The Interaction of Language, Style, and Imagery

in
William Blake’s “Infant Sorrow”

By Brahim Hiba, Ph.D

Introduction

William Blake's "Infant Sorrow" is a powerful and emotionally charged poem that reflects on the

difficulties and challenges of life. The poem depicts the speaker's birth as a struggle and a leap into

a dangerous world. It also explores the darker, less pleasant sides of bringing a new life into the

world, as well as themes of happiness, sorrow, and conflict. Blake's use of language, imagery, and

metaphor creates a memorable and impactful poem that continues to resonate with readers today.

To create unusual meanings, arouse strong feelings, and trigger vivid mental images in the readers’

minds, William Blake appealed to many rhetorical strategies and stylistic devices. These Stylistic

devices were used at many levels of the poem, namely the graphological level, phonological level,

lexical level, and semantic level.

Levels of Stylistic Analysis

At the graphological level, and as it can be seen from the first look at it, the poem is a very short

poem. It is composed of exactly forty-five words, and it is also organized in two quatrains or

stanzas, four lines for each. The distribution of words in the two quatrains is very balanced. The

first quatrain contains 23 words, and the second one 22 words. As far as punctuation is concerned,

the poem also contains one exclamation mark, two commas, four colons, and three full stops.

The phonological level of the poem shows that it is written in rhymed couplets, with a

structured rhyme scheme of AABB. This rhyme scheme gives the poem rhythm and musicality. It
also adds to the stability and regularity of the poem and strengthening its emotional impact by

emphasizing its themes and its overarching message. The meter in ‘Infant Sorrow’ is also more

consistent. All the lines contain either seven or eight syllables, which mimics the unhappy and

uncomfortable content of the newly born baby. The poem is written in accentual meter. That means

that it uses a certain number of beats per line, but doesn't stick to any one metrical foot in

particular.This poem uses accentual tetrameter: lines with four strong stresses a piece. Here's how

that sounds in lines (5) and (6):

Struggling in my father's hands:

Striving against my swaddling bands:

Both of these lines start with heavy stressed syllables that evoke the speaker's struggle to break

free from their father and their "swaddling bands." Compare that to the rhythms of the closing

line:To sulk upon my mother's breast. As the speaker gives up and accepts their fate, the stresses

also fall back and become more regular; in fact, this line is in neat iambic tetrameter (that is, it's

built from four iambs, metrical feet with a da-DUM rhythm). Through accentual meter, then,

Blake shapes each line to the poem's action, making this short-but-powerful tale move just like its

frustrated speaker does.

Alliteration is another common stylistic device that was used in the poem. In fact

alliteration in the poem has two manifestations: consonance and assonance. In line (1) "My mother

groan'd! my father wept" - the repetition of the "m" sound in "mother" and "my" and the "w" sound

in "wept" creates an alliterative effect. Also, the /b/ consonant sounds in “bands” and “best” in the

last two lines of the poem and the /l/ consonant sounds in “lept” and “loud” in lines two and three

and the /s/ consonant sounds in “struggling,” “striving,” and “swaddling” are connected through

half-rhyme in the first two lines. The repetition of these consonant sounds adds an extra element
of rhythm to the poem and suggests that the child’s struggle is not over. As for assonance, which is

the repetition of /o/ vowel sounds in the same line, is used in line (1) “My mother groand! my

father wept” and in line (2) “Into the dangerous world I leapt.”

At the semantic level, one can spot many metaphors that were used as stylistic feature in

to create the imagery of the poem. Blake uses the metaphor of birth as a leap into a dangerous

world, which creates a vivid and powerful image. The speaker's birth being portrayed as a struggle

and a leap into a "dangerous world." The metaphor of the speaker as a "fiend hid in a cloud" adds

to the dark and foreboding atmosphere of the poem, while the final image of the speaker sulking

on his mother's breast provides a contrast, offering comfort and security in the face of these

difficulties. There is a good example of a simile in ‘Infant Sorrow.’ It can be found in line four of

the first stanza where Blake’s speaker compares themselves to “a fiend hid in a cloud.” The speaker

compares himself to "a fiend hid in a cloud" creates a vivid and memorable image.

