What style is this?

[Erthona]

Akira wrote: "Yet I wonder, intrigued: Who is the speaker? Who is he speaking to?"

Blake was speaking, as is noted in the introduction to the Songs of innocence, it was Blake's vision. Notice the last 2 stanza, this is where Blake is identified as the speaker of the "songs". The speaker is the writer of the songs.


Introduction to the Songs of Innocence
By William Blake

Piping down the valleys wild
Piping songs of pleasant glee
On a cloud I saw a child.
And he laughing said to me.

Pipe a song about a Lamb;
So I piped with merry chear,
Piper pipe that song again—
So I piped, he wept to hear.

Drop thy pipe thy happy pipe
Sing thy songs of happy chear,
So I sung the same again
While he wept with joy to hear

Piper sit thee down and write
In a book that all may read—
So he vanish'd from my sight.
And I pluck'd a hollow reed.

And I made a rural pen,
And I stain'd the water clear,
And I wrote my happy songs
Every child may joy to hear.

The speaker changes in the different poems, "Los" as he hammers out the world  is often the speaker within the poem, but the speaker can change, it is often not just one speaker (I think even Fuzon got a few lines), especially in the longer works such as "Milton" and "The Four Zoas".

Oh yes, almost forgot. Who is he speaking to. Well the last line is quite specific, children and "if a man wishes to enter the kingdom of heaven he must become as a little child". So I guess that would include everyone and Blake was trying to save everyone by waking Albion, which is the equivalent of building Jerusalem (heaven) "in  England's green and pleasant land!"  

 
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Ray,

I am not bitter or angry, I'm just stating facts. I don't blame people, I would rather watch the next "Avenger" movie than a great (or should that be grate) remake of "Death of a Salesman." Just because an education in art allows  for a more gradated worldview and often a higher degree of empathy, over a black and white mentality that objectifies others, that doesn't make it entertaining, although Sir Phillip Sidney would argue it should be both, although academia has tried its best to make it as boring as possible, which is what you get when you have men with no souls trying to teach the arts. But you disdain higher education (at least in the arts) as a shell game anyway, equivalent to basket weaving. So that leaves people to their own devices and we must trust in people like you Ray to show them the way, least they stumble and vote Republican 
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Leanne,

"I refuse to get involved in any discussion that authoritatively states: "it means"."

Context is everything. If I had a dream, and in that dream Catherine Blake came and revealed to me the meaning of the poem, I feel that I am quite at liberty, within that context to say it means... I was also pointing out that Catherine (although William got the credit, was probably just as much a part of the creative process as he was, so who is to say whose hand penned the poem. Considering that all of maybe 25 copies of the songs were sold, it would have been complete suicide to put a woman's name to it so who knows. I do suggest they worked very close together and whatever William knew Catherine also knew. So if Catherine says, this is what the poem means, who am I to gainsay her. Interesting woman, she reminds me a bit of you, except she speaks proper English 


dale