Keats and Blake: Romanticism, Nature, and the Poor Jessica L Topolewski College

William Blake’s attitude about the poor in his poetry suggests that he is angry at his country, Britain, for allowing so many of its citizens, especially children, to be poor when it’s supposed to be a wealthy global superpower. This is shown greatly through his poem Holy Thursday from Songs of Innocence and especially in its companion piece, Holy Thursday from Songs of Experience. (Greenblatt 56)

“Is this a holy thing to see,

In a rich and fruitful land,

Babes reduced to misery,

Fed with cold usurous hand?”

Holy Thursday takes place in St. Paul’s Cathedral where poor children from charity schools are attending Ascension Day services. In line 1, Blake asks if it’s truly holy when the children are being exploited and the church is doing nothing about it. In lines 2 and 3, Blake attacks his supposedly rich nation for allowing its child inhabitants to be penniless and abused. Lastly, line 4 talks about charity schools, which took in poor children and gave them a proper education, only to spit most of them out and hand them over to brutal industries who made profits off of child labor and ultimately sent said children to an early grave. ("Songs Of Experience - Holy Thursday")

“Is that trembling cry a song?

Can it be a song of joy?