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Little black Boy: ANTI SLAVERY. Blake conveys his EGALITARIAN views.
Written in 1788 when slavery was still legal.
Boy is taught by his mother that he has been put on earth to bear Gods love - "the beams of love".
Seven quatrains, metre is trochaic pentameter (NURSERY RHYME LIKE - INNOCENCE) - straightforward structure because the narrator is a young, uneducated boy.
Rhyme scheme - ABAB - regular - stays the same - natural flowing.
captures simplicity of innocence.
Use of colour contrast used to present the dominant view - Black is associated with evil and white associated with angelic and purity.
Boy aware of this contrast, "But I am black as if bereaved of light". He accepts that the white boy is as "White as an Angel" - simile.
Blake against this contrast - Black boy exclaims that "Oh! My soul is white" - exclamation mark emphasises this making it much more powerful and effective.
Nature imagery and allusion - ROMANTICIST VIEWS. Deep and divine affinity between humans, animals and nature. 2nd stanza - "And flowers and trees and beast and men receive" God love everyone - everyone is equal and has a part of God in them. PANTHEISM. God likened to as the Sun. Boys likened to as lambs, "like lambs we joy", "like lambs we rejoice". this simile suggests that that the children are innocent since Jesus is the lamb of God. also lamb symbolises youth.
Monologue.
Black boy spiritually superior to white boy due to his suffering, "I'll shade him from the heat. Suffering means eternal life (Christian message).
Church attacked indirectly in an oblique way, " lexical choice associated with Jesus, "care, "love", "comfort", "joy" - love and joy repeated - true God is Jesus not the harsh, strict, jealous OT God.
Comments
These notes are aimed at A Level English Literature students at A2 level.
Originally written by Becksy on TSR Forums.
