Compare and Contrast the Two Nurses in Blake’s poems.
PremiumCompare and contrast the two nurses in Blake’s poems.
Blake shows two different sides of the human soul—innocence and experience—in his poems of the collection “The Songs of Innocence and of Experience” (1794).
Nurse in Songs of Innocence: In the “Nurse’s Song” from Songs of Innocence, the nurse is kind, gentle, and loving. She watches the children play. She feels happy hearing their laughter. When she asks them to come home, they beg to stay longer outside and play. The children say the birds are still flying, the sheep are still in the fields. Instead of forcing them inside, the nurse allows them more time to play. She says:
The Nurse believes childhood is a time of joy and freedom. She trusts the children to return when they are ready. This nurse represents innocence—which is full of happiness, purity, and trust.“Well, well, go and play till the light fades away.”