HOLY THURSDAY INNOCENCE (William Blake, 1757-1827)
In ‘Holy Thursday’ (Innocence), Blake refers to Maundy Thursday, and the annual meetings
of the children educated in the charity schools in and about the cities of London and
Westminster that took place at St Paul's Cathedral from 1782.
● The celebration of nature
1) Blake uses nature to convey the power of children
- In ‘Holy Thursday’, Blake conveys the power of children through his celebration of
nature, which is emphasised as something which intertwines with childhood. Blake’s
simile- ‘Till into the high dome of Paul’s they like Thames’ waters flow’- refers to the
river Thames. Therefore, the simile, being kinaesthetic imagery, likens the
movements of the children to the flow of a large body of water, emphasising the
power of childhood.
CONTEXT: Romantic Poets such as Blake rejected the strict and apathetic treatment of
children. Charity schools, also called Blue Coat Schools, were a type of English primary
school that emerged in the early 18th century to educate the children of the poor. However,
supported by private contributions and The Church, many Romantic poets believed that the
education and discipline of children stripped them of the chance to express their thoughts or
feelings, fear or anger.
Therefore, we can press the simile further. Since the verb ‘flow’ connotes
free-thought or a stream of consciousness, by associating the children with the ‘flow’
of water, perhaps Blake suggests that children are comparable to nature in the sense
that they should have the power of free imagination.
2) Blake, through his imagery and similes, is suggestive of the sublime
- In ‘Holy Thursday’, Blake depicts the children’s singing through nature, which works to
convey their power and invokes a sense of the sublime. Through the simile of ‘a
mighty wind’, the use of natural elements reflecting the children’s singing of course
connotes power through the adjective ‘mighty’, but it is also suggestive of a sense of
fear, for we associate strong winds with storms, and in turn, destruction and turmoil.
Moreover, the imagery of ‘harmonious thunderings’ is a fairly oxymoronic way of
describing singing. Again, the use of natural imagery conveys the sheer power of the
children, but Blake goes further than this; he suggests that the ‘harmony’ of their
voices goes beyond extreme beauty, as it fuses with ‘thunderings’, connoting threat
of destruction.
CONTEXT: Burke’s assessment of the sublime follows as such: 'Astonishment [...] is the
effect of the sublime in its highest degree; the inferior effects are admiration, reverence and
respect.' (Edmund Burke, 'The Sublime and Beautiful', 1757)
, ● Childhood
1) The power of childhood
- In ‘Holy Thursday’, Blake conveys the power of children through his celebration of
nature, which is emphasised as something which intertwines with childhood. Blake’s
simile- ‘Till into the high dome of Paul’s they like Thames’ waters flow’- refers to the
river Thames. Therefore, the simile, being kinaesthetic imagery, likens the
movements of the children to the flow of a large body of water, emphasising the
power of childhood.
CONTEXT: Romantic Poets such as Blake rejected the strict and apathetic treatment of
children. Charity schools, also called Blue Coat Schools, were a type of English primary
school that emerged in the early 18th century to educate the children of the poor. However,
supported by private contributions and The Church, many Romantic poets believed that the
education and discipline of children stripped them of the chance to express their thoughts or
feelings, fear or anger. For example, Jean-Jacques Rousseau believed that children were
naturally innocent and were corrupted by society. He developed an idea of the ‘child of
nature’, arguing that children should be subjected to as little formal education as possible
and be allowed to live a natural life, from which they would learn all that they required
Therefore, we can press the simile further. Since the verb ‘flow’ connotes
free-thought or a stream of consciousness, by associating the children with the ‘flow’
of water, perhaps Blake suggests that children are comparable to nature in the sense
that they should have the power of free imagination.
- In ‘Holy Thursday’, Blake emphasises the power of childhood through the lexis of
large numbers. The triple repetition of the word ‘multitudes’, and the reference to the
‘thousands’ of children living in poverty in London combines to emphasise the
‘radiance’ which they bring to the church.
CONTEXT: In 1789, Gilbert Elliot described the scene, and claimed that when the king
entered, and all 6000 children sang part of the Hundredth Psalm, ‘this was the moment [he]
found most affecting’, finding himself, along with many others, crying. Therefore, Blake very
much emphasises the feelings shared between many of his contemporaries and the power
these children possessed by invoking such emotion.
- In ‘Holy Thursday’, Blake depicts the children’s singing through nature, which works to
convey their power and invokes a sense of the sublime. Through the simile of ‘a
mighty wind’, the use of natural elements reflecting the children’s singing of course
connotes power through the adjective ‘mighty’, but it is also suggestive of a sense of
fear, for we associate strong winds with storms, and in turn, destruction and turmoil.
Moreover, the imagery of ‘harmonious thunderings’ is a fairly oxymoronic way of
describing singing. Again, the use of natural imagery conveys the sheer power of the
children, but Blake goes further than this; he suggests that the ‘harmony’ of their
, voices goes beyond extreme beauty, as it fuses with ‘thunderings’, connoting threat
of destruction.
CONTEXT: Burke’s assessment of the sublime follows as such: 'Astonishment [...] is the
effect of the sublime in its highest degree; the inferior effects are admiration, reverence and
respect.' (Edmund Burke, 'The Sublime and Beautiful', 1757)
2) The threats to children and childhood neglect
CONTEXT: In 1789 “Songs of Innocence” were written: they are a collection of poems
centred around the figure of the child and focusing on the theme of innocence.
- Despite the celebratory scene in ‘Holy Thursday’, Blake seems to subtly criticise
certain aspects of the social ritual. From the first line, the children are described as
having ‘innocent faces clean’, implying that they are usually dirty and therefore
neglected.
CONTEXT: Romantic Poets such as Blake rejected the strict and apathetic treatment of
children. Charity schools, also called Blue Coat Schools, were a type of English primary
school that emerged in the early 18th century to educate the children of the poor. However,
supported by private contributions and The Church, many Romantic poets believed that the
education and discipline of children stripped them of the chance to express their thoughts or
feelings, fear or anger.
- In ‘Holy Thursday’, despite being from his songs of Innocence, has underlying themes
of potential threat facing innocent children. The poem is based on the contrast
between the ‘innocent faces’ of the children and the authority of the ‘grey headed
beadles’ and the other ‘aged men’ who act as their guardians. As the ‘grey headed
beadles’ are depicted as walking behind the children, holding ‘wands as white as
snow’, whilst the simile ‘white as snow’ connotes purity and innocence, there is an
underlying threat of harm suggested through the imagery of ‘wands’ and guardians
who walk ‘before’ the children, indicative of the authority they hold over them.
3) The innocence of children
- In ‘Holy Thursday’, Blake consistently makes reference to the innocent, incorrupt
children of London’s charity schools. From the first line, the children are depicted as
having ‘innocent’, ‘clean’, faces. Whilst the adjective ‘clean’ suggests that their faces
have literally been cleaned, it also metaphorically reflects their incorrupt souls.
CONTEXT: Jean-Jacques Rousseau believed that children were naturally innocent and were
corrupted by society. He developed an idea of the ‘child of nature’, arguing that children
should be subjected to as little formal education as possible and be allowed to live a natural
life, from which they would learn all that they required: a view of children as very different to
adults – as innocent, vulnerable, slow to mature – and entitled to freedom and happiness. In
other words, children are naturally good.
