"The Echoing Green," by William Blake, is a romantic poem from a collection of works referred to as the Songs of Innocence (1789) which discuss Blake's pre-occupation with childhood themes, to underline the close bond that exists between childhood innocence and the natural world.
Poetic Themes
This is a poem which uses three verses and ten stanzas to each verse to create an AABB rhyme scheme. In the first stanza, 'The Sun does arise', the sun is used to symbolise the dawning of a new day and describes the harmony between nature and childhood, with the sun's energy compared to the vitality of childhood as children play games on the village green.
This is again illustrated with the imagery of all nature joining together in one chorus, with 'The skylark and thrush' (5) singing, as children are 'sporting' on the green to correspond with the notion of a continuous cycle through which each new generation is joined together through nature.
In the second stanza however, childhood is described as a looking back to a life once belonged to that now is remembered through the memories of '...the old folk(as)/ They laugh at our play (14-15) to symbolise a reminiscence on the passage of youth by elderly people who now pass on their memories to others.
Forgotten Childhood
However, whilst displaying an optimistic and romanticised vision of childhood memories these are nonetheless repeated in the refrain of each verse as events which took place upon an 'echoing green'. Therefore, the poem speaks of a shallow representation of the past, almost as a shadow of a former glory which does not feel full bodied to re-create present day reflections over a fondly remembered youth.
As a result, it indicates Blake's memory of a childhood which is slowly being forgotten, in a never to be repeated refection of thoughts from the past which will not be re-lived, except in the lives of other children. At the same time, it throws doubt on the poet's assumption that childhood is found without corruption with Blake's inability to preserve full and colourful memories of a past which now appears almost entirely lost.
This is hinted upon in the final stanza's parting remark to bring the reader back into the present day with the words 'And sport no more seen/ On the darkening Green/ describing even more clearly a strikingly distant connection to the past, with the village green darkening still further from the poet's mind at the poem's finale. This sees Blake suggesting that something is missing from memories of childhood by describing it through the mind's closing eye, which will soon be lost forever.
Transition from 'Light' to 'Dark' Reflections of Childhood
The shifting images used to describe two opposing views of childhood or the journey between light and dark memories of times gone by are described with contrasting adjectives. New beginnings and fond childhood memories are seen in words that indicate a lightness of spirit such as 'arise', 'skies', 'spring' and 'ring' to illustrate innocent memories of childhood which are fresh and pure in the parallel that is seen with the energies of youth.
The opposition to these words which indicate a moving away from the carefree enjoyment of childhood is seen in 'weary', 'descend', 'end', 'nest' and 'rest' to suggest a closure or end of an era that childhood in its comparison to nature may once have embodied at its peak, but which now dissolves towards the grave with the death of nature, to nest and rest for the beginnings of a new day.
Conclusion
The title of the poem is therefore important to remember when discussing a lost childhood since it remains at the back of the mind in the form of an echo as opposed to something more substantial and real. As such, it remains as a distant shadow pushed to the back of the mind, in an attempt to preserve the poet's fading connection to a past that is no longer a living reality.
Further Interest
Alicia Rudd - Alicia enjoys literature which explores the connections between the romantic and the realistic, the mythicised and the ordinary. In ...
