Auguries of Innocence

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1863

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Summary

Background

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Symbols & Motifs

Animals

Animals symbolize the innocent and the oppressed in the poem. They also symbolize various emotions, qualities, and facets of human behavior, emphasizing how all living creatures are interconnected.

Blake often takes traditional symbolism associated with animals and expands on it. For instance, the skylark in Line 15 is traditionally a symbol of joy, its singing heralding summer. Since the skylark is a symbol of joy, its wounds represent a double cruelty. Thus, its pain stops an angel from singing. Similarly, in Line 9, the dog—a symbol of loyalty—is starved by its Master. The implication is that the dog is rewarded for its faith in its master with sadistic cruelty. In Line 11, a horse, a traditional symbol of hard work, is rewarded for this perseverance by being misused or overworked on the road. Often, the animals are anthropomorphized, linking their suffering with the suffering of oppressed humans. For instance, in Line 17, “the Game Cock clipd & armd for fight” is implicitly compared to a human gladiator forced to fight for the entertainment of others.

Animals also represent the wisdom and knowledge of innocence, as well as the Christian figures of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. The lamb (Line 23) is an often-used symbol for Jesus Christ, while the Dove (Line 7) is a symbol of the Holy Spirit. In Lines 25-28, the bat and the owl represent wisdom leaving the mind of unbelievers, ushering in a metaphorical darkness of the soul. In Lines 35-36, “the Catterpiller on the Leaf / Repeats to thee thy Mothers grief,” wisely admonishing humans to not torture animals for pleasure.

Animals are thus a font of intuitive natural knowledge, as possessed by children, innocent farmers, and natural elements. Even when animals are associated with negative qualities, such as the venom of the snake and newt, the poem is categorical that it is human malice and spite that has pumped poison into these beings. In this, the poem displays an enlightened attitude toward animals, unlike in traditional literature. Traditionally, the snake is a symbol of evil, but here, the snake is presented as a victim of human folly. The suggestion is that the evil committed by animals is inadvertent, but that by humans cannot be excused, as humans are self-aware creatures.

The Gem-Studded Plow

In Lines 101-102, the poem presents its version of utopia or the ideal state. In this state, the spiritual, political, and the material will align. Significantly, this state will arise “When Gold & Gems adorn the Plow” (Line 101). The plow, an agricultural implement which is a symbol of fertility and hard work, is traditionally associated with modest materials like wood and iron. Blake unites the modest plow with the paradoxical image of gold and gems, associated traditionally with kings, to valorize the worth of honest labor. The gold and gem-studded plow then unites two figures at the opposite ends of the social spectrum: the farmer and the king. It is when the farmer is valued like a king that the ideal state will ensue. Thus, the gem-studded plow will usher in an era of justice, equality, creativity, and respect for those who work the land.

In Line 102, the poet expands on the symbolism of the golden plow. When the plow rules, “to peaceful Arts shall Envy Bow.” Peaceful arts refers to creative and productive pursuits which are borne not of greed but a desire to produce and do good. Such pursuits include farming, poetry, healing, and so on. Envy symbolizes pursuits borne of greed, such as military campaigns, colonial expansion, and the exploitation of workers. When the plow is valued for its true worth, so will other peaceful arts. The ignorant pursuit of wealth and violence will give way for careers in productive and socially useful industries.

Clothing

Clothing and garments are a recurrent motif in the poem, with varying symbolic connotations. The poem refers to beggars’ rags in several instances, the rags symbolizing the injustice and inequality prevalent in society. Beggars are forced to wear rags and beg for alms because society is inequitable. In Lines 41-42, the rags of the beggars and the robes of princes are mentioned in the same breath. The idea behind the paradox is that princes are able to wear expensive robes because they hoard wealth, forcing beggars to wear rags. In Lines 75-67, the rags of the beggar represent such a blatant injustice that Heaven is forced to cry tears. The rags of beggars shame the society which is comfortable with these realities.

The metaphor of the body as a garment for the soul is common in religious literature; Blake expands on this in Lines 59-62. Here, not just the body but its experiences of good times and bad times become clothing for the soul:

Joy & Woe are woven fine

A Clothing for the soul divine

Under every grief & pine

Runs a joy with silken twine (Lines 59-62).

While traditionally, the soul discards the clothes of the body, here the idea is that the clothing—or human experience—is important for the spirit. Through joy and woe, the spirit evolves from experience an innocence. Clothes as symbolic of the body are also used in Line 63, where “The Babe is more than swadling Bands.” The suggestion is that, just as the baby should not be mistaken for the clothes swaddling it, so too should human existence not be thought to be just bodily and temporal: It also includes the spirit.