William Blake, "Infant Sorrow," from Songs of Innocence and Experience, 1794. Courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
"Infant Sorrow" is a poem by William Blake, originally published in Songs of Innocence and of Experience, 1794.
Infant Sorrow[]
My mother groand! my father wept.
Into the dangerous world I leapt:
Helpless, naked, piping loud;
Like a fiend hid in a cloud.
Struggling in my fathers hands:
Striving against my swaddling bands:
Bound and weary I thought best
To sulk upon my mothers breast.
Analysis[]
Blake Video 21 Infant Sorrow
"Infant Sorrow" is the poem in Songs of Experience that corresponds to "Infant Joy" in Songs of Innocence. "Infant Sorrow" suggests that childbirth is not always joyful and happy but can bring sorrow and pain.
While "Infant Joy" is written in the present tense, "Infant Sorrow" uses the past tense to describe this birth. The speaker is no longer a baby: he has had some experience of the dangerous world and he turns back to see the dreadful moment when - like a fiend, not like an angel - he came to life. The verb "leapt" suggests his exhausted mother's last push after a painful labor, with no tender arms to take and cuddle this creature. The baby found itself half stifled with the poor bandage wrapped around its tiny body and its father's hands to hold him tight. He tried to free himself, as hard as he could, but his attempt was vain and in the end he could only surrender and "sulk upon ... mother's breast".
The struggle is symbolical of any attempt of contrasting tyrannical oppressive power (the father, the institutions, the church itself...) and the final moment of surrender is the negative acceptance of one's destiny.
In this poem the parents seem depressed by this unwanted birth, and this may be reflected on the child itself.
The poem can be read as social commentary. It is well known that William Blake was strongly opposed to the industrial revolution; similarly, he was opposed to the mistreatment of children by rich factory owners. When the infant is being brought helpless and naked to the "dangerous world", this world refers to the factory system. In this reading, the "swaddling bands" represent the fat that infants are born with, initially to insulate them and provide some form of defense against their inherent vulnerability. Blake utilizes this as a symbol of temporary security. While the child is young, he/she will be nurtured and protected by their parents. But once the child matures, they will find a life devoid of any joy or pleasure, such as working in the factories with no security. The child decides to "sulk" upon the breast of the mother's child, almost in a manner that allows the child to enjoy what little comfort it has left.
INFANT SORROW - William Blake
See also[]
References[]
External links[]
- Audio / video
- "Infant Sorrow" at YouTube
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