The Divine Image. The repetition of ‘Sweet’ at the beginning of many of the poem’s stanzas (or perhaps we should say, the song’s verses) helps to create a soothing effect. The poem is part of Blake’s Songs of Innocence and certainly has the feel of a sweet, childhood lullaby. Alliteration plays a crucial part in this, offering a soothing sound-pattern to complement the metrical rhythms of Blake’s trochaic tetrameter (the preferred metre for songs in English ‘literature’): ‘beauty bright’, ‘sorrows sit’, ‘secret smiles’. She wishes that he may have sweet dreams of streams that flow pleasantly in the night while the rays of the moon fall on them (a very pleasant scene indeed!). Sweet Sleep, with soft down. [3] "Blake Set to Music." Sweet babe, in thy face Soft desires I can trace, Secret joys and secret smiles, Little pretty infant wiles. The poem A Cradle Song by William Blake is about a mother’s unconditional love as well as fear for her baby child. Sweet babe, in thy face N.p., 08 Aug. 2010. 5 Sweet sleep with soft down.C . Blake is one of the greatest poets in English literature. O the cunning wiles that creep William Blake (1757–1827). A Cradle Song - Language, tone and structure Language and tone. Songs of Innocence, A Cradle Song. As thy softest limbs I feel Smiles as of the morning steal O'er thy cheek, and o'er thy breast Where thy little heart doth rest. The reference to ‘cunning wiles’ later in the poem only reinforces this. Then the dreadful night shall break. He spoke to angels and relayed his vision. It must be noted that Blake has often considered children to be closer to God (as he says in Holy Thursday). There is a juxtaposition of reality and divinity, joy and sorrow, innocence and experience and the child is the central point of this juxtaposition. In the first stanza, the mother has her child either in the cradle whom she is trying to lull into sleep by singing a lullaby. According to her the sweet smiles of her child in the night, become the source of her own joy (mother’s joy). Songs of Innocence Critical Analysis Songs of Innocence Introduction. Nurse's Song. The child’s smiling face makes the mother get attracted towards him and hence she smiles throughout the night. ‘Laughing Song’ by William Blake is a three- stanza work that notes an imagined instance of what will happen “ [w]hen” a time comes, but that something will only happen after a series of impossible obstacles that Blake has insisted upon. A Cradle Song Analysis. The Chimney Sweeper (Songs of Experience). The poem is a kind of lullaby which is sung by parents for lulling a baby to sleep. It shows mother’s concern over child’s journey from innocence to experience. ("Sweet dreams, form a shade") A Cradle Song (1794), a poem by William Blake from the Notebook (c. 1793) intended for Songs of Experience. the poem can be read as a metaphor for the mother's awareness and inability to stop or slow down her child from growing up in this 2 O’er my lovely infants head.A. Sweet smiles, in the night. WILLIAM BLAKE . Secret joys and secret smiles, “Cradle Song” by William Blake has a very easy to understand subject, that is a man talking to a sleeping baby, but the true meaning of the poem is a bit more elusive. A Cradle Song - Imagery, symbolism and themes Imagery and symbolism. Sweet Sleep, Angel mild, Hover o’er my happy child. The mother again says that she sees in him (her child) the incarnation of Jesus and that Jesus is smiling on him. I hope your readers understand how important Blake is to Western poetry. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. the child is being guarded not only by her but by God as well. Jesus wept for her (the mother in the poem), for her child and for the whole of humanity when he was young. The sentence to the next stanza. ‘Secret joys and secret smiles, / Little pretty infant wiles’ coexist, with ‘wiles’ implying that the child is already growing up and will soon be an adult – sooner than the mother would wish. That last stanza/verse always creeps me out. Sweet babe, in thy face Soft desires I can trace, Secret joys and secret smiles, Little pretty infant wiles. A Dream. She desires that sweet dreams form a shade over the head of her young child i.e. 1 Sweet dreams form a shade,A. In the third line again she repeats the phrase sleep sleep which is a happy sleep. Sweet dreams, form a shade ... A Cradle Song. Sleep, sleep, beauty bright, ... A Cradle Song. The poem is a kind of lullaby which is sung by parents for lulling a baby to sleep. The mother, in the previous stanza seems to be worried because of moans and sighs which are the signs of growing up and