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William BlakeA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
The poem consists of four quatrains (stanzas of four lines each) and relies on a straightforward rhyme scheme: ABAB CDCD EFEF GDGD. For example, “flow” (Line 2) rhymes with “woe” (Line 4); “cry” (Line 9) rhymes with “sigh” (Line 11); “curse” (Line 14) with “hearse” (Line 16). The simple pattern—the predictability of which gains significant emphasis through a consistent iambic meter (iambic tetrameter)—creates a sense of cycles, repetition, and relentlessness. This quality, in turn, accords with the poem’s theme of being trapped within unending institutionalized oppression. Nevertheless, the rhyming also creates a melodious quality, and it may even recall a childlike style; this sort of sing-song rhyme scheme typified much 18th-century children’s verse (this underscores the poem’s theme of childhood innocence, if obliquely). In fact, the poems from Songs of Innocence and Experience do superficially resemble children’s verse, though the subject matter is sophisticated and, often, heavy.
The poem incorporates assonance and consonance, both of which involve the repetition of sound. Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line (or in proximity).
By William Blake
A Poison Tree
A Poison Tree
William Blake
Auguries of Innocence
Auguries of Innocence
William Blake
Night
Night
William Blake
Songs of Innocence and of Experience
Songs of Innocence and of Experience
William Blake
The Book of Thel
The Book of Thel
William Blake
The Chimney Sweeper
The Chimney Sweeper
William Blake
The Garden of Love
The Garden of Love
William Blake
The Lamb
The Lamb
William Blake
The Little Boy Found
The Little Boy Found
William Blake
The Marriage of Heaven and Hell
The Marriage of Heaven and Hell
William Blake
The Sick Rose
The Sick Rose
William Blake
The Tyger
The Tyger
William Blake