Nurse's Song William Blake Analysis

1548 Words7 Pages
In William Blake 's "Nurse 's Song" from Songs of Innocence and of Experience, the author explores the meaning of childhood through different perspectives. The adult speaker in each poem, a nurse, listens to children playing outside as night approaches and reacts to their noises in contrasting manners. While one reminisces upon her childhood and longs for her former innocence, the other presents a pessimistic view towards the inevitability of adulthood. Although the poems share structural similarities such as rhyme scheme, their distinctions establish the essence of childhood for each speaker. In presenting the characters ' reactions, the relationship between the adult and children, and the motif of nature, Blake shows two opposing perceptions towards the loss of innocence. In Blake 's poetry collection, most of the pieces sound like nursery rhymes. Following an ABAB CDCD rhyme scheme, these poems are imitating the rhymes from one 's childhood to convey a sense of innocence. However, in both "Nurse 's Song," the poems deviate from this common structure, opting for an ABCB DEFE rhyme instead. Although used to communicate different ideas, the rhyme scheme represents the complications of childhood and its effects on innocence. From the perspective of the nurse from Songs of Innocence, the modification of the rhyme scheme illustrates her incapability to enjoy the simple joys of childhood anymore. Although she longs to revert to that blissful innocence, she, as an adult, views