Blake’s use of symbolism. “Blake is a solitary gure, the great practitioner of symbolism in the entire horizon of English literature and the beauty of his works is per-ecellence. !e is second to none, not e"en to the celebrated #rench symbolists. $ %lmost e"ery other word in his poems is symbolic. % symbol is an ob&ect which stands for something else as it literally means as do"e symbolizes peace. 'imilarly, Blake’s tiger symbolizes creati"e energy( 'helley’s wind symbolizes inspiration. Blake’s symbols usually ha"e a wide range of meaning and signicance. signicance. !e uses symbol in his poem to transfer a sense of consciousness to the reader and this de"ice suits his purpose. !e uses this method mostly in both the series, 'ongs of innocence and 'ongs of eperience. )here is scarcely any poem in 'ongs of *nnocence *nnocence and of Eperience which does not ha"e a symbolic or allegorical allegorical of allusi"e implications. )hough these poems are rendered in the simplest possible language they also ha"e unfathomable meaning. %s in the poem +% radle 'ong’ “'leep, sleep, happy child,
%ll creation slept and smiled( 'leep, sleep, happy sleep, hile o’er thee thy mother weep$
)he language of these poems is somewhat scriptural / simple and profound at the same time. )he Biblical allusions at prodigious signicance to his poems, for eample$ )he 'hepherd’ commemorates hrist as the 0ood 'hepherd. %nd the whole poem is set in a pastoral background
!ow sweet is the shepherd’s sweet lot #rom #rom the morn to the e"ening he strays( !e shall follow his 'heep all the day %nd his tongue shall be lled with praise #urthermore, Blake makes use of Biblical phrases too, as we see in the poem +)he lamb’, * a child and thou a lamb, e are called by !is name hrist is the lamb and gurati"ely, we often called the child a lamb.
Blake in his letter to )homas butt says s ays “%llegory “%llegory is addressed to the intellectual powers, while it is altogether hidden from the corporal. 1nderstanding is my 2enition of the 3ost 'ublime poetry.$hat poetry.$hat Blake describes in his poems are not actual e"ents as ordinary men see and understand them, but spiritual e"ents which ha"e to be stated symbolically
in order that that they may be intelligible. %s %s .3 Bowra said “ *n 'ongs of Eperience, he often uses symbols of his own making. %nd his meaning is thus more elusi"e. *ndeed, some poems in this section are a re fully understood only by 4eference 4eference to symbols which Blake uses in his prophetic books, and since the meaning of most symbols s ymbols tends to inconstant, there is always a danger that we may make his meaning more emphatic or more eact than it is, especially since, as Blake grew older, he de"eloped his symbols, and by placing them in precise contets contets ga"e them a greater deniteness.$ deniteness .$ )yger5 yger 5 )yger5 yger 5 Burning Burni ng bright brig ht *n the forest of the night, hat immortal or eye ould frame thy fearful symmetry6
*n 'ongs of *nnocence, Blake wea"es the teture teture of the poems p oems with the warp and woof of symbolism and pictorial beauty. beauty. *n his poems the lamb is a symbol of “the “the 7amb of god that taketh away the sin of the world$. world$. +)he Echoing 0reen’ is not merely the depiction of a merry day( it is a symbolic presentation of the “2ay of *nnocence$ from sunrise to sunset. +*nfant &oy’ , + the 7ittle Black Boy’ and +7aughing 'ong’ symbolizes the three ages of *nnocence / infancy, childhood and youth. + % cradle 'ong’, +nurse’s 'ong$ 'ong $ and +!oly )hursday’ are symbolic of the same three ages of man, and the remaining poems , which image the human soul in its 8uest of selfselfrealization, realization, are all of e"en deeper symbolic s ymbolic import. *n 'ongs of Eperience, traditional symbols are gi"en di9erent di9erent connotations. )hus, by the 'un:ower Blake Blake represents represents the yearning yearning of youth for freedom in in lo"e. )he lily connotes the purity of lo"e and also naturalness and open heartedness in lo"e without the need of secrecy. 1nlike the traditional signicance of the rose Blake’s “'ick 4ose’ is the symbol of mysterious e"il that attacks the human heart. +)he )yger )yger +is antitype of the lamb of innocence. *t represents represents the "iolent and energetic energetic aspect of human soul. *n the two poems +)he 7ittle 0irl 7ost’ and +)he little 0irl #ound’ which tell the story of 7yca, wild beasts like leopards, tigers and lions symbolize the human passion or energies. *n the poem +7ondon’ oppression and tyranny are symbolized by the king;who is responsible for the soldier’s blood being shed<, social institutions like lo"eless lo"eless marriage marriage and the “mind-forged manacles.$ manacles.$ *n a +7ittle boy 7ost’, the priest who is responsible for the burning bu rning of the child symbolizes the cruel thoughtless unimaginati"e authority of the hurch. )he =riest acts in the name of the “mystery’ which here , as also in +the !uman %bstract’, symbolizes institutional religion.
7ikewise, +)he garden of 7o"e’ and +% =oison )ree’ are two allegories dealing with di9erent sub&ects. +)he 0arden of 7o"e’ censures the under curbs placed by con"entional religion on tender human emotions such as lo"e. *n this poem, the tombstone and gra"es stands for death, the priests stands for the authorities of con"entional con"entional religion religion , the garden garden epitomized lo"e and + thou shall not’ symbolizes the rigorous codes of orthodo religion that rules out lo"e and se *n the world of Eperience, 1rizen 1rizen dominates at large. !e is Blake’s symbol for all that is negati"e, such as reason, cruelty, &ealousy and hypocrisy. hypocrisy. )hough he does not mention 1rizen 1rizen anywhere in 'ongs of eperience eperience we can feel his presence in the poem called +Earth’s %nswer’ where he is mentioned as +'tarry >ealousy$ and “ruel, &ealous selsh fear’. !e keeps the earth bound in oppressi"e measures, measures, chains her, imprisons and guards o"er her. her. *n +)he 'chool boy’ it is the school teacher who symbolizes undue authority, with the result that 1nder a cruel eye outworn )he little one spends the day *n singing and dismay. dismay.
#rom the abo"e we can say that symbolism plays an important role. )he use of symbolism in Blake’s poem is not to be neglected. ithout ithout symbols, these poems could not ha"e been rendered. )he use of symbols recurring in "arious poems, help to club the poems of 'ongs of *nnocence and of Eperience into unity. )herefore it is the ingenuity of Blake who wrote such wonderful symbolic poem
