William Blakes poems Essay Example for Free

William Blakes poems Essay Much of William Blakes poems are cynical and even satirical of a society who thought themselves to be almost perfect. He wanted people to question what they had always done, and whether it was morally right. He did so by using varying techniques that set up clashes between ideologies and value systems. From the poem The Chimney Sweeper from the Songs of Innocence and the poem London from Songs of Experience; we see that employing poetic techniques to set up such clashes is relatively evident in his poetry. These clashes are due to changing ways of thinking which are also evident in Simon Langtons Pride and Prejudice. Jean Jacque Rousseau once said that man is born free and everywhere he is in chains, which refers to the way weve devised political systems for ourselves that dont allow us to be free. These chains are evident in the poem Chimney sweeper. Blake employs the persona of a small boy, Tom Dacre .This itself is a technique, using the boy as the persona elevates him as an individual. He is no longer a young chimney sweeper, he has a name, he has feelings, emotions, all things, which are mostly unrecognized by the landed elite. Merely by employing the persona of a young chimney sweeper, Blake has set up a clash between ideologies and value systems .Within Pride and Prejudice these chains came in the form of social obligation. These social obligations repress Darcy from showing emotion and tried to pre-destine his future. The theme of individuality is continued as he states Theres little Tom Dacre who cried when his head/That curled like a Lambs back was shavd. However, Blake is now focusing on Toms loss of Individuality. This loss of individuality is due to his social status in the community. The use of imagery and similes once again sets up a clash between the accepted use of children as chimney sweepers and the values that they lose their individuality as a result of it. In the poem London, Blake expresses his critique through the usage of a progression of symbols that spread out from the charterd street to encompass the whole city where the persona notices every face he encounters marks of weakness, marks of woe. The city is therefore represented as an alienating and constricting environment and everybody is marked by it. Society marks individuals due to their family background and connections which restricts the acceptance of Elizabeth Bennet by Lady Catherine De Bourgh who states but who is your mother, Lady De Bourgh reminds Elizabeth her mother was not born into a landed elite family and recommends Elizabeth not to quite the sphere in which she belongs Within the poem The Chimney Sweeper there is conflict regarding the Church of England. The chimney sweepers discussed in the poem are not aided by the church. The church can only stand by, inarticulate, faint and helpless while these suppressed children continue to carry out their inhumane tortures. The sweepers in a dream believe an angel would come by Who had a bright key/ and opened the coffins and set them all free. This is a sign from god, yet it is symbolic of the church itself. Through the use of symbolism, Blake has set up a clash between the common belief that the church is perfect and good in every way, to the value they do nothing for these poor people who believe so ardently in them. These changing attitudes towards the church are reflected within Darwins theory of evolution. Naturalist Charles Darwin went against the traditional way of looking at the creation of man. The traditional belief of god created man was challenged by what he calls the origin of species. Darwin believed in natural selection which meant that random variations occurred within species and allowed them to dominate over other species without this variation, which is ultimately meant survival of the fittest. It is clearly evident through the poems London and The Chimney Sweeper from the Songs of Experience and Innocence respectively, that Blakes poetry, and Simon Langtons Pride and Prejudice depict changing way of thinking in the late 18th century, as conflict between ideologies and values systems takes place. It is tradition that keeps societies, families and communities under control, but when these traditions are challenged, conflict with obviously increase and a new value systems and ideologies will be introduced into society.