Echoing Green, The Analysis

The sun does arise,

And make happy the skies;

The merry bells ring

To welcome the spring;

The skylark and thrush,

The birds of the bush,

Sing louder around

To the bell's cheerful sound,

While our sports shall be seen

On the Echoing Green.



Old John with white hair,

Does laugh away care,

Sitting under the oak,

Among the old folk.

They laugh at our play,

And soon they all say:

"Such, such were the joys

When we all, girls and boys,

In our youth time were seen

On the Echoing Green."



Till the little ones, weary,

No more can be merry;

The sun does descend,

And our sports have an end.

Round the laps of their mothers

Many sisters and brother,

Like birds in their nest,

Are ready for rest,

And sport no more seen

On the darkening Green.

.

.: :.

My interpretation of Blake's 'Ecchoing Green' is that it is addressing the disintegration of rural life in Britain. In context to what was going on at the time Blake was extremely weary of the impact Industrialism was having on British society and culture. The ratio of the rural-urban populace was more equaly split before the revolution, however it encouraged urbanisation to large cities like London.
The first two stanza take on the role of the development of youth's lives in a pleasant environment of a village. It begins with a innocent and harmless tone to the poem, but when the end of the third stanza is met we are presented with the final line; 'And sport no more seen on the darkening green'. The change from 'ecchoing' to 'darkening' stands out, it suggests that rural life in the area has slowly deteriorated as people are moving closer to the cities for employment, the green has been cast back into a darker age. Blake may have viewed the revolution as a dark evil that would re-established the culture and society of Britain.

| Posted on 2009-12-29 | by a guest

.: :.

I have studied William Blake's poetry for the past year in Year 12 and have found it really interesting. The Echoing Green by William Blake portrays a day scene. The beginning of the poem starts with the children all joyful and happy and the sun is arising. The 2nd stanza of the poem is the middle of the day and the old folk are commenting on old days and how they used to be able to play and have fun like the young children are now. The last stanza ends with the ending of the day, the children are going to sleep and the sun is going down on the greens. This poem can also be portrayed as the cycle of life. It starts with the birth in spring of the little children and then goes on to the middle age with the older people and the middle of the day. The last stanza then moves it into the last section of life- death. As the "sun goes down on the green" this cnan be interpreted as being the life finally coming to rest.
Any ways this is just an interpretation, open to adjustment!!:-)

| Posted on 2009-07-23 | by a guest

.: :.

i think that this poem by Blake is actually depicting a sexual encounter, which starts full of energy as the first stanza suggests, but by the third stanza, after the climax, both become 'weary'. 'darkening green' the last line is an invitation for sleep to end the sport of the day.
by nick choofon

| Posted on 2009-04-26 | by a guest

.: :.

i deem this poem rather shallow and pedantic. I visually noticed the advanced juxtoposition of the interchangable membranes coming across for this literary work of art... Thanks Billiam

| Posted on 2009-01-06 | by a guest

.: Biblical reference :.

The intextuality in the poem between The Bible and The Garden of Eden as stated above in the forst quote is a perfect angle to view the poem from. Also there is no direct biblical reference, the idea is still present in the readers mind. Despite the fact that there is no "snake" present, i think that time in itself could be the "subject which spoils everything", in this case it is the happy energetic childhood

| Posted on 2008-05-16 | by a guest

.: Snake :.

I love the idea of the life cycle and the renewal of the young generation, and I feel it connects with the title perfectly, as the Green is still Echoing with the sound of lost youth.

I also note that this poem seems to show intertextuality with the Bible and the Garen of Eden. I know Blake was into religion, and the Green shows the paradise world before the snake comes and spoils it. I know a snake isn't featured in this poem, but Blake does often use snakes to symbolise experience and the ruining of things, such as in 'the sick rose' the worm as the phallic symbol destroys the woman. Maybe Blake should have added a snake here :P



| Posted on 2007-05-22 | by a guest

.: nurse :.

my response to that is simular to others that i have read on here. I like the rhythme of this poem, the rhyming couplets gives it a sort of, harmonious (spelling!?!?) feel to fit with the countryside life.
The other idea i thought i'd add was that of the Oak. It represents strength and protection, complementing the elderly folk, whoses traditions can protect the community today.
That is all!

Louisa's interpretation.

| Posted on 2007-05-16 | by a guest

.: a critical appreciation :.

