An International Indexed Online Journal
Online Research Journal
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Global International Research Thoughts
ISSN 2347–8861
Volume: 1, issue: 9
October-December 2015
Research Paper English
SPIRITUALISM IN WILLIAM BLAKE’S POEM ‘THE LITTLE BLACK BOY’ ABSTRACT
William Blake is a well‐known English poet who was born in a middle class‐ family. However, he could not get formal education any more, but he was taught by his mother at home. His most famous series of poems is known as ‘Songs of Innocence and of Experience’, which was published in 1794. This fiction shows the two contrary states of the human soul. Blake etched his poems by hand and his work belongs to between the neo‐classicism of 18th century and the beginning phase of Romanticism. Furthermore, he was acknowledged as an original and genius poet of English fiction in 20th century. Meanwhile, here it is noteworthy that William Blake’s poem ‘The Little Black Boy’ is a masterpiece, which tells the story of a black boy, who was born in southern wild of Africa, who later came to know his own identity and to know God. That is why; there is a sense of spirituality in this poem. The present research paper highlights this sense of spiritualization in the poem ‘The Little Black Boy’.
KEYWORDS : Spiritualism, Romanticism, No‐Classicism, Genius, Masterpiece, French Revolution. Satender Singh MA (English), Sector – 3(P) Rohtak (Haryana). INDIA Introduction: We know the fact that ‘The Little Black Boy’ is a finest poem in the collection of poems titled ‘Songs of Innocence’ published in 1789. It was the time of French Revolution. Blake’s political radicalism intensified during this time. He began to write a seven book poem about the revolution, in fact, but it was either destroyed or never completed. Consequently, he shifted his poetic voice from the lyric to the prophetic mode and began to write. He published almost all of his works himself. The poem ‘The Little Black Boy’ centers on a spiritual awakening to a divine love that transcends race. Blake has built the poem on clear imagery of light and dark. The speaker in this poem is an African child who has to come to terms with his own blackness. It is a story of a black boy who comes to know his own identity and to know his relationship with God, who is the creator of all things in this universe. The first stanza of this poem highlights a contrast of colors between the black skin and whiteness of his soul. In a culture, in which white and black connate bad and good, respectively, the child’s developing sense of self requires him to perform some fairly elaborate symbolic gymnastics with these images of color. The poet remarks that black skin is like a cloud that will disappear when his soul will meet to God in heaven. The black boy passes this statement to an English boy. He says that when both of them are free from their bodies in physical world, they will go to the heaven, where is no discrimination like human society. Therefore, there they will learn to bear the heat of God’s love, which is equal to all human souls. In the first stanza of this poem, the speaker (little black boy) relates how he was born in the forests of South Africa as a black boy. He is quite sure that his colour is black but his soul is white. He tells to white boy that he is white like an angel. He also feels that his black skin has bereaved him from the divine light. He states: My mother borne me in the southern wild, And I am black, but oh! my soul is white ; White as an angel is the English Child, But I am black, as if bereaved of light. Further, the little black boy recalls that his mother kissed him and taught him about the God. She thought that the sun rises in the east where God lives; who is the source of all the light and heat that is given to the earth. Here, the poet equates the sun with God himself; who is the giver of heat and light without which there would be no life on earth. Global International Research Thoughts (GIRT) Page 7 An International Indexed Online Journal
Online Research Journal
www.darpanonline.org/GIRT/
Global International Research Thoughts
ISSN 2347–8861
Volume: 1, issue: 9
October-December 2015
The little black boy remarks: My mother taught me underneath a tree And sitting down before the heat of a day, She took me on lap and kissed me, And pointing to the east, began to say: Look on the rising sun: There God does live And gives His light and gives His heat away And flower, and trees, and beasts and men service Comfort in morning joy in the moon day. Next to it, the mother explains that God lives in the sun, and how the sun gives life to the world. She teaches him that all human beings are put on earth for a short time, so that they could learn to absorb God’s love and affection. She also tells that their black bodies are like dark clouds that absorb the sun rays. The bodies of the both white and black people are meant to help the soul to bear the rays of God’s love, so that they could be prepared for heaven. She says that when their bodies are destroyed, they will go to heaven where God will ask the little black and white boys to play together like lambs. The speaker states: And we are put on earth a little space, That we may learn to bear the beam of love; And these black bodies and this sun burnt face Is but a cloud and like a shady grove. For when our souls have learned the heat to bear, The cloud will vanish; we shall hear his voice, Saying: “Come out from grove, my love and care, And round my golden that like lambs rejoice.” Now, the little