The Little Black Boy / Blake

The Little Black Boy is a poem by English poet William Blake, originally published in his 1789 book, Songs of Innocence. 

The Little Black Boy

My mother bore 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.

My mother taught me underneath a tree,
And, sitting down before the heat of day,
She took me on her 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 flowers and trees and beasts and men receive
Comfort in morning, joy in the noonday.

"And we are put on earth a little space
That we may learn to bear the beams of love;
And these black bodies and this sunburnt 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 the grove, my love and care,
And round my golden tent like lambs rejoice!'"

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 lean in joy upon our father's knee;
And then I'll stand and stroke his silver hair,
And be like him, and he will then love me.

Context

The poem was published in Songs of Innocence in 1789, during a time when slavery was still legal and the campaign for the abolition of slavery was still young.

Analysis

Poetry Analysis 67 “The Little Black Boy” by William Blake

Blake believed in equality for all men, and this is reflected in this poem. It may not be immediately obvious that this is the case, as the narrative in the first stanza plays upon the traditional stereotypes of "black" and "white", black being the color that denotes evil and sin, - "black, as if beareav'd of light" - and white being the color that denotes innocence and purity.

It becomes clear over the course of the poem, however, that Blake had a deeper message to convey to his reader. "The Little Black Boy" was published in 1789, a time when slavery was still legal and the campaign for the abolition of slavery was still young. In "The Little Black Boy", Blake questions conventions of the time with basic Christian ideals. This becomes apparent in the third stanza, where Blake uses the sun as a metaphor for God and His Kingdom: "Look on the rising sun: there God does live,". This line is particularly important, as the reference to the sun not only introduces the running religious metaphor in the subsequent stanzas, but the fact that it is "rising" denotes change.

In accordance with the running metaphor of the sun, the fact that Blake speaks of "black bodies" and a "sunburnt face" in the fourth stanza seems to imply that black people are near God as a result of their suffering – for one can only become dark and sunburned as a result of being exposed to the sun's rays. In the final stanza this idea is developed further, as the black boy says that he will "shade him [the English boy] from the heat", this implies that the English boy's pale skin is not used to the heat (derived from God's love) – some critics assert that the paleness of the English boy in this poem is symbolic of the fact that the English were distanced from God as a result of their treatment of the black peoples.

In the 5th stanza, we see all of humanity being united: For when our souls have learn'd the heat to bear, The cloud will vanish... In the 6th stanza this metaphor is continued: When I from black and he from white cloud free, Here, Blake uses the clouds as a metaphor for the human body. These stanzas therefore imply that after physical life has passed, all will be united with God.

Also notable in this poem is Blake's use of politically neutral colours such as gold and silver when describing things of moral value. The most valuable things in life, in terms of spirituality and wisdom are anointed with colours that are indifferent to race and social class, yet are related to financial status, as gold and silver evoke images of precious metals.

Recognition

American poet Allen Ginsberg set the poem to music, on his 1969 recording of the Songs of Innocence and of Experience.

"The Little Black Boy" by William Blake (read by Tom O'Bedlam)

See also

• Other poems by Blake

External links

Text

• "The Little Black Boy" at the Poetry Foundation

Audio / video

• "The Little Black Boy" at YouTube

About

• Criticisms of The Little Black Boy
• Tate Online, engravings
• Abolition Literature