Write the substance and explanation of the poem entitled Nurse's Song.

Write the substance and explanation of the poem entitled Nurse’s Song.

Ans.

Substance of the Poem

Children are playing in the gardens and on the hillside. When the Nurse hears the merry voices and carefree laughter of the children, she feels peaceful and tranquil. As the evening has fallen, the countryside is silent except for the voices of the children. There is thus perfect accord between the Nurse’s heart and the mood of Nature. The Nurse calls out the children as the sun has set and the evening dews are seen upon the grass and the plants. Hence the Nurse advises the children to come home back till next morning. The children are not ready to return home soon. They reply that the day is not yet over and that they will not be able to sleep so early. They tell her that little birds are still seen flying about in the sky, and the sheep are still grazing on the hillside. Hence, they do not want to miss the pleasures of such sight and play. The Nurse permits the children to play till the light fades away completely. Having been consented by the Nurse, the children begin to leap, shout and laugh to show their excessive joy and happiness.

Explanations

(1) When the voices of children are heard on the green,

And laughing is heard on the hill,

My heart is at rest within my breast,

And everything else is still.

Reference to the Context: These lines have been extracted from the poem entitled Nurse’s Song, written by William Blake. This poem is an extract from Blake’s Song of Innocence and Experience.

Here the poet presents the Nurse’s preoccupation with, and anxiety for. the children who are playing outside freely.

Explanation: Children who are innocent and completely free from worldly cares and worries, are playing in the green gardens and on the hills. They are so much engrossed in their games that they have forgotten the destructive civilising forces. They are completely heedless towards the restrictions formed by the civilized society. After making the children liberated from the chains of restrictions, the Nurse is greatly worried about them. But when she hears their merry voices and laughter from the gardens and hills, her disturbed and worried mind is extently consoled. Sa. feels happy and contented to see the children playing and laughing. She feels a kind of peace in her heart.

(2) No. no, let us play, for it is yet day,

And we cannot go to sleep;

Besides, in the sky the little birds fly.

And the hills are all cover’d wirth sheep.’

Reference to the Context: As above. The poet aims not only at giving us a picture of the children at play and of their psychology, but also at portraying the character of the Nurse. The desire of the children to play for sometime is quite natural.

Explanation: The children’s happiness persists. Without hesitation the children plead for permission to continue in it. The sounds and games of the children harmonize with a busy world of sheep and birds. They think of themselves as part of nature, and cannot bear the thought of abandoning their play. The children share the innocence and unself conscious spontaneity of these natural creatures. As the day ends, she urges the children to come home, but the children plead that the sun has not yet set and they cannot go to sleep. The little birds fly and the hills are all covered with sheep and if nature has not put her children to bed, why the Nurse should require to call them to go to sleep.

Critical Comments: The Nurse is the one who introduces the argument from nature by claiming the darkening sky as a sign that bed-time drew nearer, after all.

(3) ‘Well, well, go and play till the light fades away.

And then go home to bed.

The little ones leaped and shouted and laugh’d

And all the hills echoed.

Reference to the Context: As above. The poet places carefree childhood imagination in opposition to pointless and restrictive adult interference. He tells us how childlike innocence is replaced by destructive civilizing forces.

Explanation: The Nurse yields to the children’s request for more time to play in the evening, and she feels no anxiety about them. She provides a background of love and security for the children because she herself is quite confident and secure. Children’s happiness inspires in her a feeling of peace, and their desire to prolong their own delight is one she readily indulges. The Nurse consents the children to play till the light fades away completely. After being permitted by the Nurse to continue playing for a little while longer, the children are overwhelmed with excessive joy and happiness. They begin to leap, shout and laugh. All the hills echo with the children’s voices and laughter.