The Wildflower’s Song
By William Blake
As I wander’d the forest,
The green leaves among,
I heard a wild flower
Singing a song.I slept in the Earth
In the silent night,
I murmur’d my fears
And I felt delight.In the morning I went
As rosy as morn,
To seek for new joy;
But O! met with scorn.
Summary of The Wildflower’s Song
- Popularity of “The Wildflower’s Song”: Written by the greatest English romantic, William Blake, this beautiful song does not seem to have appeared during the heyday of his poetic output. Yet, it has set the stage for the upcoming songs that Blake wrote about nature. The popularity of the song lies in the first-person narrative of the wildflower and its unwelcome welcome in the world.
- “The Wildflower’s Song” As a Representative Excitement Versus Sadness: The poet presents himself as the first-person speaker who tells that he meets a wildflower singing a song. This shows the consciousness of the poet about nature around him. He goes on to state that the flower tells him that he sleeps silently at night and becomes quite happy when he murmurs his fears at night. However, when it is morning, and he becomes beautiful, he faces hatred instead of enjoyment when he sees the people. Although this comparison of his happiness and hatred seems balanced, his excitement takes the lead and the poem becomes a representative piece of joy versus sorrow.
- Major Themes in “The Wildflower’s Song”: Love, excitement, and hidden jealousy are three major themes of this poem. Although the poet himself presents the excitement of the wildflower singing a song, it shows that the poet is actually telling about his own nature. However, it happens that when the flower tells him about his delight after he tells his fears to the silent night, he becomes aware of another aspect of excitement, delight, and happiness. Yet, there is an issue that is of hidden jealousy of the people. The poet again presents the same flower who seems beautiful in the morning and yet he invites contempt and scorn, which likely comes from the public.
Analysis of Literary Devices Used in The Wildflower’s Song
William Blake’s skillful use of various literary devices in this poem is apparent. Some of the major literary devices are as follows.
- Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /e/ in “The green leaves among” and the sound of /i/ in “In the silent night.”
- Alliteration: It means to use initial consonant sounds in two or more consecutive words. The poem shows the use of alliteration, such as the sound of /m/ in “murmur’d my.”
- Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /g/ in “singing a song” and the sound of /m/ in “I murmur’d my fears.”
- Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. William Blake used imagery in this poem, such as “The green leaves among”, “In the silent night” and “As rosy as morn.”
- Metaphor: It is a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between objects different in nature. The poet used the metaphors of the flower, night, and morning to show the human world of happiness and scorn.
- Personification: It means to attribute human emotions to inanimate objects. The poet used the personification of the night, which is silent, like a human being.
- Symbolism: Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them symbolic meanings that are different from the literal meanings. The poem shows symbols such as earth, wildflower, song, and forest to show the happiness of nature.
Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in The Wildflower’s Song
Poetic and literary devices are the same, but a few are used only in poetry. Here is an analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem.
- Diction: It means the type of language. The poem shows good use of formal, poetic, and melodic diction.
- End Rhyme: It means to use verses having matching end words. William Blake shows the use of end rhyme, such as among/song and night/delight.
- Quatrain: It means to use a Persian stanza having four verses. The poem shows the use of quatrains as in the first stanza.
- Rhyme Scheme: The poem shows the rhyme scheme of ABCB in all of its stanzas.
- Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. There are three stanzas with each comprising four verses.
- Tone: It means the voice of the text. The poem shows a loving, exciting, delightful, and sorrowful tone.
Quotes to be Used
The following lines are useful to quote when talking about the scene of nature.
As I wander’d the forest,
The green leaves among,
I heard a wild flower
Singing a song.