committing sins (sex is sin without marriage). Interesting Literature is a participant in the Amazon EU Associates Programme, an affiliate advertising programme designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by linking to Amazon.co.uk. The poet, here, is creating a pastoral environment which is free from the materialistic world and hence soothing and sorrow-free. 8 Hover o’er my happy child.D . Blake's purpose? Sweet Sleep, angel mild, Hover o'er my happy child! As thy softest limbs I feel, Smiles as of the morning steal O'er thy cheek, and o'er thy breast Post was not sent - check your email addresses! It shows a mother's concern over the child's journey from innocence to experience. 1919. 4 By happy silent moony beamsB . A cradle song. • Davies, Keri. 6 Weave thy brows an infant crown.C. Rhyme scheme: aabb ccdd eeaa bbff Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,4, Closest metre: iambic trimeter Сlosest rhyme: couplets Сlosest stanza type: tercets Guessed form: unknown form Metre: 11101 1000101 11011 1010111 11011 1010111 1011101 1010101 1110111 1100101 101111011 1110111 1010111 0110101 1110111 1010111 Amount of stanzas: 4 Average number of symbols per stanza: 120 ‘Cradle Song’ is intended to be sung by a mother to her newborn child in order to lull the baby to sleep. Dreaming in the joys of night; The poem is a kind of lullaby which is sung by parents for lulling a baby to sleep. The fourth stanza is quite significant in the poem. A Cradle Song (1789), a poem by William Blake from Songs of Innocence. An overlook and analysis of the artistry and language of William Blake's romantic poem "Cradle Song" Next she says that when Jesus was born and was as young as her own child, he wept for her i.e. Little sorrows sit and weep. A Cradle Song by William Blake. Songs of Innocence and of Experience is a two-volume illustrated book of poetry published in 1789 and 1794 by the English poet and painter William Blake. Arthur Quiller-Couch, ed. Holy Thursday. The phrases moans and sighs depict pleasure which adult can have while having sex. “A Cradle Song” is one of William Blake’s poems in which it is reflected. ‘Cradle Song’ was part of Blake’s 1789 Songs of Innocence, but how innocent is the infant in the poem? Smiles as of the morning steal Literature Network » William Blake » Songs of Innocence and Experience » A Cradle Song. Little pretty infant wiles. ... no summary available yet. 9 Sweet smiles in the night,E . Analysis This eight-stanza poem consists entirely of quatrains, with each quatrain in turn made up of two rhyming couplets. In thy little heart asleep! Having talked about the sins of humans, the poet now brings Jesus and the idea of guilt into the poem. The mother expresses her joy as a gentle angel is hovering over her happy child i.e. A Dream. He himself was influenced in early life by the Bible and later by the American and French Revolutions. Infant Joy. And the child’s smiles are now the smiles of Jesus which have spread peace across the earth as well as heaven. The data chosen for the analysis is William Blake’s poem “Cradle Song” and is analyzed by means of an eclectic model developed by this study. Sleep, sleep, beauty bright, Dreaming in the joys of night; Sleep, sleep; in thy sleep Little sorrows sit and weep. Pingback: 10 of the Best Poems about Sleep | Interesting Literature. The child is now having sweet moans and dovelike sighs that trouble his mother a little bit as she fears that these might not be the signs of awakening. O’er thy cheek, and o’er thy breast Blake doesn’t overuse such a device, instead supporting this alliteration with relaxing repetition (‘Sleep, sleep’, ‘Secret joys and secret smiles’, ‘O’er thy cheek, and o’er thy breast’) and assonance (beautifully present in ‘Little pretty infant wiles’). In this stanza, we encounter for the first time, the sexual activity which is linked to the experience. 3 Sweet dreams of pleasant streams,B. One wonders how many infants have been eased into dreamland by maternal recitals of Blake’s poem. Sweet smiles, mother's smiles, Hence here she is weeping because she fears that her child will commit sins after growing up. William Blake Follow William Blake [1757-1827] was one of the most influential poets and artists of his day. Now Jesus seems to have entered her baby (infant small). It is a conceptual collection of 19 poems, engraved with artwork. It would also seem normal for the mother singing to her … Night. The poem A Cradle Song by William Blake is about a mother’s unconditional love as well as fear for her baby child. ‘Down‘ means soft and fluffy feathers which grow on the