The echoing green discribes the livespan of a person - the morning, afternoon, and evening/night, in a persons life.
morning = birth & childhood, the energy & vitality of childhood.
afternoon = middle age
evening/night = old age & death

Blake brings out the difference between childhood and old age. he describes three pictures: in the first stanza nature comes to life early in the morning. the sun rises and the birds (skylark & trush) sing merrily. even the bells ring merrily (the bells cheerfull sound) these reflect energy, happiness and freedom. the sound refects the children's happiness and playing.
Old John and the old folk in the second stanza watch the children play and think nostalgically of their own past when they ''girls and boys'' in their youth time where seen on The Echoing Green. the oak tree is equivalent to old age. the old folk cherish their memories and the tone in this stanza changes. there is a strong hint of unhappiness, sadness, nostalgia, weariness and apathy. the old folk are compared to ''birds who are ready for rest''. childhood progresses into youth, adulthood, old age and eventually death.
the poem is rich in imaginary and stylistic devices. the words rhyme in pairs aa, bb, cc etc. eg. arise-skies.
the rhythm in the first stanza is fast showing the energy and vitality of children. the rhythm of the second stanza is slower to reflect old age, weariness and tireness.

by: xilla, malta

| Posted on 2007-02-07 | by a guest

.: a critical appreciation :.

The echoing green discribes the livespan of a person - the morning, afternoon, and evening/night, in a persons life.
morning = birth & childhood, the energy & vitality of childhood.
afternoon = middle age
evening/night = old age & death

Blake brings out the difference between childhood and old age. he describes three pictures: in the first stanza nature comes to life early in the morning. the sun rises and the birds (skylark & trush) sing merrily. even the bells ring merrily (the bells cheerfull sound) these reflect energy, happiness and freedom. the sound refects the children's happiness and playing.
Old John and the old folk in the second stanza watch the children play and think nostalgically of their own past when they ''girls and boys'' in their youth time where seen on The Echoing Green. the oak tree is equivalent to old age. the old folk cherish their memories and the tone in this stanza changes. there is a strong hint of unhappiness, sadness, nostalgia, weariness and apathy. the old folk are compared to ''birds who are ready for rest''. childhood progresses into youth, adulthood, old age and eventually death.
the poem is rich in imaginary and stylistic devices. the words rhyme in pairs aa, bb, cc etc. eg. arise-skies.
the rhythm in the first stanza is fast showing the energy and vitality of children. the rhythm of the second stanza is slower to reflect old age, weariness and tireness.

| Posted on 2007-02-07 | by a guest

.: The Echoing Green :.

Whoever wrote the second post on this thread obviously did not study the poem as the analysis is simply copied from the 'York Notes Advanced' description of the poem. I thought that this site might hold personal responses to the poem rather than plagiarism.
I have noticed when reading the poem that there is a lightness in the rhythm and unstressed syllables regularly come in pairs. Throughout the the poem there also seems to be a rapid recurrence of the rhyming sounds.

| Posted on 2006-01-27 | by Approved Guest

.: The Echoing Green :.

No No No. The echoing green depcicts the cycle of day and night to show the progression from youth (a state of innocence, hence the "bells chearful sound") to adulthood (a state of experience, hence the darkening green".) Note how he uses the idea of the sun arising and descending to show this. It would be wrong to say that Blake cannot see the inevitablity of age, just look at the lines"soon they all say, Such were the joys" but we can say is that he views this progression as something dark and disturbing. The reference to "Green" in the last line is not one that inspires confidence but instead it has a rather ominious feel to it "the darkening green", suggesting that beyond childhood and therefore innocence lies a state of darkeness and corruption.

| Posted on 2005-05-23 | by Approved Guest

.: The Echoing Green :.

The poem depicyts a conventional villiage scene in which a whole day's cycle is portrayed.
Within it youth and age all have parts to play alongside the birds and other creatures of Spring.
The last part of the the second stanza consists of reminiscence by the 'old folk' in connection with the play of the youngsters. Are we meant to see in this a natural development from youth to old age or see it as a kind of nostagia?
There are two slighty disturbing signs that the world of the villiage green is under threat.
The first would arise from a different reading of the last two lines, whereby the idea of spots being 'no more seen' and the green itself 'darkening' might not signify the natural ending of the day, but also a possible ending of a certain tradition, teh coming in of night to menace our safety and, more importantly, that of our children.
The second might occur to us as we contemplatethe title of the poem: why is it an 'echoing' green? Is it because id reverbrates with laughter and play, or is it because it continues to resound with the 'echo' of something either already or imminently lost?
Also, 'Old John' was a conventional pastoral figure in eighteenth- century poetry.

| Posted on 2005-05-03 | by Approved Guest

.: Aren't we all? :.


The poem generally encompasses a conventional day of society in a village. With the old and the young all having a place in society, while in a city this may not be possible. It is the last line of the poem that the reader may find disturbing as "sport no more seen/On the darkening green" could be taken to mean one of two things. Is Blake simply talking about the end of the day? Or the end of this idealistic country life? Does Blake fear city life being the only way of life? Which for Blake, living in London except for a stay in Felpham, was his main experience.

| Posted on 2005-04-09 | by Approved Guest