On Another’s Sorrow by Kalia Constantine

Literary Devices

kconstantine808 — 2024-01-06 18:34:13 UTC

Rhetorical Question: Blake repetitively uses rhetorical questions in this poem to illustrate how those who talk to God do not get a verbal response hence why they are used here in order to emphasises that the persona is referring to God.
Repetition: In the first stanza, there is a repetition of the phrase “Can I see”. It also occurs in the third stanza. Here the terms “infant” and “never” are repeated - the use of the repetition with these phrases is to further emphasise God’s presence, for example, ‘can I see’ represents ones search for God and questioning his empathy towards others.
Enjambment: It occurs in “Can a father see his child/ Weep, nor be with sorrow fill’d?” Blake makes one read the lines quickly in order to exemplify the connective flow of ones thoughts.
Anaphora: This device is used in the fourth and seventh stanzas. For example, all the lines of the seventh stanza begin with the word “He”.
Personification: It occurs in “Hear the wren with sorrows small/ Hear the small bird’s grief and care”. In these lines, Blake personifies the wren to illustrate God being omnipresent and omnibenevolent.
Metaphor: Blake uses this device in “a man of woe”. Here, God is compared to a human being in distress. Besides, he uses this device in “That our grief He may destroy”. Here, the concept of “grief” is compared with a physical thing that can be destroyed.

Thematic aspects

kconstantine808 — 2024-01-08 08:14:45 UTC

The central theme of the poem "On Another's Sorrow" revolves around divine empathy towards humanity. Blake employs an analogy to delve into this concept, portraying God as a nurturing parent to humankind. Similar to how parents attend to the needs of their children, God is depicted as unwaveringly attentive to the concerns of his offspring. Additionally, the poem touches upon the theme of innocence, a key element in Blake's Songs of Innocence. Throughout the verses, the poet incorporates references to a child, an infant, and a small wren. Whether it be a human child or a birdling, God displays sympathy for every living creature on earth. He takes on the role of an infant to intimately understand the pain of a child and transforms into a small wren to empathize with its suffering. Through these portrayals, Blake presents the tender and innocent aspect of God, ever empathetic towards his ‘children’.

Analysis

kconstantine808 — 2024-01-08 08:26:26 UTC

The poem begins with an emotive rhetorical question. Blake speaks through this poetic persona in first person in order to captivate the reader and makes the poem more personal. This opening question questions if whether another’s sorrow would not evoke a sense of empathy in his (personas) heart. In the next line, the persona asks another question about grief. In this way, Blake describes the soft core of a man’s heart. Though there’s passivity and coldness in this world, this part of the human heart makes one feel sympathetic for the others pain.

In the second stanza, the person asks another two questions in order to portray the idea of sympathy and compassion. He depicts an image of ‘a falling tear’ that paints a picture of a man in tears. By presenting this image, the persona is conveying that one’s pain is part of his own suffering. It is like when a father sees his child crying, his heart gets filled with sorrow. Blake compares the persona to a father who feels pity to see his child in such a sorrowful state, just as God feels compassion for those in distress.

In the fourth stanza, Blake refers to God by using the pronoun “He”. He portrays the kind side of God with the help of visual imagery. Through this image, the smiling face of God is portrayed. According to the persona, as God smiles at our happiness, he also feels sympathetic when we are sorrowful. In the following lines, Blake uses anaphora to connect this idea. Each of these lines begins with the word “Hear”. Here, Blake describes how God listens to everyone. Be it is a wren with its “small sorrow” (a reference to its small size) or the woes of an infant, he can feel their pain. In the line “Hear the small bird’s grief and care”, Blake personifies the bird by investing it with the idea of feeling low. Besides, he also uses the wren and an infant as a symbol of innocence.

The last stanza of “On Another’s Sorrow” begins with a rhetorical exclamation. It seems as though the persona feels ecstatic to think about the joy God gives to human beings. He destroys grief with happiness, and sadness with compassion. The paternal figure of mankind waits until one’s heart is totally free from the clutches of pain. He sits by us as a caregiver. The pain we feel is also felt by him. In the third line, Blake personifies the abstract idea of “grief” and invests it with the idea of fleeing. The last line invests God with a human attribute. Blake visualises God as a parent who sits by his children in their distress and moans in their pain.

Historical context

kconstantine808 — 2024-01-09 00:22:31 UTC

The poem “On Another’s Sorrow” was published in 1789 in William Blake’s anthology Songs of Innocence and of Experience. It is the last song of the first section. In this poem, Blake talks about human and divine empathy. The theme of innocence is present in this piece as in the other poems of Songs of Innocence. He uses the recurring images of an infant and a wren to employ this theme. Besides, he depicts God not as a supernatural being, but as a mere human being. He is sympathetic towards the sufferings of others like the poet feels. In this way, Blake presents God as a compassionate and caring human whose heart pains deep when another human is in extreme woe.