Contrasting Visions of the World: The Echoing Green and London Anonymous 12th Grade

In ‘Songs of Innocence and of Experience’, Blake evokes contrasting visions of the world. The two poems, 'The Echoing Green' and 'London', are especially characteristic of these contrary visions; evoking polar opposite images of innocence, corruption and freedom. Blake uses both contrasting (for example, the different use of tone) and similar ways (the use of sound as a poetic device) to evoke contrary visions in the two poems: one of freedom, joy, and one of corruption.

The most immediate contrast between the two poems is the overwhelming vision of misery in 'London', compared to the embodiment of joy in 'the Echoing Green'. Blake, it should be noted, utilizes similar poetic techniques to evoke these different visions. For example, Blake’s prevalent sensory imagery in both poems heightens the contrary visions of each one. In 'London', Blake references the sounds of misery, “cry” (which is repeated thrice), “soldier’s sigh”, “curse”, “tear”. Sensory imagery is crucial to 'the Echoing Green' too, which describes the “laughing” (repeated twice), “the bells’ cheerful sound”, “the merry bells ring”, and the “birds of the bush [which] sing louder”. Blake’s focus, particularly, on auditory imagery, in both poems, aids the...