The sun does arise,
And makes happy the skies;
The merry bells ring
To welcome the Spring;
The skylark and thrush,
The birds od tha bush,
Sing louder around
To the bells' cheerful sound,
While our sports shall be seen
On the Ecchoing Green.
Old John, with white hair,
Does laugh away care,
Sitting under the oak,
Among the old folk.
They laugh at our play,
And soon they all say:
"Such, such were the joys
When we all, girls and boys,
In a youth-time were seen
On the Ecchoing Green."
Till the little ones, weary,
No more can be merry;
The sun does descend,
And our sports have an end.
Round the laps of their mothers
Many sisters and brothers,
Like birds in their nests,
Are ready for rest,
And sport no more seen
On the darkening Green.
william.blake
songs.of.innocence
showing.the.two.contrary.states.of.the.human.soul
In this poem, we can clearly see that there are two voices, the first one is of a young boy and the second one is of an adult (old John). "The ecchoing green" is a title that suggest a couple of things, first of all there is teh colour green that is a bright colour (which represents innocence) and second of all, the word "echo" which suggest that the place never changes, the characters live in a never changing world. They keep passing through the 1st and 2nd stage of innocence, it doesn't matter whether they are children or adults, nobody is or passes through the stage of experience. Besides, the place doesn't change either. Before I continue, I'd like to set the differences betqeen the stages of innocence. The 1st stage is the one which is represented by pure children, children who aren't corrupted by experience, and the 2nd stage is where the adult has grown up, he had his own experiences, but still he understands and appreciates childhood. in the first stanza, the opening phrase is the sun does arise, this refers to the opening of childhood, of life, of a day. On day time, children are allowed to play (while our sports shall be seen on the ecchoing green). Clearly, we can see the first stage of innocence. in the second stanza, the 2nd stage of innocence appears as the voice changes. What I mean by this is that Old John appears, he is very old, and I believe him to have a consideable amount of experiences, but still, he remembers the things he used to do when he was a child. Those memories are remembered with love, not with regrets, he still understands and appreciates childhood in all senses. I believe, as time goes by, that a lot od activities you used to do as a child are denied or simply forgotten. In the third stanza we can see the end of childhood and of life (the sun does descend), the arrival of death and the apprearance of night, of obscurity. This poem never leaves the innocent path.