newly born bird. A Cradle Song. He is the author of, among others, The Secret Library: A Book-Lovers’ Journey Through Curiosities of History and The Great War, The Waste Land and the Modernist Long Poem. In the first paper we saw it in the analysis of “London”. The poem, ‘A Cradle Song’ is part of Blake’s Songs of Innocence and … Analysis. The phrase sweet sleep is again repeated in the 3rd line. In the third line, the mother says that sweet moans and even sweeter smiles and all the dovelike moans attract her towards him. Cradle Song The mother is thus singing that her child may have sweet sleep while his eyebrows which are as soft as down (as like the newly born bird, he is too an infant) are making a kind of crown – the mother is thus imagining as a prince. Sleep, sleep, beauty bright, Dreaming in the joys of night; Sleep, sleep; in thy sleep Little sorrows sit and weep. Here we find the juxtaposition of joy and sorrow – the child is in peace and happiness while his mother is weeping and sorrowful. The mother is singing sweetly in order to help her child sleep well and have good dreams. Sleep, sleep; in thy sleep Apr 16, 2019 - A Cradle Song by William Blake | Summary & Analysis - The poem A Cradle Song by William Blake is about a mother's unconditional love as well as fear for her baby child. William Blake’s ‘A Cradle Song’ was written in Blake’s poetry book, ‘Songs of Innocence’. William Blake speaks that it is written as the song of Innocence that would seem like the perspective of a child. Where thy little heart doth rest. 'Thy Maker', as he points out, has an implication to the father of the child. Songs of Experience, A Cradle Song. "A Cradle Song" is a poem by the English poet William Blake.It was retrieved from The Note-Book of c.1793 and was probably intended for "Songs of Experience", since there is a poem with the same title in "Songs of Innocence", however it was not engraved or included into the cycle, but left in a very rough sketchy manuscript. The Divine Image. The repetition of ‘Sweet’ at the beginning of many of the poem’s stanzas (or perhaps we should say, the song’s verses) helps to create a soothing effect. Infant Joy. Night. Analysis of William Blake's poems - description of poetic forms and elements. Like the previous stanza, this stanza also continues from the previous one. In the fifth stanza, the mother sings that he may keep sleeping because his joy and peace echoes in the whole creation of God. It was my first encounter with poems that I could relate to and become inspired by. ‘Cradle Song’ is not only about sleep: it is performative in the sense that William Blake is trying to use his song as a means of inducing sleep in the listener. Sweet dreams, form a shade. In the end, the mother describes how Jesus Christ wept for humanity and their sins (which she fears her child will also commit after growing up from innocence to experience. A dove also has soft feathers which have been described in stanza 1 (down). The word “sweet” is repeated at the beginning of five of the eight stanzas, signifying the mother's overwhelming sense of devotion and love for her new child. Sweet dreams of pleasant streams By happy, silent, moony beams! The mother says that Jesus smiles not only on him (child) but on her as well as on the whole of humanity. This stanza can also be considered as a reference to the previous one. Hence again, the mother is talking about the innocence of the child. 1908. Thus here we don’t have only the fear of simply waking up but also of growing into an adult for the mother is something not good. For Blake, innocence and experience are the "two contrary states of the soul," and differ greatly from the prevailing Christian idea that children are born into "original sin" but can later achieve "salvation" through the Church. A Short Analysis of William Blake’s ‘Cradle Song’ By Dr Oliver Tearle ‘Cradle Song’ is intended to be sung by a mother to her newborn child in order to lull the baby to sleep. The poem begins with a simple lullaby but soon, the theme of religion, guilt, God and Jesus Christ appears. "Cradle Song" is often praised as a perfect balance between thought and emotion, capturing the mother's joy and love for her child while at the same time expressing her largest fears and meditation on the child's future role in man's world. Cradle Song. The Oxford Book of English Verse: 1250–1900. he may go to sound sleep and have sweet dreams. The reason is that he is innocent while his mother is experienced, he has not seen the harsh reality and sins of the world while his mother did. Holy Thursday. The Sexual Implication: A critic of