black boy recalls that his mother had taught him how to relate the teaching to the little white boy. He tells that when we are free from our bodies like clouds, both of us will play together in heaven. Subsequently, being assured by his mother’s teaching, the little black boy says that he will protect the skin of white boy from God’s brightness and scorching heat. He also wishes that he will stand next to the white boy and stroke his hair and the white boy will love him. He recalls: Thus did my mother say, and kissed me; And thus I say to little English boy: When I from black and he from white cloud free, And round the tent of God like lambs we joy; I’ll shade him from the heat, till he can bear, To learn in joy upon Father’s knee: And then I will stand and stroke his silver hair, And be like him and he will then love me. Thus, William Blake’s ‘The Little Black Boy’ appears, on face, to be a kindly demonstration of how race does not really matter since one day all Christians will be free from the clouds of skin color and equal in the eyes of God. However, upon further examination, this poem contains statement about race and how it affects both mortal and immortal lives that do not quite give with the idea that race is a temporary burden. The poet immediately associates whiteness with goodness and innocence, and even if he is correct in asserting that outward skin color does not matter in the light of the state of a person’s soul, it is a rather hard judgment upon a small child to inform him that his skin color is associated with evil and judgment. Actually, William Blake wrote about many social issues in his poem. He wrote about the abolition of slavery, which is the focus of the poem, ‘The Little Black Boy’. This poem was published when slavery was legal and the campaign for the abolition of this was still under process. In accordance with the fact that black people are near God as a result of their suffering. However, some of critics assert the fact that the white color of English boy is a symbolic of the fact that English were distanced from God as a result of their treatment of the black people. But, Blake, reveals the fact that the most valuable things in life, in terms of spirituality and wisdom are anointed with colors that are indifferent to race and social class, yet are related to financial states, as gold and silver evoke images of precious metals. However, the black boy’s mother symbolizes a natural and selfless love that becomes the poem’s ideal. She knows a tender concern for her child’s self esteem, as well as a strong desire that he knew the Global International Research Thoughts (GIRT) Page 8 An International Indexed Online Journal
Online Research Journal
www.darpanonline.org/GIRT/
Global International Research Thoughts
ISSN 2347–8861
Volume: 1, issue: 9
October-December 2015
comfort of God. She persuades her child, according to conventional Christian doctrine, that earthly life is but a preparation for the rewards of heaven. In this context, the dark color is a temporary appearance, with no bearing on their eternal essence. It is an earthly factor. The theology of the poem is one that counsels forbearance in the present and promises a recompense for suffering the hereafter. The little black boy interlines his mother’s lesson and applies it in relations with the outer world. The black boy explains to his white friend that they are equal, but that neither will be truly free until they are released from the constraints of the physical world. But the question remains of whether the child’s outlook is servile and self‐demeaning, or exemplifies Christian charity. Conclusion : To conclude, William Blake’s poetry is collection of the poems that allow the marginalized figures of the society a voice. It shows the real horror of the situation in the period of slavery system where was a sense of dissimilarity in the social order. This poem shows negative reviews of the black boy on the black color when whites were in the rule. However, ‘The Little Black Boy’ is a masterpiece of William Blake which points out the condition of all blacks and discrimination among whites and blacks. To illustrate his idea, the poet uses symbols and metaphors in a great manner. But the logical reasoning of this poem is that the universal deity loves and provides for us all. Furthermore, the religion and value of an authority and its acceptance is casually brought to light. In this poem, William Blake also shows his hatred for the slavery system. Here, the poet does not criticize God or any race, but he shows that we are all ultimately the same. Nevertheless, there is no evidence that the little boy is a slave, or that he is subject to racial criticism. This poem is about social equality, and the fact is that a black boy is white in heart; and therefore, there should be no difference between black and white. The real fact is that all of us belong to same entity known as God. That is why; there should be no discrimination among all societies of this universe. REFERENCES :
http:/www.sparknotes.com/poetry/blake/accessed on October 15, 2011. http:/www.eliteskills.com/c/12346. http:/www.sparknotes.com/poetry/blake/section4.rhtml. http:/www.literaryhistory.com/19th C/BLAKE/html. http:/education‐portal.com/academy/lesson/little–black‐boy‐by‐william‐blake‐summary‐poem‐
analysis‐quiz.html. http:/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Little_Black_Boy. http:/williamblakeandenlightmentmedia.wordpress.com/2012/01/27/race‐and‐the‐little‐black‐boy. ƒ
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