Earth's Answer - Imagery, symbolism and themes

Imagery and symbolism

Earth - Earth is traditionally personified as female (as in the expression ‘Mother Earth') because the earth gives life to vegetation and produces food by which humankind lives. In Christian tradition, earth is connected to the physical existence of humans, since, according to the creation narrative in Genesis 2:7, Adam was made from the dust of the earth.

Here, the earth's prone position and subjection to a male God's control would tally with the view of male / female relations in Blake's day. However, here the traditional warmth and fecundity associated with ‘Mother Earth' has been reduced to darkness, coldness, greyness and stoniness. Instead of the hope of new life, there is ‘despair'. Instead of a reciprocal relationship with God, Earth seems resentful.

Bondage – Terms of confinement echo through the poem – ‘Prison'd', ‘Chain'd', ‘heavy chain', ‘bondage' and ‘bound'. This reflects Earth's perspective that she is confined to the darkness because God is wantonly cruel and selfishly fears what Earth might achieve if released from his control. There is no recognition that the darkness and bondage is a consequence of human actions, over which God weeps. According to Christian understanding, it is human rebellion which has opened the way for death and decay.

Procreation – the Earth complains that the natural progress for the ‘virgins of youth' towards ‘free Love' is hindered by the darkness. The images of nature coming to fruition – ‘bud' turning into ‘blossom', seed being sown for an eventual harvest, after the land has been ‘plow[ed]' are symbolic of sexual activity.

Investigating imagery and symbolism

Modern ideas about male and female roles are very different from those in Blake's time
- How do you think a modern reader responds to the personification of the earth as a woman?

Themes

How the human mind sees the nature of the world and its creator

In this poem, Earth believes she is the prisoner and victim of a jealous God. According to Blake, this is a consequence of the Fall. However, Blake's perspective on the Fall is not the conventional one. He believed that:

It results in people having a divided inner state
They project all their negative fears and instincts outward into an image of a tyrannical God
This image of God forbids the expression of human instincts and emotions
Thus, their bodies become dead prisons to them rather than means of communication and relationship with others and source of pleasure.

Attitudes to the body and the life of the senses

This connects with Blake's opposition to John Locke. (See Religious / philosophical background > Blake's religious world > Dissenting attitudes to Locke.) Blake believed that humans are essentially spiritual beings and that the body should be an expression of a person's spiritual nature. Yet, he believes that people do not believe this. They believe that their bodies are purely physical and that reality consists solely in what can be understood via the senses. In this way their senses trap them in a materialist approach to life and they are unable to experience themselves, including their bodies, as spiritual beings. This seems to be the entrapment against which Earth protests.

Investigating themes

Compare the use of these themes with their use in The Lamb.

English Standard Version
King James Version

¹Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. ²And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. ³So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation. ⁴These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens. ⁵When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up - for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground, ⁶and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground - ⁷then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. ⁸And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. ⁹And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. ¹⁰A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers. ¹¹The name of the first is the Pishon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. ¹²And the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there. ¹³The name of the second river is the Gihon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Cush. ¹⁴And the name of the third river is the Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates. ¹⁵The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. ¹⁶And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, ¹⁷but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die. ¹⁸Then the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him. ¹⁹Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. ²⁰The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. ²¹So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. ²²And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. ²³Then the man said, This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. ²⁴Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. ²⁵And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

¹Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. ²And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. ³And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made. ⁴These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens, ⁵And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground. ⁶But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground. ⁷And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. ⁸And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. ⁹And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. ¹⁰And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads. ¹¹The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; ¹²And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone. ¹³And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia. ¹⁴And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates. ¹⁵And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. ¹⁶And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: ¹⁷But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. ¹⁸And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. ¹⁹And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. ²⁰And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him. ²¹And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; ²²And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. ²³And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. ²⁴Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. ²⁵And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

Related material

Scan and go

Scan on your mobile for direct link.

Songs of Innocence and Experience Contents