William Blake's collection of poems, Songs of Innocence, highlights both the positive and negative aspects of the trait of innocence. Many of the poems within the collection feature speakers who find comfort in religious teachings and experiences despite the lives of suffering and turmoil they are forced to endure. One of these poems, "The Little Black Boy," features a young man of African descent learning the racial classification system from his mother. Many argue that the poem seems very distant from the rest of the Songs of Innocence because it deals with a mature topic: racism. Although “The Little Black Boy” deals with the heavy topic of racism, it earns its place in William Blake's Songs of Innocence through its narrative structure and the speaker's display of traits that indicate innocence: hope, naivety and ignorance. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The poem uses its narrative structure extensively to convey innocence. This fact is most evident through the speaker of the poem. No image conveys innocence more clearly than that of a child who lacks knowledge and experience. He describes the matronly love shown to him by his mother by stating, “And, sitting down before the heat of the day, / she took me in her lap and kissed me” (Blake 6-7). This image shared by the speaker shows his young age through the close and nurturing relationship he shares with his mother. This relationship signals the speaker's young age and continued dependence on his mother. He also remembers that he was taught "under a tree" (Blake 5). The framing of a lesson taught by the child's mother promotes the image of innocence through the child's unconditional faith in his mother's knowledge. This image relates to other poems in the collection that describe a similar relationship between believers and the Christian God. Finally, the speaker's ability to reach a concrete, if problematic, conclusion by the end of the poem indicates a lack of experience. The speaker has yet to reach an age where he can conceptualize the possibility of uncertainty. Overall the narrative structure of the poem plays an important role in rationalizing the placement of the poem in this particular collection. In addition to the narrative structure of the poem, the themes present throughout the text demonstrate the innocence that the poem portrays. For example, the young speaker's sense of hope throughout the poem shows his inexperience. In an effort to explain race and its cultural meaning to her son and to provide him with a sense of peace as he endures the injustice he will face throughout his life as a racial other, his mother speaks to him of a God who "gives the its light, and yields its heat” so that “the flowers and the trees and the beasts and the men receive / Comfort in the morning joy in the noon” (9-12). in knowing that someone cares for him while growing up in an environment that devalues ​​racial minorities Furthermore, his mother explains that “a little space is put on the earth” (13). to believe that his suffering on earth will be short-lived and that he will have an eternal life in heaven without the hardships he endures because of his race on earth. Later in the poem, the speaker refers to racial identity as one cloud (16). He decides to learn “the heat to bear” in the hope that in the future “the cloud will vanish” (17-18). In other words, his innocence allows him to continue to hope that one day he will be able to livea life free from the constraints imposed by his race. This sense of hope provides the speaker with a sense of comfort and allows him to remain in the realm of innocence. Along with the speaker's hope, his naivety further allows him to be considered innocent. In the poem, the speaker reaches an understanding of his racial category and the influence it has on his life by stating, "And these black bodies and this sunburned face / Are but a cloud, and like a shady grove." (15-16). These lines highlight the speaker's naivety towards the racial system allowing him to believe that it is a simple and insignificant fact of life. He fails to see the great impact race has on his life. Furthermore, the speaker makes plans for his afterlife: I will protect him [the English child] from the heat until he can bear it, to rest with joy on our father's lap. And then I'll get up and stroke his silver hair, and I'll be like him and he'll love me then. (25-28) The boy's plan to serve the English child exemplifies his naivety regarding race relations. The speaker intends to remain submissive and inferior to his white counterpart even in the space he is in to gain freedom from this relationship. Instead of wanting his own autonomy and personal freedom, he wants the love and approval of the English child. This innocent naivety could prove dangerous for the black boy, causing him to accept his condition as a racial other and minimizing his willingness to question the arbitrary oppression bestowed upon him because of his racial identity. The speaker's naivety towards the implications of his race relates directly to the poem's representation of the speaker's innocence through his ignorance to the injustice of racial categorization. One of the first examples of the child's ignorance occurs when the second stanza begins with the image of the speaker's mother teaching him under the shade of a tree (5). This image illustrates the fact that the speaker is still in the process of learning about life. He remains ignorant of the many harsh realities of life as a racial other because he has not come of age and has not gained the experience necessary to understand these issues. At the end of the poem, the speaker makes plans involving the English child to "protect him from the heat until he can bear it" and "stand up and stroke his silver hair" (25, 27). Even in the place where he achieves freedom he intends to remain in a submissive role. He remains oblivious to the injustice of his arbitrary position of servitude. As with his naivety, his ignorance will likely eliminate any means of seeking equality in his earthly life. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay While many question the placement of “The Little Black Boy” within Songs of Innocence, the poem showcases many of the traits of innocence that stand out throughout the collection. Through the young speaker's unconditional acceptance of his mother's teachings, the poem chronicles the speaker's hope, naivety, and ignorance regarding his likely bleak future as a person of African descent in the sixteenth-century Western world. Although his mother's well-intentioned lesson eases his worries and provides him with incentive to endure his life in an oppressive environment, it will not free him from the implications of his racial identity. Despite the fact that the poem's main topic, racism, is part of the world of experience, its understanding and rationalization through the mind of a young speaker.