Holy Thursday (Innocence)
Holy Thursday (Innocence) - meaning Summary
Innocence and Social Charity
Blake depicts a Holy Thursday procession of charity school children to St. Paul’s, presenting their orderly innocence through luminous, pastoral imagery. The poem contrasts youthful purity with the aged guardians who oversee the poor and culminates in a moral injunction: pity must be cherished or society risks losing its angels. It voices Blake’s social concern for how children are treated and calls for compassionate responsibility toward the vulnerable.
Read Complete AnalysesTwas on a Holy Thursday their innocent faces clean The children walking two & two in red & blue & green Grey headed beadles walked before with wands as white as snow Till into the high dome of Pauls they like Thames waters flow O what a multitude they seemed these flowers of London town Seated in companies they sit with radiance all their own The hum of multitudes was there but multitudes of lambs Thousands of little boys & girls raising their innocent hands Now like a mighty wind they raise to heaven the voice of song Or like harmonious thunderings the seats of heaven among Beneath them sit the aged men wise guardians of the poor Then cherish pity, lest you drive an angel from your door
Feel free to be first to leave comment.