I Heard an Angel by William Blake
I heard an Angel singing
When the day was springing,
'Mercy, Pity, Peace
Is the world's release.'
Thus he sung all day
Over the new mown hay,
Till the sun went down
And haycocks looked brown.
I heard a Devil curse
Over the heath and the furze,
'Mercy could be no more,
If there was nobody poor,
And pity no more could be,
If all were as happy as we.'
At his curse the sun went down,
And the heavens gave a frown.
Down pour'd the heavy rain
Over the new reap'd grain ...
And Miseries' increase
Is Mercy, Pity, Peace.
William Blake was born in London on November 28, 1757, to James, a hosier, and Catherine Blake. He died on 12 August,1827. Since early childhood, Blake spoke of having seeing God and angels. His parents discouraged him from lying and noticed that he was different from his peers. Blake learned to read and write at home. He believed that his poetry could be understood by common people and was determined not to sacrifice his vision to become popular. His first book of poems, “Poetical Sketches” appeared in 1783 followed by “Songs of Innocence” in 1789 and “Songs of Experience” in 1794. Blake's poetry was not well known by the general public, but he was mentioned in A Biographical Dictionary of the Living Authors of Great Britain and Ireland, published in 1816.
The poem has five short stanzas and each stanza has four lines and the total number of lines is twenty. The poem is placed on the left side of the page. The rhyme scheme is AABB in all the five stanzas.
The poem “I Heard an Angel” describes the scene that poet is visualizing about the angel and the devil. The poet hears an angel sing(line1) when the day was bright (line2), the angel’s singing had mercy, pity and peace (line3)which is the world’s released(line4).The angel sang all day(line5)till the moon appeared(line6) and the sun went down(line7)and the haycocks appeared brown(line8).Then the poet hears a devil curse(line9)over the uncultivated land with furze(line10) and the devil said that there could not be any mercy(line11)if there were no poor(line12).There would not be any pity(line13)if everyone would be happy(line14). When the devil was speaking the sun went down(line15)and the heaven showed a displeasure(line16).There was a heavy rain(line17)all over the gathered grains(line18)and this increased the miseries(line19)as this was not mercy, pity and peace(line20).
The symbols in the poem are (1) Angel, mercy, pity, peace, (2) Devil, miseries, curse. (3) Sun, moon, rain, heaven. The angels are referred to as superior to human beings who show mercy, pity and peace. According to Dictionary of Symbolism, angels are made up of pure spirits and are messengers of God between heaven and earth. Devil is referred to as prince of darkness by the Dictionary of Symbolism with whom all the bad luck, curse and miseries are concerned. Sun gives a ray of hope and according to Dictionary of Symbolism it is considered as the center of being and intuition, it is the knowledge, warmth, glory and splendor and Moon is the feminine symbol representing the rhythm of time. Heaven is the home of Gods and is considered spiritual and a place of utmost happiness. Rain is referred to as life-giving or life-destroying, it is fertilizing and makes an act of purification.
The tone of the poem is poet hearing a song by an angel who is spreading happiness and hope while the devil is cursing and spreading darkness and miseries. The tone is happy in the beginning and then becomes sad. The words “peace”, “world’s release” tell us that the poet is happy when he hears the angel sing but the words “frown”, “reaped” tell that hearing devil speak everything changed as hearing devil speak was a displeasure.
The poem “I Heard an Angel” has two thoughts attached to it, stanza 1 and 2 explain the happiness hearing the angel sing and the stanza 3,4 and 5 explain the sadness and the displeasure hearing the devil. This poem is about an angel who is innocent , full of life and superior to all human beings who is also a messenger of God send to earth to spread peace and happiness so that everyone can have a state of freedom. The poet enjoys when he hears the angel sing early in the morning till the evening when the moon came up, making the world a happier place to live. The devil is referred to as the mean, evil or an unprincipled person and when the moon came up, the poet could hear the devil’s cursing all over the uncultivated land and small bushes and hears the devil telling the world that there is no more mercy in this world because mercy is there only if people are poor and if everyone on earth is happy and satisfied by what they have then there will be no more pity. The poet describes that when devil started cursing the sun came down and there was darkness everywhere. The heaven also showed displeasure to devil’s curse and the heavy rain started and in line17 it is described as life-destroying as it destroyed the newly gathered and stored grains which caused a lot of problems and miseries.
Works Cited
Blake,William."I Heard an Angel".Famous Poets and Poems."n.d."Web.11 April2010.
Blake,William."Biography".Poets."n.d."Web.11April2010.
Blake,William."William Blake".The Literature Network."n.d."Web.11April2010.
Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. 2008. Merriam-Webster Online.11April2010.http://www.merriam-webster.com/
Julien, Nadia.The Mammoth Dictionary of Symbols: Understanding the Hidden Language of Symbols. New York: Carol and Graf Publishers, Inc., 1996.Web.11April2010.
Biederman, Hans. Dictionary of Symbolism: Cultural Icons and the Meanings Behind Them. New York: Meridian, 1994.Web.11April2010.
