Holy Thursday by William Blake

Holy Thursday by William Blake

 

’Twas on a Holy Thursday their innocent faces clean

The children walking two & two in red & blue & green

Grey headed beadles walk’d before with wands as white as snow

Till into the high dome of Pauls they like Thames waters flow

 

O what a multitude they seem’d these flowers of London town

Seated in companies they sit with radiance all their own

The hum of multitudes was there but multitudes of lambs

Thousands of little boys & girls raising their innocent hands

 

Now like a mighty wind they raise to heaven the voice of song

Or like harmonious thunderings the seats of heaven among

Beneath them sit the aged men wise guardians of the poor

Then cherish pity, lest you drive an angel from your door

INTRODUCTION -

The poem “Holy Thursday” was written by the famous English poet, William Blake and was published in 1789. The poem is a part of the poetry collection 'Songs of Innocence' by the poet and has a counter-poem with the same name in his other collection, 'Songs of Experience'. The poem describes a ceremony that took place in England on Ascension Day. On this particular day, the children of charity schools and orphanages went to St. Paul's Cathedral and took part in a special service of the church. The poet uses this situation to describe the poverty and indifference of humans in the then society. The poem consists of 12 lines which are divided into three quatrains. Each quatrain is written into rhyming couplets and also follows the rhyme scheme of AABB.

POET -

William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet during the Romantic Age. His works have a strong, thoughtful, and mystical view, portrayed in a very artistic and expressive form. His most important works are his “prophetic works” - The Book of Los, The Song of Los, Vala, or The Four Zoas, and Milton a Poem, among many others. His other important works include Songs of Innocence and Experience, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, The Lamb and Jerusalem.

SUMMARY -

LINES 1 TO 4 -

The first stanza starts with the depiction of a ceremony. The poet describes the movement of the children from the charity schools to St. Patrick’s Cathedral on the 'Holy Thursday.' He describes how the children walk towards the church in straight lines. The children are described as a colorful mass dressed in red, blue, and green which flows through the streets of London like the river Thames. The poet suggests that the children are being carried out by their current of innocence. Despite the celebratory scenery, the poet criticizes certain aspects of the social ritual. He says that the faces of the children are “clean”, which suggests that they are normally dirty, and also notices how the beadles walk alongside the children “with wands”. This suggests the violent authority that these beadles had over the children.

LINES 5 TO 8 -

In the second stanza, the poet describes the children in many different ways. First, they are presented as “flowers of London town”, emphasizing their beauty and their fragility. The poet talks about the children while he sees them seated in the church emitting radiance. Then, the children are described as “lambs”, emphasizing their innocence and their relationship with God and religion. Thus, children are linked to Christ, who has a special sympathy with children. This description conflicts with the “hum of multitudes” and furthers with the emphasis on the children “raising their innocent hands”. There are a large number of these children and they are all described as uncorrupted and delicate.

LINES 9 TO 12 -

In the third stanza, the children begin to sing. Blake describes how their song is as powerful and loud as the strong wind reaching heaven. As they sing, the children are no longer fragile, and they acquire a force that enables them to communicate with God. Moreover, the beadles that walked with them in the streets are now overshadowed by the children and their songs. The final line tells the reader to have compassion for the poor. This suggests further a possibility of divine wrath and retribution in the children’s song.

THEMES -

• Innocence and Strength - The poet throughout has changed the aura of the children. In the first stanza, they are weak and regulated by the beadles which change in the third stanza where they rose to power above those beadles and started singing a song powerful enough to reach heaven. This strength is somehow gained by their innocence which brings them close to God.
• Poverty and human behavior - Through the poem, the poet brings instances where it is described how the children were violently abused by those beadles and were also left dirty and uncared. Only on the auspicious day have they turned better.

END -

The poem is undoubtedly a powerful one in which the poet brings our attention to many factors like the poor children, the strict beadles, the Christian society and beliefs, and poverty. Each point is highlighted and the reader is left to ponder how even in the time of poverty and despair God still is close to us and hears us from beyond the clouds.