The poem depicts the cycle of life through the lens of children at play. The first stanza describes children happily playing in nature as birds sing and bells ring to welcome spring. The second stanza shows an old man watching the children and reminiscing about his own youth. In the third stanza, as the sun sets the tired children nestle with their families for rest, signaling the end of play until tomorrow. The poem suggests life mirrors this cycle from youthful joy through aging recollection.

1. THE ECHOING GREEN
William Blake

2. THE ECHOING GREEN
The Sun does arise,
And make happy the skies.
The merry bells ring,
To welcome the Spring,
The sky-lark and thrush,
The birds of the bush,
Sing louder around,
To the bells cheerful sound,
While our sports shall be seen
On the Echoing Green.
Old John with white hair
Does laugh away care,
Sitting under the oak,
Among the old folk.
They laugh at our play,
And soon they all say,
Such, such were the joys,
When we all, girls & boys,
In our youth time were seen,
On the Echoing Green.
Till the little ones weary
No more can be merry
The sun does descend,
And our sports have an end:
Round the laps of their mothers,
Many sisters and brothers,
Like birds in their nest,
Are ready for rest:
And sport no more seen,
On the darkening Green.

3. “Nature is a cycle of joyful new life
and quiet death, which is mirrored in
the human lives of carefree, innocent
youth and their eventual aging”

4. FIRST STANZA
The Sun does arise,
And make happy the skies.
The merry bells ring,
To welcome the Spring,
The sky-lark and thrush,
The birds of the bush,
Sing louder around,
To the bells cheerful sound,
While our sports shall be seen
On the Echoing Green.
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uplifting words
vivid imagery
cheerful tone
renewal and rebirth
personification of the sun
auditory imagery
celebratory mood
children connected to nature

5. Then down a green plain, leaping, laughing they run,
And wash in a river and shine in the Sun.
“The Chimney Sweeper”
While our sports shall be seen
On the Echoing Green.
“The Echoing Green”
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children and nature imagery
everlasting carefreeness

6. SECOND STANZA
Old John with white hair
Does laugh away care,
Sitting under the oak,
Among the old folk.
They laugh at our play,
And soon they all say,
Such, such were the joys,
When we all, girls & boys,
In our youth time were seen,
On the Echoing Green.
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experiences of maturity
commonplace names
white hair
-"Hush, Tom! never mind it, for when your head's bare,
You know that the soot cannot spoil your white hair."
-That thousands of sweepers, Dick, Joe, Ned, & Jack,
Were all of them locked up in coffins of black
“The Chimney Sweeper”

7. Old John with white hair
Does laugh away care,
Sitting under the oak,
Among the old folk.
They laugh at our play,
And soon they all say,
Such, such were the joys,
When we all, girls & boys,
In our youth time were seen,
On the Echoing Green.
• oak tree and Old John
• coexisting old and new life
• laugh away worries
• repetition
• lingering quality
• reminiscent tone
• new life echoes the old

8. THIRD STANZA
Till the little ones weary
No more can be merry
The sun does descend,
And our sports have an end:
Round the laps of their mothers,
Many sisters and brothers,
Like birds in their nest,
Are ready for rest:
And sport no more seen,
On the darkening Green.
complete contrast
darker, sobering imagery
lack of auditory imagery
both darkness and silence
related to night
• children “ready for rest”
• simile
• missing “our”
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• detachment
from the other
stanzas
• simple, subdued diction
• tired, fading tone

9. OVERALL REMARKS
The Sun does arise,
And make happy the skies.
The merry bells ring,
To welcome the Spring,
The sky-lark and thrush,
The birds of the bush,
Sing louder around,
To the bells cheerful sound,
While our sports shall be seen
On the Echoing Green.
Old John with white hair
Does laugh away care,
Sitting under the oak,
Among the old folk.
They laugh at our play,
And soon they all say,
Such, such were the joys,
When we all, girls & boys,
In our youth time were seen,
On the Echoing Green.
And so Tom awoke; and we rose in the dark
And got with our bags & our brushes to work.
Though the morning was cold, Tom was happy & warm;
So if all do their duty, they need not fear harm.
“The Chimney Sweeper”
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Till the little ones weary
No more can be merry
The sun does descend,
And our sports have an end:
Round the laps of their mothers,
Many sisters and brothers,
Like birds in their nest,
Are ready for rest:
And sport no more seen,
On the darkening Green.
rhyme couplets
slant vs. straight rhyme
simple diction
speakers are children

10. OVERALL REMARKS
The Sun does arise,
And make happy the skies.
The merry bells ring,
To welcome the Spring,
The sky-lark and thrush,
The birds of the bush,
Sing louder around,
To the bells cheerful sound,
While our sports shall be seen
On the Echoing Green.
Old John with white hair
Does laugh away care,
Sitting under the oak,
Among the old folk.
They laugh at our play,
And soon they all say,
Such, such were the joys,
When we all, girls & boys,
In our youth time were seen,
On the Echoing Green.
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simile
repeated motif
parallel structure
vivid imagery
motif of cycles
repetition
Till the little ones weary
No more can be merry
The sun does descend,
And our sports have an end:
Round the laps of their mothers,
Many sisters and brothers,
Like birds in their nest,
Are ready for rest:
And sport no more seen,
On the darkening Green.

11. CONCLUSIONS
And so Tom awoke; and we rose in the dark
And got with our bags & our brushes to work.
Though the morning was cold, Tom was happy & warm;
So if all do their duty, they need not fear harm.
“The Chimney Sweeper”
Till the little ones weary
No more can be merry
The sun does descend,
And our sports have an end:
Round the laps of their mothers,
Many sisters and brothers,
Like birds in their nest,
Are ready for rest:
And sport no more seen,
On the darkening Green.
“The Echoing Green”
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false hope vs. acceptance
cyclical nature of human life.