In order to make a deconstructive analysis of William Blake’s “The Little Black Boy” (Blake, 1789) the first element that needs to be considered is the title itself. The title of a poem can be seen as the door of a house. These first four words that are filled with meaning, are what the reader encounters first. Just by reading the title we know that the poem is going to deal with a young male character that happens to be black.
Blake is considered one of the most important figures of the Romantic period in England, and this is important to consider as what might be seen today as a racist title, was not seen as such two centuries ago. However, there is not doubt that the main element to take into account is the fact that the poem deals with a black character in opposition to a white one.
In the first stanza the poetic voice is playing with the dichotomy of being black while having a white soul. He is comparing his soul’s whiteness to that of an angel or an English child. By making this comparison he is not only stating that his blackness is only superficial, but also making a connection between Englishness and divinity. Such statement can be analysed as a reflection of the period in which the poem was written and the beliefs of the author that gives birth to the poetic voice. In addition, the expression “the southern wild” (Blake, 1789) is also worth mentioning. The poetic voice is locating himself in the south in opposition to the north, which was always considered as the most developed and advanced place. This idea is reinforce with the term “wild” as it places the subject in an underdeveloped space.
The following three stanzas make allusions to the environment and an upbringing extremely linked to both religion and nature. This can be also studied as the traditional portrayal white people often made of the black population.
The final three stanzas deal directly with God and the poetic’s voice worthiness of his favour. The allusion “The cloud will vanish” (Blake, 1789) makes a contrast between the cloud that represents the blackness and the sun that represents whiteness or purity. However, when this cloud is gone, the poetic voice asserts that the differences will disappear as well. This can be clearly seen in the verse “When I from black and he from white cloud free” (Blake, 1789) in which the blackness is seen as something that needs to be broken from in order to achieve salvation. On the other hand, whiteness is portrayed as something already sacred so it can never be considered something that needs to be erased.
All in all, if we try to deconstruct Blake’s poem it is important to bear in mind the time in which it was written as well as the constant dichotomy that exists between black and white, evil and good, and wilderness in opposition to the developed world.
REFERENCES
- Blake, W. (1789). The Little Black Boy. In W. Blake, Songs of Innocence .
