Thoughts on "Auguries of Innocence"

William Blake's poem describes the loss of innocence of not only nature but of humanity as a whole. He wants us to see that people are too focused on materialistic and selfish ways instead of focusing on what he deems to be actually important which are our emotions and preserving nature. I agree with Blake and especially in present times this poem is relevant despite being written 200 years ago. Society is now focused on technology and materialism while we tend forget to appreciate nature around us.
Blake's view of the human state seems to be that humanity as a whole is corrupted in many ways. People continue to take more and more from nature but do not give anything back. Blake basically says that people do not care enough for animals, trees and people less fortunate than themselves. The way to repair humanity is to focus more on our morals and feelings to guide us in life.
The poem is filled with contrasting images of human actions and nature. A large part of the poem is written with an action that leads to a consequence. The consequences are more symbolic that realistic even though they sound literal which makes them paradoxes. Line 15 and 16 can be used as an example. "A skylark wounded in the wing, A cherubim does cease to sing.". According to Blake, hurting this bird causes angels to stop singing. This is one of many examples that reinforces his idea that hurting nature is not right. There are comparisons of natural objects to human characteristics. On lines 49 and 50, Blake says "The poison of the honey bee, Is the artist's jealousy" which I took to mean the sting of a honey bee can be compared to a human emotion such as jealousy.
William Blake talks quite a bit about his philosophies on life in this poem. The last third of poem shows that Blake had a strong belief in faith and believes that people should also have strong faith instead of questioning everything. On lines 87 and 88, Blake says "He who shall teach the child to doubt, The rotting grave shall ne'er get out.". He reiterates his point using a nature reference in lines 109 and 110. "If the sun and moon should doubt, They'd immediately go out." During the Romantic Era, one of the romantics' issues with the Enlightenment stemmed from the need for explanations to everything instead of just accepting something as it was.
The Romantic Era was also a time of Revolution where people looked for opportunities to be treated equally. Blake touches upon this idea with his images of poverty and how the poor should be no less than the rich. Lines 79 and 80 state "The poor man's farthing is worth more Than all the gold on Afric"s shore." which means that a poor man's coin worth less than a penny is worth more than all the gold on Africa's shore. This idea is also shown in lines 101 and 102, "When gold and gems adorn the plow, To peaceful arts shall envy bow.", where Blake glorifies a simple life.
From lines 51 to 61, the two points I found that Blake was trying to make are that the truth is always better than a lie and that people live to go through pain and happiness. Blake believes that even a hurtful truth is better than any lie. I don't agree with this point and think it's a bit too idealistic especially i n situations that are not clearly black or white. It is human nature to lie if we feel that it will alleviate a situation even though we are taught that lying is morally wrong.
The second point is made in line 56 where Blake says "Man was made for joy and woe;". In lines 59 and 60, "Joy and woe are woven fine, A clothing for every soul divine.", the point is also made. I do agree with this point because while we all strive for happiness we also learn as we get older that we can not avoid feeling pain in life. Joy and woe are opposite emotions but it does not mean you can't experience them at the same time. They can be intertwined but yet unrelated. It is possible to be happy about one thing and upset about another. It has happened to me before. Usually one follows the other because no can always happy or always hurt.
"Auguries of Innocence" is filled with paradoxes of human behavior and natural things. Paradoxes are normal in our everyday lives because it is easy to contradict ourselves without even knowing it. Sometimes we can't control how people take the things we say. Sometimes we think too literally and other times too figuratively. I believe that William Blake wanted us to see that humans should literally focus on their feelings and also on nature because that is what should be important to us.