harb inger death symbolized evening evening shadows creep green announcing arrival night takes unpleasant sordid look game ends does return homes rest home grave rest eternal thus splendid picture joys chi ld hood eventual fading away into eternity further laid stress potent entity called change through u seful symbol discussed mechanics which fulcrum moving paddles showed superb mastery changes along pr ogression very fine presentation philosophy resting hinges magnificent sport more seen darkeningEssa y, essays, termpaper, term paper, termpapers, term papers, book reports, study, college, thesis, des sertation, test answers, free research, book research, study help, download essay, download term pap ers
