If you all couldn’t tell from previous posts, I love writers who discuss the social constructs and problems developed by the church. In “A Little BOY Lost,” by William Blake, we receive a telling of a story about a young boy who is praying to his God, when a priest overhears him and punishes him. The second stanza begins the story with “And Father, how can I love you, / Or any of my brothers more?” (Lines 6-7), which can be interpreted as that moment in all of our lives where we begin to question what our beliefs actually are. His priest overhears his prayer and does not approve of his questioning God, so he yanks him right out of his prayer. Later Blake writes “They strip’d him to his little shirt. / And bound him in an iron chair. / And burn’d him in a holy place.” (20-22). These clergymen are punishing a young boy basically for stepping outside the line and thinking on his own, and it’s not just a slap on the wrist. He’s being tortured. Blake repeats the line “The weeping parents wept in vain” (19/24) in the final two stanzas to emphasize the lack of mercy on this child for questioning God. It’s also reflects on how often in history people are burned in the name of religion.
Looking at the engravings of the poem Blake did, we actually notice a shift as he repeats the drawing. With each engraving done, the flames and smoke surrounding the words become much more heavily emphasized and have an increase in contrast. Also, notice the shadows casts on the praying figures and how it grows darker and darker only to fade again. The figures in the images are almost being engulfed in the flame that is religion.
An archive changes how we study literature because we are able to call upon several other works of the same category or by the same writer almost instantaneously to support any claims we may make. Also, unlike a textbook or anthology, it is constantly being updated and much more widely available to students/scholars everywhere.
Hey, Anthony! I really like your observation that the flames in many of the engravings are very stark and heavily emphasized, as well as the observation that the smoke casts dark shadows onto the figures in the images. I think it’s important to note why these shadows are so important, though. In writing this poem, I believe that Blake is trying to demonize the church and point out their hypocrisy. They are supposed to advocate for peace and love in the name of God, yet they punish a child so brutally for questioning his faith. The flames and the ominous shadows that their smoke casts can be seen as being symbolic of the inherently evil and malicious nature of the church that Blake is trying to convey in this poem.