Blake's poems has gone deeper into 'A Cradle Song and has offered a new outlook. Infant [child] - For Blake the idea of the child had specific associations with Christ, which he expected his contemporaries to recognise. Thanks for including this brief study of ‘Cradle Song’. Nurse's Song. The mother says to the sleeping child that in his face, she sees Jesus – i.e.he is as innocent as Jesus or in other words, he is as pious as Jesus. O’er my lovely infant’s head; Sweet dreams of pleasant streams. Zoamorphosis.com. It shows mother’s concern over child’s journey from innocence to experience. The concept of ‘mother and child' would immediately make Blake's readers think of the iconography of Jesus with his mother, Mary. Enter your email address to subscribe to this site and receive notifications of new posts by email. In this context, the mother probably fears that her child may not wake up i.e. Hence he (child) seems to be happy while sleeping. Though we find the innocence in this stanza, but there is also a contrary element here. ‘A Cradle Song’ was written about a mother weeping over her child. Sweet Sleep, with soft down Weave thy brows an infant crown! So, the poems would be written in a soft manner. More than fifty years ago, I read Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Experience. Sweet dreams, form a shade O'er my lovely infant's head! The speaker wonders what “secret joys and secret smiles” may be dancing through the babe’s mind as it sleeps (7). 1757–1827 490. Soft desires I can trace, he wept before God for the sins which she has committed. The author of this article, Dr Oliver Tearle, is a literary critic and lecturer in English at Loughborough University. Weave thy brows an infant crown. The Poetical Works. 7 Sweet sleep Angel mild,D. The human being was the core, but he was also seen as a grain of sand compared to the extension of the universe. As thy softest limbs I feel A Cradle Song A Poison Tree And Did Those Feet in Ancient Time Auguries of Innocence Holy Thursday (The Songs of Innocence) Infant Joy Infant Sorrow Laughing Song London My Pretty Rose Tree Nurse’s Song Spring The Angel The Chimney Sweeper (Songs of Experience) The Chimney Sweeper (Songs of Innocence) The Clod and the Pebble Songs of Innocence: A Cradle Song : SWEET dreams, form a shade: O’er my lovely infant’s head; Sweet dreams of pleasant streams: By happy, silent, moony beams. After one and a half months of painful journey of hospitals, due to my son’s illness, I decided to read and analyze William Blake’s ‘A Cradle Song.’. The mother is singing sweetly in order to help her child sleep well and have good dreams. By happy, silent, moony beams. William Blake - 1757-1827. ... no summary available yet. while his mother (i.e. Spring. A Cradle Song. Sweet sleep, with soft down: 5: Weave thy brows an infant crown. Sleep, sleep, beauty bright, Though I had read this poem during my graduation days, it touched me today when I experienced the same pain as a mother and a father. When thy little heart doth wake, The Secret Library: A Book-Lovers’ Journey Through Curiosities of History, The Great War, The Waste Land and the Modernist Long Poem, 10 of the Best Poems about Sleep | Interesting Literature. Literature Network » William Blake » Songs of Innocence and Experience » A Cradle Song. The main theme to consider about this book is that all of the poetry written inside was about the soul. William Blake. Note the use of dovelike. she herself) is weeping. The third stanza expresses a mother’s joy who is watching her child sleeping well. The poem has been divided into 8 stanzas having 4 lines eachna and the rhyme scheme is AABB. The mother's hopes for her child seem almost like an incantation or charm as she calls on the power … The mother prays for the child and sings so that he may have a sweet sleep with soft down weave thy brows an infant crown. Web. Spring. become mature because she has heard his moans and sighs which symbolise adultness. And ‘listener’ would be the right word here: someone hearing this ‘cradle song’ recited or, preferably, sung to them as a means of lulling them into dreamland. Sweet smiles, in the night Hover over my delight! The critic holds that Blake suggests the love shown by the child's father during his sexual intercourse with the mother. After a month of gothic and macabre reading, I decided to go for the extreme opposite today and read William Blake’s “A Cradle Song” (posted above). Here the eyebrows of the child are symbolised as down. By Brooke and Anna Context Songs of Innocence was printed in 1789. 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