"The Ecchoing Green": Critical Detailed Analysis And Summary

Text of The Ecchoing Green by William Blake

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 Ecchoing 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 Ecchoing 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.

Stanza 1 Analysis

A beautiful spring morning has been described. The rising of the sun has made the skies happier. A sense of serenity and mirth can be felt by the readers. The arrival of the spring is most welcomed by the ‘merry bells’ which indicate Church bells.

They are ringing in joy. There are certain birds like the ‘sky-lark’ and the ‘thrush’ and the birds of the bush (birds who don’t fly that high, they remain at the ground level) who are singing loudly along with the bells welcoming the much-awaited spring season. Alongside, children can be seen playing sports in the park, ‘ecchoing green’.

‘Ecchoing’ here implies the life cycle of humans, which is explained further in the other stanzas. What is important to note is that we come to terms with the fact that the speaker is a child, playing with the other children in the park. We get to view things through the child’s lens.

Stanza 2 Summary

It begins with an old man, ‘Old John’, who is laughing joyfully at the kids playing in the park. He is sitting under an oak tree along with his companions who belong to the same age group as him. They all are reminiscing their good old youthful days when they too had the vigour to play like those children. They call these memories the ‘joys’ they experienced as young boys and girls, like playing in the park.

Stanza 3

Lastly one can see a tinge of sadness lingering around among the aged. They say that everything looks up when one is a kid but however, but it is not permanent. One fades away with time and the ‘sports’ eventually end. The children will get tired and will go rest on their mother’s lap.

From the mother’s lap, we can get the idea that the aged too did the same i.e resting on their mother’s lap but now they have grown old and have garnered wisdom through all such experiences and sitting under the oak tree, which is regarded as a symbol of wisdom clearly tells us that they are sitting under a shelter which represents their life and how they have led it, of which wisdom was an important characteristic.

The sports will no longer be seen. The stanza ends with the line ‘On the darkening green’. Unlike the other stanzas, this stanza resonates with desolation. ‘Darkening green’ refers to the dawn which will prevail over the lives of the aged. However what needs to be understood is that there will be a new day where new children will be playing ‘sports’ and the previous ones might now be stepping into the shoes of the aged, sitting under the oak tree, laughing and talking about their younger selves.

The Ecchoing Green: Themes

The life cycle of a human being

The poem clearly explores the field of the human life cycle from birth to death. The poem starts on a positive note. We can see the sun shining brightly enhancing the beauty of the sky, the birds flying and chirping with happiness, and the Church bells ringing in order to welcome spring.

The children are playing in the ‘Ecchoing green’, the park, with full energy and zeal. All of this depicts the early stages of life when you are young enough and are able to do more things as compared to old age. There is a group of old people sitting under the oak tree laughing and looking at the children at ‘play’. They are wondering how time passed by and now they are too old to do the activities performed by the children there.

They talk about how merrier life is when you are young but it doesn’t last for long as old age kicks in. The man i.e. ‘Old John’ has now reached his final stage in life, that is the stage marked by death. Hence, the poem ends with the fact that one is inevitably going to die, however, there will be a new day when children will be playing again, birds will be chirping with joy and the sun will shine high.

Meanings

Merry bells: it refers to the Church bells.

Sky-lark: Skylark is a passerine bird in the lark family, Alaudidae. It is a widespread species found across Europe.

Thrush: the thrushes are a passerine bird family, found largely in Europe.

Ecchoing Green: park

Old John: an old man

The Ecchoing Green: Literary devices

Juxtaposition

We see that the contrast between the youthful and old days has been highlighted by the poet. He has done that through nature and children at play. Everything seemed merrier in the beginning, but in the end, a feeling of sadness crept in.

The old men are nearing their death and are looking back at the good old days when they too had the strength to play in the ‘ecchoing green’ which has now turned to be a ‘darkening green’ for them. On the other hand, for children, the world is going to be the same till they step into old age.

Imagery

It has been used to describe the happiness one feels when he/she is young.