18th Century English Poetry Essay

Eighteenth century poetry consisted of sev sequencel types of literature including ode, elegy, epistle, rime tale, hymn, song b alonead and epigram. This period is frowned upon by critics who compargon the context of this era to that of another. They claim Eighteenth century poetry is considered frivolous because often generation the content lacked a true essence that poetry upheld for many centuries. possibly this is true, for the times of this period were changing and people were facing greater hardships in their daily lives.Melancholy plagued those who were greatly concerned with tender ills which may let off the presence of abstract and satiric themes that were heavily prevalent. Perspectives evolved from the Renaissance period into Neoclassicism where individuals became substitute and a greater emphasis on the straight forward mechanics of poetry existed ( Rowles). Although there were many artist noted among this genre of poetry, William Blake found himself as a simple y et outstanding writer who apply raillery, nave subjects, and traditional ballad structure to baffle the many readers to come( Norton p. 2264).William Blake wrote The chimney S yeller of Songs of Innocence in 1789. This poem is about young children who whose families were futile to worry for them financially, therefore sent to work in English mines during the eighteenth century. These boys were often sold to master sweepers and in turn were treated inhumanely ( Arp and Johnson p.117).Blake overlyk this harsh treatment of human life to reveal serous social criticism of his atomic number 63an society. Their headmans were shaved bare to prevent black earthenware jar from soiling their hair and often suffered from serious diseases. Now, one can go steady why Blakes work was frowned upon by aristocracies and often viewed as crazy as he strongly disapproved and openly dissented the social welfare programs in his country (Norton p.2268). There is no identifiable audience except for those that visualize the third line of the first stanza, weep weep weep weep in the routes of England. This is interpreted as a childs feat to sing Sweep Sweep, which was the chimney sweepers street cry.There are dickens ideas which evolve throughout the Chimney carpet sweeper. Depending on ones outlook, the first possibility is that Blake is stating no guinea pig how detrimental life becomes, no matter how bad the church (government/law) is one leave be with God afterwards death. Sadly children are celebrating the godliness of this concept. The idea is if these children continue to work hard, eventually life will strike in the peaceful heavens. This is revealed through a dream the little boy had when, an Angel who had a bright keyopened the coffins and set them all free. The last stanza completes this thought by stating, Though the morning was cold, Tom was apt and warm, so if all do their duty they need not business organization harm. The other possibility is a neg ative-toned belief that children are conned into accepting their lives as slaves for adults. Either way, these boys are mocked by their nave pass ons (Arp 117).Blakes use of dramatic irony is shining bright as he deliberately creates a cheerful sound for six stanzas trance simultaneously developing a drastically different meaning. Ironically, this poem shows that children succumb to a positive posture on life and do not fear death for they are too young to understand the realm of the situation.In the first two lines, Blake gives us an cypher of a child in a state of agony or even in a state of subversion as he is left all alone with no parents. However, after a night full of merry dreams the boy wakes up looking happy and warm. This leads the reader to believe life continues with no worries instead of finish the story with a boy whose future is bleak and laborious. Perhaps, although I doubt, Blake would impulse the reader to believe that anyone has the ability to be content with a humble life so long as his/her dreams fulfill that empty space.Blake uses the image of two disguises to represent the simplicity of this picture. The comment black which holds earthshaking importance as it is apply to represent death and corruption. Black is the color of the boys coffins in the little boys dream. The color black is also referenced to the soot which is filth that covers the boys as they discharge their daily chores. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the color white represents faithfulness and angelic-like spirit. The eighth line, Toms hair is white before his head is shaved. At this point, Tom is compared to feeble lamb, a symbol of the ultimate sacrificial animal, as he cries when his head becomes bare. And similar to biblical stories, Tom is bleak and white when the angels carry him off to heaven where God will be his father. Blake creates an allusion by giving the reader a peace of mind while using God as a symbol for safety and care (Norton p. 2 268).There is no discernible meter for the poem, the beats jump anyplace from eight to twelve, with no repetition or pattern found. The Chimney sweeper tone sounds very much like a nursery rhyme. correspondent to Rock-A-Bye-Baby, the sounds are sweet an innocent, and if you read the words, when the bow break, the cradle will fall the words are quite disturbing. Like the dramatic irony established in this poem, tone presents itself as two-dimensional, sounding soft but actually disheartening.Williams Blake writes an excellent poem in my opinion he used terms and ideas that we have studied in this course such as irony, symbolism and allusion. Although his language is simple rather than manipulating complicated words that Shakespeare prefers, I find his style easier to evaluate. Please do not get the falsely idea, by easy I mean a better understanding. grey-haired world writers are fascinating, but often times are too difficult to comprehend, much less interpret. Not only did I c ontract about 18th century poetry, I also gained knowledge of Europe social ills of the time.Woks CitedArp, Thomas, and Greg Johnson. Sound and Sense An introduction to Poetry. 10th Ed. Heinle & Heinle Boston, MA, 2002Hugo, Howard, and Patricia M. Spacks. Revolution and love story in Europe and America. The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces. Ed. Maynoard Mack. wise York City, NY W.W. Norton & Co. 1997. 2264 & 2268.Rowles, Kelly. Overview of 18th Century Poetry. New Jersey, 2004. Richard Stockton College of New Jersey. Aug. 2004