Holy Thursday (I)

• Theme of charity, poverty, and sympathy

  • The poem's speaker, deeply moved by the sight of the "innocent souls" shows the reader a lesson. People must learn to "cherish pity" and develop empathy.
  • Children are both blameless and beautiful, they deserve all the "pity" and sympathy from society.
  • Traditional Christian idea that love is the most important virtue and that children as especially sacred.
• Theme of society's cruelty and hypocrisy

  • Poem is an ironic condemnation of society's hypocrisy when it comes to charity.
  • Message is that people who want to make a difference should attack the inequalities that create poverty.
  • Hints at the death of the children's parents or the forced decision of giving their children up.
  • The speaker is caught up in the sentimental compassion for innocent children and doesn't seem interested in addressing the society that brought them to such poverty.
• Meter

  • Holy Thursday (Innocence) is written in iambic heptameter, meaning its built from lines of seven iambs, metrical feet.
  • Long heptameter lines aren't too common in English poetry, suggesting that Blake is making an unusual and attention-grabbing choice.
  • These long lines present the endless parade of orphans.
• Rhyme scheme

  • Rhyming couplets with each stanza's rhyme scheme being AABB.
  • These pairs give the poem the feeling of a nursery rhyme, linking to the poem's innocent portrayal of a crowd of orphaned children.
  • The simplicity of the rhyme scheme is deceptive, as the simplistic and innocent portrayal of the children Blake shows society's ignorance about charity and those in poverty.
• The speaker

  • The speaker sees in these orphaned children a reminder to be a good Christian, to take care of people who are young, helpless and impoverished.
  • The speaker's warm feelings convey a sense of hypocrisy and thoughtlessness. The speaker doesn't seem to worry about how London ended up with "thousands" of abandoned children.
  • Limited perspective of the speaker shows that "pity" isn't enough. True charity requires people to rebel against the corrupt society that led to all this poverty.
• Summary

  • Poem depicts poor orphaned children attending church on Ascension Day.
  • These orphans were paraded around St Pauls Cathedral.
  • Philanthropists ran the charitable schools for the orphaned children, but they were rich people who exploited them for free labour.
• "Children walking two and two, in read, and blue, and green."

  • Polysyndeton suggests the seemingly never ending amount of children walking into the cathedral, which emphasises the extent of poverty.
  • Imagery of a Judgement Day parade of souls into heaven.
• "Grey-headed beagles walked before, with wands as white as snow."

  • Simile and colour imagery of "white" reflects purity and holiness, conveying a Romantic view of the innocence of children.
  • "Grey-headed beagles" refers to old men, but the speaker presents them as biblical patriarchs who run the orphanages.
  • "wands" illustrates ideas of magic but also violence, suggesting these men hit the children with sticks. This more pleasant portrayal highlights society's ignorance to children's poverty.
  • "snow" is cold and pure, also melts quickly and doesn't last, much like the kindness doesn't last.
• "Oh what a multitude they seemed, these flowers of London town!"

  • Repetition of "multitudes" later in the same stanza emphasises the overwhelming crowds of children and the extent of poverty in England.
  • "flowers" suggests Romantic ideas of the beauty of nature, also presenting imagery of purity. They are blameless and innocent.
  • Ironic as the speaker marvels at the beauty of the children, yet the poem reminds us the sweetness comes from society's failures and corruption.
• "The hum of multitudes was there, but multitudes of lambs."

  • Repetition of "multitudes" reflecting the overwhelming crowd of impoverished children.
  • "lambs" conveys imagery of innocence, as well as biblical imagery of sacrifice relating to Jesus Christ as the sacrificial lamb of God.
• "Thousands of little boys and girls raising their innocent hands."

  • "Thousands" once again presents overwhelming amount of impoverished children, highlighting the failure and corruption of society. May also be a hyperbole to further emphasise a need for society to change.
  • "innocent hands" suggests these children are blameless. The metonym of clean hands represents no wrongdoings committed by these orphans.
• "Beneath them sit the aged man, wise guardians of the poor."

  • Sense of irony as "wise guardians" makes the wealthy people running the orphanages seem sincere and respectful, but in reality they are corrupt and exploitative.
  • "Beneath them" suggests the children are closer to heaven, reflecting Romantic ideas of the innocence of children.
• "Then cherish pity, lest you drive an angel from your door."

  • "angel" conveys children's metaphorical innocence through religious imagery. There is a biblical link to the Passover and Angel of Death.
  • "cherish pity" may reflect Blake's message to the reader that simple "pity" is not enough, but people must rebel against the corrupt society that caused this poverty in the first place.