At the syntactic level, there is use of parallelism in the first line of the poem: "My mother

groan'd! my father wept." Soon after, line (3) also uses a double blow of comma caesura. Here, the

speaker describes themselves as: Helpless, || naked, || piping loud. These commas compress the

line, packing it with three distinct descriptions that capture the speaker's confused, powerless state.

Even though caesurae often slow a line down, here they quicken the pace, putting the reader right

there in the room with the screaming newborn baby.

The poem uses caesura. Caesurae are moments in poems in which the poet inserts a

pause in the middle of a line. The poem uses caesura to create an atmosphere of misery, confusion,

and oppression. Line (1) barely gets off the ground before it is interrupted by a dramatic

exclamation mark: My mother groan'd! || my father wept. This divides the line in half (creating

two parallel phrases), and means readers might linger on the word "groan'd" a beat longer,
imagining a long moan of pain. By disturbing the poem's flow before it's even gotten started, this

caesura also subtly reinforces the idea that the world will likewise restrict the flow of the speaker's

energy.Caesura or pauses might be signified through punctuation or meter. In this poem, both are

used.

At the lexical level, William Blake uses a minimalist style of language, with simple and

straightforward words and phrases. The direct and unadorned language contrasts with the powerful

emotions expressed in the poem, creating a stark and powerful effect. Blake's use of simple and

straightforward language creates a sense of innocence and purity, while the vivid imagery of the

poem adds to its emotional impact. The simple and repetitive language used in the poem

contributes to its childlike and innocent tone. There is also use of asyndeton. This literary device

shows things or ideas, or nouns connected without any conjunction. The poem shows the use

of asyndeton in line (3) “Helpless, naked, piping loud.” There is no use of conjunction in this verse.

Symbolism is another stylistic device that is used in the poem. The baby's "swaddling

bands"—the tight blankets that restrain it—might be read as a wider symbol of restriction: the

restrictions of society and of the body. While the baby's swaddling bands might be meant to make

it feel safe and snug, in reality they suppress the baby's natural energy. In doing so, the bands stand

in for all the ways that society might limit the instinctive wildness of the human spirit. The “fiend”

in the poem is also a symbol. It should not be regarded as evil but an embodiment of energy and

instinct. So, here the baby comes into the world not as a peaceful, meek being but as one filled

with positive energy and potential instinctual life.

Taking the historical context of the poem, for the poem was published in 1794, the

“dangerous world” mentioned in the poem could be considered an allusion to England’s industrial

revolution. It is well known that William Blake (1757–1827) was strongly opposed to the industrial
revolution; similarly, he was opposed to the mistreatment of children by rich factory owners. When

the infant is being brought helpless and naked to the "dangerous world", this world could refer to

the industrial revolution. Blake utilizes this as a symbol of temporary security.

In the last line in the poem, the baby decides to “sulk” upon the breast of the mother. The

word “sulk” is a pun for “suck.” Thus, suggesting two meanings; one meaning of allowing the

baby to enjoy what little comfort it has left and the other meaning of feeding itself with its mother’s

milk.

Finally, the tone of the poem, which is the voice of the text or the writer's attitude or

emotional response toward the subject matter, can be described as melancholic and poignant. The

speaker expresses a sense of sorrow and emotional turmoil regarding the birth of the infant. The

use of metaphor and symbolism also contribute to the overall tone of sadness and despair, as the

baby is portrayed as being "bound and weary" and unable to escape the pain of birth. However,

there is also a sense of hope in the poem, as the baby's birth represents new life and the beginning

of a journey, even if it is a difficult one. Overall, the tone of "Infant Sorrow" is complex and

nuanced, reflecting the complex emotions associated with birth and the struggles of human life.

Conclusion

In conclusion, "Infant Sorrow" is a poignant and powerful poem that reflects on the difficulties

and challenges of life. Blake's use of language, imagery, and metaphor, combined with his skillful

use of rhyme, makes this poem a timeless classic. In the poem, William Blake uses minimalist

language, rhyme, and metaphor to explore the difficulties and challenges of life. Blake's skillful

use of these stylistic elements creates a memorable and impactful poem that continues to resonate

with readers today.