Holy Thursday Tone

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“Holy Thursday” shines light on the treatment of the many poor, orphan children living in England. Holy Thursday is traditionally a special day during Easter which the poor or orphan children of the charity schools march to St. Paul’s Cathedral for service. In both versions of this poem, William Blake uses form, tone, diction, and imagery to show his views on life. The form Blake uses helps the reader to interrupt his tone throughout the poems. In “Holy Thursday” (Song of Innocence), the poem contains three stanza with two rhymed couplets. This provides order which is significant because in the poem the children march through the streets in a specific manner. The tone for this specific poem is very ironic. Holy Thursday is supposed to be a “holy” day, but the treatment of the children suggest otherwise. “Holy Thursday” (Song of Experience) contains four quatrains with no rhyme throughout which creates a tone of decay for the reader. Not only does Blake use form and tone to show the treatment of the children in england, but he also uses diction and imagery to support his views. …show more content…

In “Holy Thursday” (Song of Innocence), the words “innocent faces clean” show how the children must be tidied for public because they are not usually taken care of (Blake line 1). Blake chooses the phrase “flowers of London town” in order to show the children's’ beauty and fragility (Blake 5). The use of “mighty wind” and “harmonious thunderings” suggest that the children are becoming powerful (Blake lines 9-10). When Blake says “like Thames’ waters flow” he is showing how the children march in unison towards the cathedral as if they were a river (Blake line

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