Comparing: ‘The Little Girl Lost’ and ‘A Little BOY Lost’.

Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience, by William Blake.

William Blake (1757-1827) was born in London and spent most of his life in Britain’s capital. He was an artist and besides writing poems, he made his own illustrations to go with them. He had strong feelings about organized religion, he was strongly against it. His ideas were, like Wordsworth and Coleridge, highly influenced by the French Revolution.

The first book of poems Blake published, was his Poetical Sketches in 1783. After that he wrote ‘Songs of Innocence’ (1789) at the beginning of the Romantic period (1789 -1832), Songs of Experience was written 5 years later. The years during and just after the French revolution were called the age of Enlightenment. Art became more important, also the way people thought began to change. It became important to enlighten oneself with poetry and art. Blake’s idea about religion was that everyone should be free to believe as he or she wants to, not as how the ‘organised Religion’ tells us to do. With organized religion he meant the Anglican Church. ‘The Little Girl Lost’ is written down in ‘Songs of Innocence and as so, will be di

The poem ‘The Little Girl Lost’ starts with the sentences:

When we read ‘A Little BOY Lost’ . The boy is burned for what he said, he is not a boy of old age, for the priest led him by his little coat. ‘He led him by his little coat,’ (line 11). This is something the boy, and the girl from the first poem have in common. They are both young of age. All admired the attention that the priest gave the boy. The priest calls the boy: a fiend‘ “Lo! What a fiend is here!” said he,’ (line 14). The boy weeps but nobody hears him and his parents wept in vain, they were helpless. The boy was bound to an iron chain and burned in a holy place. Where the beasts of prey took care of the girl in the first poem, the priest of who you would expect real ‘Priestly care’ does not and in fact murders the little boy. First I thought the burning of the boy had something to do with witchcraft. The boy however, does not say a thing from which I can conclude that he is. He does however say things that the priest finds to be heretic, namely: “‘And Father, how can I love you ‘or any of my brothers more?” (lines 5-6). To my opinion, the word Father, means God the Father. The love for God should be unending; at least that is the opinion of the Priest. He thinks it is blasphemy to ask how he (the boy) can love you (God) more. The Priest says it is a shameful thing to say as he says: ‘ “One who sets reason up for judge “of our most holy Mystery.” ‘ (lines 15-16). Albion, as said in lin

Some topics in this essay:
William Blake, BOY Lost’, Girl Lost’, Garden Eden’, God Priest, Hell Earth, Enlightenment Art, Poetical Sketches, Britain England, God Father, beasts prey, little girl, girl lost’, ‘the little, ‘the little girl, little girl lost’, little boy, ‘a little boy, boy lost’, william blake, little boy lost’, ‘a little, girl poem, beasts prey care, lost’ theme,