Babes reduced to misery, / Fed with cold and usurous hand?
- William Blake, “Holy Thursday” from Songs of Experience
These two lines in the opening stanza set the mood for William Blake’s second “Holy Thursday,” which clearly contrasts with his first “Holy Thursday” from Songs of Innocence. Although both poems share their title and have similar subject matter, they are very different, as can be seen in the titles of the collections they are in. The first “Holy Thursday” is in Blake’s Songs of Innocence, while the second poem of that title is from Songs of Experience. Those two words, innocence and experience, define the difference between the poems, which reflects the difference between Blake’s viewpoints when he was writing the poems. As the two poems are compared, a deep call for the care of the poor can be clearly seen. When the “Holy Thursday” poems are put together, Blake is found urging the care of the poor through the poems’ message, figures of speech and contrasting imagery.
Both of these poems have different messages which are defined by the collections they are found in. “Holy Thursday” from Songs of Innocence is very innocent, cheerful, and optimistic, describing the beauty of happy children praising God on Holy Thursday. In contrast, “Holy Thursday” from Songs of Experience has a sadder and more realistic tone, and it clearly calls for compassion and change. When comparing the surface meanings of these two poems, a deeper meaning can be seen that shows the great heart and talented writing of William Blake. The first poem is a moment in time when the children are clean and happy, while the second “Holy Thursday” describes the terrible day-to-day life of the poor children in England. This combination helps the reader understand that on Holy Thursday, things seem well, but the reality is that people are hurting and starving. William Blake is begging for change. “Holy Thursday” from Songs of Experience asks provocative questions that drive his message home, such as “Is that trembling cry a song?” (5). The theme of the two “Holy Thursday” poems is that the church shouldn ot just help children on holidays or at school; the church needs to change lives.
Blake conveys his theme of care for the poor through precise figures of speech in both poems. He uses metaphors, such as “O what a multitude they seemed, / these flowers of London town!” in “Holy Thursday” from Songs of Innocence (9-10). In “Holy Thursday” from Songs of Experience, Blake uses the metaphor “It is eternal winter there” to describe the misery of the poor in London (12). Blake also employs similes in “Holy Thursday” from Songs of Innocence, including comparing the procession of children to the Thames River. His arsenal of figures of speech is rounded out by his skillful interrogation in “Holy Thursday” from Songs of Experience. In the second quatrain of that poem, Blake asks “Is that trembling cry a song? / Can it be a song of joy? / And so many children poor?” (5-7). These three questions cause the reader to ponder the problem that Blake expounds on for the rest of the poem.
The third key component of both poems is imagery, which Blake has mastered. In the first “Holy Thursday,” imagery such as “The children walking two and two / In red and blue and green;” paints a vivid picture in the reader’s head (3-4). Almost every single line in the poem clearly illustrates Blake’s meaning, and when combined with the second poem, leaves the reader without a doubt about the deeper theme of care and hospitality and love. The second poem also contains imagery, such as “And their sun never does shine,” (9). The imagery in the second “Holy Thursday” is much sadder and bleaker than in the first, emphasizing the difference in meaning between the two poems. However, the final stanza of “Holy Thursday” from Songs of Experience is optimistic, repeating the imagery of the previous quatrain but removing the negative words. The contrast between these two stanzas shows the current, desolate world of the poor in London compared to the plentiful life that Blake desires them to have. This contrast is even clearer and more urgent when the two poems are compared. The bright and cheerful imagery of the first “Holy Thursday” is crushed by the depressing realities expressed in the second poem. Blake uses his imagery to clearly proclaim his message.
After the two “Holy Thursday” poems are compared, it is clear that Blake skillfully employed message, figures of speech, and imagery to convey his profound theme of compassion and caring for the poor. During William Blake’s time, London was a terrible place to live, especially for the poor, who were many. People were homeless and starving, kids often were orphans, the misery was terrible. But each year on Holy Thursday, the kids who went to the Church of England school cleaned up and paraded into St. Paul’s Cathedral where they sang hymns to celebrate the day. In the first poem of “Holy Thursday,” Blake expresses an innocent viewpoint and describes the glory of the celebration. However, the second poem goes into the context of Holy Thursday and the children that sing on it, showing the pitiful lives they and the other poor people of London lead. Blake is appalled by the hardship that people suffer, and in his second “Holy Thursday,” he gives a clear message to the church that they need to care for the poor. This theme applies to modern life hundreds of years later, because there are still poor and needy people in the world, and the compassionate and loving thing to do is care for them.
Read William Blake's "Holy Thursday" from the Songs of Innocence here: Songs of Innocence and Experience: Songs of Innocence, Holy Thursday | SparkNotes
And "Holy Thursday" from the Songs of Experience here: Holy Thursday by William Blake - Poems | Academy of American Poets