Songs of Innocence and of Experience Summary and Analysis

"The Blossom"

Summary

Blake uses apostrophe in addressing the blossom of an unidentified tree. The blossom itself does nothing but observe a sparrow and a robin. The sparrow seeks its nest within the tree, while the robin weeps for some unknown reason.

Analysis

“The Blossom” is a two-stanza poem following an irregular rhyme scheme. Each sestet has an ABCAAC rhyme scheme, although some of the lines may qualify as near rhymes rather than true rhymes; for example, “Blossom” and “Bosom” are visual rather than aural rhymes, whereas “Robin” and “Sobbing” demonstrate the use of slant rhyme. The erratic nature of the rhymes parallels the seemingly arbitrary attitude of nature. Whereas a fixed rhyme scheme echoes the perfection of nature, this looser rhyme scheme shows nature as being harder to predict, if not entirely indifferent to human conventions.

The poem hides a secret cynicism about nature. While addressing the blossom, the speaker receives no response in either word or action. This aspect of nature is impersonal, unlike the Nature of paganism, alive with spirits and demigods, of much Romantic poetry. Whether a sparrow finds a home in its branches or a robin weeps, the tree, or specifically its blossom, is indifferent and merely looks on. Blake’s view of nature here is of a material world, operating on materialistic principles, with no vital essence to give it personality or feeling.