Nurses Song

 When the voices of children are heard on the green,
   And laughing is heard on the hill,
 My heart is at rest within my breast,
   And everything else is still.
 "Then come home, my children, the sun is gone down,
   And the dews of night arise;
 Come, come, leave off play, and let us away,
   Till the morning appears in the skies."

 "No, no, let us play, for it is yet day,
   And we cannot go to sleep;
 Besides, in the sky the little birds fly,
   And the hills are all covered with sheep."
 "Well, well, go and play till the light fades away,
   And then go home to bed."
 The little ones leaped, and shouted, and laughed,
   And all the hills echoed.

This poem by William Blake is written of a nurse whom is taking care of children. The nurse acts if she is the mother of these children who are lost.  When the voices of the children are heard over the green, the nurse gets happy, and everything goes still.  I take that as if the kids have passed away and are now spirits. Causing the nurse takes care of them. Even though there is no need for the nurse to take care of them, only the fact that they are still kids. When the nurse tells them to go home and that it is getting dark, the kids ask for more time because they play when it is dark out, so the nurse agrees. The kids say they cannot sleep; they are restless souls looking for the light to go into. They play all day and night, shouting, laughing and leaping. I don’t get why the title is called the “Nurses Song” when there is no song that is sung or talked about. But then I re read the poem several times, and came to a conclusion that the nurse is someone who takes care of patients, that are sick or not. Those kids are by themselves, thus creating a nurse to help care over them.

During the last part of the poem where it said the hills echoed, this is insinuating there is nothing over the green lands to stop the echo’s travel. These kids do these things all by themselves, not know where to go, or what to do.  They somewhat do as they please. In this poem, William Blake is trying to write about the lost souls whom roam around, and not know what the real life is like. These kids were free. Doing as they pleased, exploring, and having a good time. Once in a while, everyone should get the chance to do that, to be free for just a day.  Take the chance to live once in a while, nothing is ever known in life. William Blake is one of the most inspirational poets back in time, and still today, due to his poems having a lot meaning.