Themes of childhood innocence and a childlike perspective on the world are explored by both William Wordsworth and William Blake in their poetry, particularly in the poems “We Are Seven” by Wordsworth and “The Little Black Boy” by Blake. Each of these works examines a different frame of reference from which a child confronts an issue that is arguably very difficult to comprehend at a young age. The children represented in each of the poems are forced to grapple with mature, adult issues. In Wordsworth’s poem, the subject deals with grief, whereas in Blake’s poem, the child is trying to understand his identity. The juxtaposition of child characters with adult scenarios highlights just how tender-aged these children are. Through the imposition of saddening scenarios on children, Wordsworth and Blake both beg the question of whether or not any age is considered too young to endure the pains of life. They also acknowledge that no one, regardless of their circumstances, is free from dealing with complex emotions.
In Wordsworth’s poem “We Are Seven” he highlights a childlike approach to the loss of one’s siblings. He shares a conversation between the speaker of the poem and a young girl with seven siblings, two of which have passed away. Despite their passing, she continues to play and interact with them as if they are still living. This approach presents an example of joy, hopefulness, and wonder that has not yet been jaded by the horrors of the world. Even a child
who has experienced such loss has not allowed herself to be consumed by it; rather, she finds new ways to interact with her late siblings and remains content with her circumstances. During a conversation between the little girl and the speaker, they argue back and forth: “‘But they are dead; those two are dead! Their spirits are in heaven!’ ‘Twas throwing words away; for still The little Maid would have her will, And said, ‘Nay, we are seven!’” By refusing to remove them from her count of seven, they remain alive in her imagination.
The young girl’s ability to fuse the realms of life and death also serve as an allusion to the power of the mind, self, and imagination, a theme that is widely explored within Wordsworth’s work as well as under the umbrella of Romanticism. Rather than dwelling on the sadness of her siblings’ deaths, she searches for any way that she can keep them alive. This ability gives her power and agency to form her own thoughts despite the popular belief that death is an ending. In this instance, I would argue that her innocence shields her from the largely unforgiving reality of death. In the first stanza of the poem, the speaker says “–A simple child, that lightly draws its breath, And feels its life in every limb, What should it know of death?” The author explicitly acknowledges the fact that because she is close to the beginning of her own life, she shouldn’t have to know the end of another. But I would argue that because she is a young child who has not spent a full lifetime learning and understanding death, she can imagine her own version of death, one that still permits her to sing to and talk to her late brother and sister. This indicates that even from an early age, she is able to distinguish between a physical absence and a spiritual one.
The speaker of the poem repeatedly asks the little girl why she continues to say that she has seven siblings if two of them are dead, and each time she insists that she still has seven. One example occurs when the speaker says: “‘You run about, my little Maid, Your limbs they are
alive; If two are in the church-yard laid, Then ye are only five.’” Her response to this is “‘Their graves are green, they may be seen,’ The little Maid replied.” The repetition of this notion
throughout the poem places emphasis on her insistence that they are indeed seven. I argue that through this repetition, she obtains the power and control to decide when her siblings are truly gone and for her, their death does equal complete disappearance. Furthermore, Wordsworth chooses to capitalize the word “Maid” throughout the poem, I think this choice of spelling contributes further to the power that the young girl holds. By capitalizing the word he uses to refer to her, he is distinguishing her as a person of value and importance. Even though “Maid” is not her name, it still elicits the same emphasis as a name or a proper noun would.
Throughout Blake’s poem, “The Little Black Boy,” he uses the contrast between both white and black to convey a little boy’s internal thoughts about the color of his skin. In the first few lines he states, “And I am black, but O! My soul is white; white as an angel is the English child, But I am black as if bereav’d of light” This statement has the implication that white is an
angelic color, and one that is full of light, conversely black is described as a color that is “bereav’d of light” or in other words “robbed” of light. The concept of light has an inherently positive connotation, one that is both happy and good. Therefore, something that has been robbed of light could represent the opposite.
In the text, the boy’s mother describes his “black body and sunburnt face” as nothing but a “cloud.” The symbol of a cloud functioning as a representation of the little boy’s skin suggests that the skin he was born with is a mere cover. The mother tells her son that his skin is a
reflection of himself learning to bear the heat of God’s love. This use of imagery implies that the color of his skin is a temporary state that is subject to change, and therefore that it should change. However, hearing these words as a child is arguabl
y very degrading. This statement insinuates that he should strive to appear differently than he does in order to receive love. The idea that his
skin is a “cloud” develops further as the poem continues when the young speaker says: “I’ll shade him from the heat till he can bear To lean in joy upon our father’s knee. And I’ll stand and
stroke his silver hair, And be like him, and he will then love me.” In this line, the little boy is implying that he must endure a series of steps before he can truly be loved. He says that he will only be loved if he can one day appear like the little white boy. This line in particular gives the poem a sad, lonely tone, considering that a young child is questioning what must happen before he can be loved. In these lines, the little boy also suggests that he has to serve as “shade” or a shield for the little white boy, and the idea that his dark skin is a cloud convinces him of this. But what makes the little white boy more deserving of shade than the little Black boy himself? And who, in turn, will shield the little Black boy?
Both poets explore a number of issues through the scope of these two works. Neither of the child characters of the poems have chosen their respective fates, yet they are forced to cope with the societal implications of their realities. For the young maiden in Wordsworth’s “We Are Seven,” this takes the form of living with and understanding death, all while figuring out what it means to be alive. Her willful imagination forces us to revisit our own definitions of death, and
encourages us to approach conversations about our own lost loved ones with different language. Whereas for the little boy in Blake’s “The Little Black Boy,” he is learning how to be loved with
an implied and superficial sense of otherness. This convinces him that he must shed himself of one of his defining characteristics, the “cloud” that is his skin, in order to experience love.