Essay Blakes Use Symbolism - 1243 Words

In both poems Blake uses the common symbol of a flower to represent a woman to highlight the problem of this conception of the feminine. Though it’s the speaker of the Innocence poem â€Å"The Blossom,† the young flower stays stationary while observing the activity of two birds in the same area. The blossom watches the sparrow â€Å"Seek[s] [its] cradle narrow† or return to its nest, a representation of a male returning to his home (5). In the next stanza, the blossom notes a robin â€Å"sobbing† next to it (10). All of the action in the poem is carried out by the birds while the blossom remains stationary and only â€Å"Sees† and â€Å"Hears† (4, 10). Activity versus passivity in the poem aligns the birds with the masculine and the blossom with the feminine,†¦show more content†¦The blossom’s voice reflects the youthful and childlike mindset of the type of woman depicted through the flower. Simple adjectives are repeated more than once; the â€Å"Merry Merry Sparrow† of the first line and the â€Å"Pretty Pretty Robin† of the second stanza establish the innocent voice and also suggest that the innocence taints the speaker’s understanding of what’s going on (1, 6). The confusing depiction of the poem’s literal action gives the scene a disembodied tone; the speaker notes that a bird is â€Å"Near my Bosom† and active but fails to connect them in any way (6, 12). Further, the blossom refers to itself both in the first and third person, calling itself â€Å"A happy Blossom† as well as situating the birds near its bosom (3, 9). Not only does the blossom have a confused and fractured view of what goes on around it, but it also has a dissociated understanding of itself. This mindset reflects the consciousness of a woman in relation to sex. She doesn’t have a very solid understanding of what’s going on around her or to her, she just passively observ es and reports. The speaker’s voice also contributes to her characterization as a childlike woman in the singsong sound of the verse. Most of the lines are trochaic trimeter, a steady meter that seems more reserved for a children’s rhyme than a poem with such mature themes. It seems that Blake is calling attention to the fallacy of female sexual passivity: women are like flowers in thatShow MoreRelatedSymbolism In The Tyger By William Blake901 Words   |  4 Pagesmust be brought into question. William Blake’s poem â€Å"The Tyger† accurately portrays this reality and brings this thinking of God into the light with his poem. In â€Å"The Tyger†, William Blake uses rhyme scheme, figurative language, and symbolism to convey the question of why God would allow for there to be evil, and create evil Himself. Blake’s use of rhyme scheme throughout the poem adds a rhythm and set pattern in the poem. 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