The Blossom

The Blossom

Merry, merry sparrow!
Under leaves so green;
A happy blossom
Sees you, swift as arrow,
Seek your cradle narrow
Near my bosom.

Pretty, pretty,-robin!
Under leaves so green,
A happy blossom
Hears you sobbing, sobbing,
Pretty, pretty robin,
Near my bosom.
(William Blake in the Songs of Innocence)


Notes:
Merry, merry sparrow: The speaker in the poem is most probably a little girl. The sparrow is proverbially a merry bird.

Swift as arrow: The simile is very appropriate, even if taken literally. But some critics see the "arrow" and its swiftness as symbolic of sex.

cradle narrow: small or tiny nest.

Nea my bosom: The bosom is symbolic of motherhood. The litle girl, who speaks, instinctively thinks of her bosom in connection with the sparrow's nest.

Sobbing, sobbing: The robin is depicted as "sobbing". There are two interpretations of this: (1) The robin is proverbially a sad bird, just as the sparrow is merry. (2) The robin is sobbing on account of exessive joy, and there is no room for any sadness in the poem.

Comments

A Decent Man said…
Nice poems. I always like William Blake.
Saturday, October 14, 2006 10:26:00 am
angin-berbisik said…
*manggut-manggut*, gak mudheng ki aku mas
Wednesday, October 18, 2006 3:48:00 am
Anonymous said…
Nice picture
Sunday, October 22, 2006 8:18:00 pm
Anonymous said…
Cepasa amigos ))
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Tuesday, May 16, 2023 7:20:00 am
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