Nurse's Song (innocence)

• Peaceful, joyful opening that celebrates freedom of expression. Idyllic pastoral imagery shows humans in equilibrium with nature, 'hill' connoted elevation and freedom in their play.

  when the voices of children are heard on the green And laughing is heard on the hill
• The Nurse feels calm and content - loving nature towards the children that Blake champions in a guardian. The stillness allows them to cherish this valuable time as a child.

  My heart is at rest within my breast
• Night time presents a slight threat/uncertainty, but this is only temporary as there's optimism that morning will return.

  the dews of night arise
• The children mirror the Nurse's speech and ask to stay outside longer. Shows a reciprocal relationship. Living in harmony with nature's cycles, rather than a restrictive/enforced bedtime.

  No, no, let us play, for it is yet day
• The children want to be outside with nature, the pastoral world enfores their argument. Since it is too dark for them to actually see the nature, Blake celebrating the power of imagination.

  Besides, in the sky the little birds fly
• The metre is disrupted in the final line - eventually all the sounds of the children will be gone as they mover from innocence to experience. Alternatively, could show generational echoing = the care of the Nurse will be passed onto the children.

  And all the hills echoed