Holy Thursday by William Blake

William Blake

Sourced: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Blake

A Short Biography of William Blake

Life:                28^th November 1757 - 12^th August 1827
Born and lived in London, England his entire life (Except for 3 years which he spent in Felpham.
Blake was not only a poet but a painter and printmaker as well.
William Blake was highly unrecognised during his lifetime but now he is viewed as the semi-figure of the Romantic Age for both his poetry and visual art.

Holy Thursday

In some literary forms of writings we can see the timeless nature of texts.  In saying ‘timeless’ they have the ability to have reference and relevance to contemporary lifestyles despite the time when they were composed.  William Blake’s poem ‘Holy Thursday’ is an example of literary texts that does not have an expiry date.

William Blake composed ‘Holy Thursday’ in 1794, the 18^th century which focuses on the rich nature of England but its lack of support for those in poverty – children who as young as 4 years old would be working in factories.  Although this is what Blake has intended this poem to focus on I have perceived it in a different light.  However, I still follow the same ideas and values that Blake is conveying though seeing them through a different context.

We see the overlapping ideas between the time period to which Blake is depicting and the time period which I perceive. Depicting a land which was rich in wealth but who neglected and were ignorant to the poverty stricken inhabitants of society. This was a consequence of the rich categorising themselves as the superior inhabitants of society where their needs and wants conquer any ‘babe’ working in a factory at the age of five. My interpretation however relates to the more prominent concern within contemporary society being the nature of humanity. Civilization is extremely similar to the priorities and attitudes of the ‘rich in wealth’ England- they both place their priorities and needs above any other. This replicates humans with their relationship to the land, who too are ignorant neglecting the needs of nature placing their requirements, visions and desires in preference to the structure and composure of the landscape and the impact it will have on it.

‘Holy Thursday’, is an innovative title which has been used in order to illustrate and depict human interaction with the physical environment. Holy refers to something that is sacred, something that we cherish and is held close to our hearts. When the term is accompanied with the word ‘Thursday’ as in ‘Holy Thursday’ this statement serves a very different purpose. This title is very creative in depicting human attitudes towards the land. Holy Thursday was a time where Jesus offered of himself for the greater benefit of society; to grant them eternal salvation. This replicates the nature of ‘Mother Nature’ and her persona as a loving, nurturer and provider for human life form. She likes the behaviour of Jesus, offering of her own self to grant the happiness and satisfaction for human existence. Also, similarly to Jesus this is a result of human activity. Adam and Eve’s decision to sin resulted in someone else offering their own life to grant happiness for the rest of society, Mother Nature too is giving of herself due to this ‘sin’ of human existence and the act of turning away. Turning away from the intentions of their creation- living in harmony rather than opposing and destroying the varied elements of their surroundings. Again, we can witness the inconsiderate and self-centred society in which we inhibit and can detach the idea that Blake is conveying to the audience being self obsessed and self concerned. In presenting this concept, we like Adam and Eve are turning away from the people God wanted us to be but this does not need to relate on a Christian, Catholic or any religious form rather it relates to humanity.

The third stanza conveys such concepts through the use of repetition of ‘and their’ within the first three lines demonstrating this human relationship over the land. It is demining and powerful and is almost conveying a sense of ownership and power over the land and as a result this presents the environment as vulnerable. It does not have a voice and this almost accusing tone used by Blake has been incorporated to create and illustrate the concept of sin. The persona’s repetition has been used as a means of enforcing these wrong acts of humanity and attempt to draw attention to the changing ways of civilization. Surrounding this use of repetition of ‘and their’ we see the recurrent use of negative connotations in lines like ‘sun does never shine’ ‘fields are bleak and bare’, ‘ways are filled with thorns’. These lines have been incorporated into the poem as a means of illustrating the negative impact of human activity on earth and our negative approach towards it. The line ‘sun does never shine’ can be perceived as a symbol of happiness- the happiness that is no longer apparent within society which has been taken away just like the landscape. ‘The fields are bleak and bare’ can be interpreted in two ways.

1.       One for its physical aspect being that in our destruction there is no land, there is no nature left around us- it is bare. Bare meaning no life form; no plant of animal life on the earth or it could be bare to the persona; the buildings, the factories, this industrial world does not possess any life and is therefore classed as bare- this approach enables the responder to make a judgement of their own. An intriguing approach used by Blake which is effective in presenting these areas of concern to the audience.

2.       The second being that this line too, can be seen as metaphorical for the person- we are bare, we are no longer nurtured by mother nature’s goodness rather like the land we too are bare, we are at a loss of our self- our feelings, attitudes and values as we have lost our source of nourishment.

Blake’s poetry in this sense plays great importance on the severity of the issue. We need to remember and stay true to who we are, not be overcome with materialistic and industrialised elements of society that will overwrite the factors which combine to make one human. Values, morals, right judgement, courage, faith and wisdom may be considered as a cliché but rather these are extremely important in forming a person who can view society from another’s perspective- consequently in forgetting to nourish these factors of our lives we are not nourishing our inner landscape. This effectively changes the people we are and we must strive not to fall in a path of self obsession with only own desires, wants and needs at heart, rather, we must consider all inhabitants within our landscape (plants and animals). They are not only a source for infrastructure, food or even oxygen that enables us to breathe or for assisting our physical bodies to continue to function through everyday lives. We cannot undermine the importance and relevance the landscape has to the aspects of an individual- inner, imaginative and physical. Through this we can see that this demonstrates the inter-relationships between all aspects of the landscape, our reliance on each one and the importance to sustain and maintain each one’s existence.

Below: My Annotated copy of the poem Holy Thursday by William Blake.