Key Facts
- Author: William Blake (1757-1827)
- Tile of Author: Precursor of Romanticism
- Published Date: 1794 (in “Songs of Experience”)
- Genre: Poetry (Lyric)
- Tone: Critical and reflective
- Stanzas: 4 quatrains (16 lines)
- Total Lines: 16 lines
- Rhyme Scheme: AABB in each quatrain
- Setting: A church in London during Holy Thursday, focusing on treating poor children.
Symbols
Rich and Fruitful Land: Symbolizes a prosperous society.
Babes Reduced to Misery: Represents suffering children.
Cold and Usurious Hand: Signifies oppressive actions of the powerful.
Trembling Cry: Depicts children’s distress.
Eternal Winter: Symbolizes perpetual hardship.
Sun and Rain: Represent blessings and prosperity.
Thorns: Signify obstacles and dangers.
Hunger and Poverty: Emphasize suffering.
Mind Appall: Shows lasting psychological impact.
Figures of Speech
Repetition: The recurring question, “Is this a holy thing to see,” is repeated at the beginning of each stanza, emphasizing the central theme.
Rhetorical Questions: “Is that trembling cry a song?”
Irony: The contrast between the supposed holiness of “Holy Thursday” and the children’s suffering serves as irony (lines 1-4).
Imagery: Descriptive imagery paints a bleak picture of poverty (“Fed with cold and usurous hand”).
Metaphor: “Their ways are filled with thorns” metaphorically describes the hardships people with low incomes face.
Personification: Poverty and hunger are personified as forces that “appall” the mind.
Themes
Unfairness: The poem shows that life is very unfair. Some people are rich and happy, others, especially children, are hungry.
Harmful Treatment: It talks about how strong people are towards helpless children. Taking advantage of these, they are suffering.
Growing up too Fast: The poem suggests that these children are growing up too fast because they have to face difficult and painful things at a very young age.
Harsh World: It describes these poor children’s world as a very harsh and unfriendly place with no happiness.
Hope for a Better World: Although sad, the poem also speaks of the possibility of a better world where no one goes hungry or suffers.
Criticism of Society: The poem criticizes how society treats its weakest members like these poor children and says it is wrong.
Read Also: Nurse’s Song Bangla Summary (Innocence)
Selected Quotes
“Is this a holy thing to see
In a rich and fruitful land,
Babes reduced to misery
Fed with cold and usurous hand?”
Exp: These lines ask if it is okay to see babies suffering in a wealthy land due to greed and neglect. It argues that witnessing such a contrast between wealth and child suffering is wrong.
“Is that trembling cry a song?
Can it be a song of joy?
And so many children poor?
It is a land of poverty!”
Exp: Here, the poet thinks their prayer song is a cry. There are many poor children, so the country is not rich but poor.
“And their sun does never shine.
And their fields are bleak & bare.
And their ways are fill’d with thorns
It is eternal winter there.”
Exp: Here, the poet thinks they are unfortunate because the authority does not care for them. Their lives are nothing but thornful, dark, and barren.
“For where-e’er the sun does shine,
And where-e’er the rain does fall:
Babe can never hunger there,
Nor poverty the mind appall.”
Exp: Here, the poet says the children should not stay hungry as the country has everything to make them happy.
Holy Thursday Bangla Summary
এই কবিতায়, William Blake Ascension Day, Holy Thursday-কে ইঙ্গিত করেছেন। এই দিনে, শহরের দরিদ্র শিশুরা St. John’s Paul’s Cathedral-এ মিলিত হয়।
শিশুদের পরিস্থিতি: তারা গির্জার নির্ধারিত প্রার্থনা সঙ্গীত পরিবেশন করে। Blake এর মতে, এটা কোনো প্রার্থনা নয় বরং এটা শিশুদের কান্না। শিশুরা কেন দরিদ্র অবস্থায় করছে কবি সেই পরিস্থিতির সমালোচনা করেছেন। তিনি দাবি করেন যে কর্তৃপক্ষ তাদের এই পরিস্থিতিতে ফেলেছে।
প্রকৃত অর্থে সমৃদ্ধ: তিনি তার দেশের ধনী বা ঐশ্বর্যের কথা বলেন। তিনি মনে করেন, শিশুরা সুখী না হওয়া পর্যন্ত তার দেশ ধনী হবে না। তিনি শিশুদের পরিস্থিতির জন্য কর্তৃপক্ষের কথা বলেন। তাদের উচিত শিশুদের যত্ন নেওয়া। তিনি মনে করেন, শিশুদের প্রতি ভালো ব্যবহার করলে রোদ ও মাঠ ভালো থাকবে অর্থাৎ আরামদায়ক আবহাওয়া এবং মাঠ ফসলে যাবে। এর মাধ্যমে দেশ প্রকৃত অর্থে সমৃদ্ধ হতে পারে। এই কবিতার মাধ্যমে লেখক আমাদের বিবেচনা করার আহ্বান জানিয়েছেন গীর্জার মতো দাতব্য প্রতিষ্ঠান দরিদ্র শিশুদের জন্য কী অবদান রাখে।
Read Also: Holy Thursday Bangla Summary (Songs of Innocence)
