Hello and welcome to the Discourse. William Blake’s first published work was Poetical Sketches. It was a collection of 19 lyric poems grouped under the title "Miscellaneous Poems" written between 1769 and 1777 when Blake was 12 to 20 years old. In addition to the Miscellaneous Poems, the Illustrated book also contains a dramatic fragment (King Edward the Third), a prologue to another play in blank verse ('Prologue, Intended for a dramatic piece of King Edward the Fourth'), a prose poem prologue ('Prologue to King John'), a ballad ('A War Song to Englishmen') and three prose poems ('The Couch of Death', 'Contemplation', and 'Samson'). Poetical Sketches was published in 1783.
The first four poems of the collection are also known as the Season Songs and they are titled as To Spring, To Summer, To Autumn, and To Winter. These Season Songs are invocations to the four seasons that Blake developed in mythological figures in his later works.
These season songs can be interpreted as a reference to nature and arts but they also highlight sexual desire and fulfillment and to the different stages of human life and civilization.
The poem To Spring shows myriads of moods. One may find it hopeful and celebrating. However, as the poet describes the inevitable arrival and passage of the season, one may feel the deep existential depression hidden in the poem.
Structure of To Spring:
The poem contains 16 lines set in four quatrains or stanzas. There is no fixed rhyming scheme in this poem by Blake but that offers a natural flow to the poem, The poem is an invocation or plea to the Spring season. Offering a natural flow while not restricting the poem to a rhyme scheme, the poet expresses a sense of genuine emotions. Blake has used Enjambment (cutting of a line before its natural end), Caesura (a pause in the middle of a line of a poem), Personification (intentional use of human-specific actions and language to describe something non-human), Apostrophe (addressing someone absent), Metaphor, Imagery, and Repetition in this poem.
Summary of To Spring:
Stanza 1 Lines 1-4
“O thou with dewy locks, who lookest down
Through the clear windows of the morning, turn
Thine angel eyes upon our western isle,
Which in full choir hails thy approach, O Spring!”
The poet begins with Personification as he addresses the spring season. He describes the spring season as a youthful divine woman with a long lock of hair. Her locks are covered with the due drops. The poet also alludes to England as ‘Wester Isle.’ He describes the Spring as a young beautiful woman while the poet’s land is her desperate lover. The lover is accompanied by a full ‘choir,’ a metaphor for the landscape of England with hills and valleys.
The poet calls upon the season to visit his land. He fervently appeals to the season to pour soft kisses on the bosom of love-sick land and awaken her to a new life and Joy. The poet wants a boon for his native land. He urged the season to bless his land. In line 2, Blake used Enjambment,
Stanza 2 Lines 5-8
“The hills tell one another, and the listening
Valleys hear; all our longing eyes are turn’d
Up to thy bright pavilions: issue forth
And let thy holy feet visit our clime!”
The poet continues to describe the Spring while using personification to describe the hills and valleys as coming alive and sharing in the season’s excitement. The hills of England speak to each other. They convey the message of the coming spring. And the valleys of the land go on listening to what the hills Say. The people of the land are eagerly waiting for the spring to lay out her exhibition of flowers, birds, and blossoms. The poet reminds the reader that he is waiting for the spring season and urges the spring to visit his land and sanctify its soil with the touch of her holy feet. In the 7th line, Blake used Caesura. The ‘Bright Pavillion’ is a metaphor to represent the sky or heaven.
Stanza 3 Lines 9-12
“Come o’er the eastern hills, and let our winds
Kiss thy perfumed garments; let us taste
Thy morn and evening breath; scatter thy pearls
Upon our lovesick land that mourns for thee.”
The spring has yet not arrived while the poet is invoking her. He continues to talk to the spring which is not present (apostrophe). The poet appeals to the spring to come over the eastern hills of England. The winds will become fragrant by kissing her scented garments. The winds will carry the fragrance of flowers of the spring season. Sweet and soothing things are the breezes of the spring in the morning and evening. They are laden with fragrance which the people are keen to taste and enjoy. The people are pining and languishing because they are in love with the spring. They are crying for her. So she must come.
The speaker pleads with the spring to taste her morning and evening breath. Spring season is the season of flowers that bloom either in the morning or evening. The “morn and evening breath” can be seen as the cool, fresh air of Spring mornings and evenings. It is different from the harshness of winter or the heat of summer.
Stanza 4 Lines 13-16
“O deck her forth with thy fair fingers; pour
Thy soft kisses on her bosom; and put
Thy golden crown upon her languish’d head,
Whose modest tresses are bound up for thee.”
The poet further adds personification and vivid imagery in the final stanza of the poem. The poet urges the spring to adorn and decorate his native land with her own beautiful fingers. The season should plant soft and sweet kisses on the breast of England. She should decorate England's weak and pale head with her golden crown. The simple traces of hair of the native land were tied up in prayer to the season.
The poet personifies his land as a maiden awaiting jewels on her fingers. By giving them to her, one is beautifying her hands and transforming her fingers in the same way that Spring transforms the land. The ‘soft kisses’ represent the light rains or the warmth of the sun that Spring bestows upon the earth. The ‘golden crown’ represents the light sunlight which is not as harsh as that of summer and is different from the dark evenings of winter. The poet begins lines 14 and 15 with the word ‘Thy’ making use of Repetition.
So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!
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