Nurse's Song by William Blake: Summary, Meaning & Analysis
Blake wrote two poems titled "Nurse's Song" — one in *Songs of Innocence* (1789) and the other in *Songs of Experience* (1794).
The poem
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.
Blake wrote two poems titled "Nurse's Song" — one in *Songs of Innocence* (1789) and the other in *Songs of Experience* (1794). In the Innocence version, the nurse allows children to play outside until dark, their laughter bringing her joy. In contrast, the Experience version reveals a more complex emotion: the nurse reflects on her lost youth with envy and bitterness, urging the children inside as a means of controlling what she can no longer enjoy herself.
Line-by-line
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…
"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"…
When the voices of children are heard on the green / And whisp'rings are in the dale…
The days of my youth rise fresh in my mind / My face turns green and pale…
Then come home, my children, the sun is gone down / And the dews of night arise…
Your spring & your day are wasted in play / And your winter and night in disguise…
Tone & mood
The two poems represent contrasting emotions in Blake's work. The Innocence version feels warm, open, and relaxed — reflecting the perspective of someone who has faith in the world. In contrast, the Experience version is filled with bitterness and a sense of loss, embodying the feelings of someone mourning an unnamed absence. When read together, this tonal difference highlights Blake's intention: he illustrates how identical scenes and words can convey entirely different meanings based on the observer's emotional state.
Symbols & metaphors
- The Green — An open communal area where children can play freely. In the Innocence poem, this space symbolizes natural freedom and pure joy. In the Experience poem, the same area turns into a place of the nurse's yearning—she can see the green but can't experience it like the children do anymore.
- The Sun / Daylight — In the Innocence poem, the fading daylight supports the children — it's a sign that their play can carry on. In the Experience poem, the setting sun acts as a force to end their fun. The presence and absence of light closely reflect the journey from youth to its end.
- Spring and Winter — Blake employs the seasons to symbolize the stages of human life. Spring represents childhood and the realm of possibilities, while winter signifies old age, regret, and the narrowing of choices. In the Experience poem, the nurse has reached the winter of her life and struggles to forgive the children for remaining in the spring.
- Disguise — One of Blake's most powerful words. It implies that the adult world is constructed on secrecy — that adults hide their true selves behind masks. The nurse suggests that the children will have to do the same eventually, which feels less like a warning and more like a curse.
- The Nurse's Voice — In the Innocence poem, her voice flows as a dialogue—she speaks, the children respond, and she listens. In the Experience poem, her voice transforms into a monologue that shuts things down. This change from conversation to a commanding tone symbolizes how Experience suppresses innocence.
- Green and Pale (the nurse's face) — The color change in the Experience poem reflects both envy and illness at once. Blake merges emotional and physical states into one image, illustrating that repressed emotions lead to tangible, noticeable effects.
Historical context
Blake published *Songs of Innocence* in 1789 and later combined it with *Songs of Experience* in 1794, giving the joint collection the subtitle "Shewing the Two Contrary States of the Human Soul." His work emerged during the upheaval of the French Revolution, the early stages of the Industrial Revolution, and a rising Romantic backlash against Enlightenment rationalism. The pairing of "Nurse's Song" serves as one of his clearest examples of the collection's main technique: presenting the same situation, the same title, and even some of the same phrases, but revealing how differently they resonate depending on whether the observer is open or repressed. Blake wasn’t idealizing childhood; instead, he used it as a lens to examine the effects of society and experience on the human spirit over time. The nurse in the Experience poem isn't a villain; she's a victim of her circumstances.
FAQ
There are two. One is found in *Songs of Innocence* (1789), and the other in *Songs of Experience* (1794). Blake crafted them as a matched pair — they start with the same opening line but lead to entirely different emotional conclusions. The idea is to read them side by side.
In the Innocence version, the nurse takes real pleasure in watching the children play and allows them to stay outside until dusk. In the Experience version, the children's joy stirs feelings of envy and sorrow in the nurse — she recognizes her own lost youth in their laughter and brings them inside, cutting their fun short with a grim reminder about time slipping away.
It's the Experience nurse's final observation. She's explaining to the children that adulthood — their "winter" — will involve wearing a mask to conceal their true selves. Blake uses the term "disguise" to imply that society pressures individuals to present a version of themselves instead of living genuinely. This grim forecast reveals as much about the nurse's own life as it does about the children's future.
In the Innocence poem, she comes across as warm, patient, and truly happy for the children. In the Experience poem, she becomes more difficult to like, but Blake doesn’t paint her as a villain. Instead, she’s a person who has suffered from life and is, perhaps without realizing it, passing that suffering along. The poem encourages us to empathize with her tragedy rather than simply judge her for it.
The repetition is intentional and serves a structural purpose. By beginning both poems in nearly the same way, Blake prompts you to see how the same scene — children playing on a green — evokes entirely different reactions based on the observer's inner feelings. The world remains the same; it's the soul that has shifted.
Blake views childhood as a time of natural freedom and a genuine connection with the world. In the Innocence poem, children perceive sunlight and birdsong with clarity and rightly assert that there's still time for play. The poem emphasizes this directness. In contrast, the Experience poem illustrates the consequences of losing that direct engagement — individuals like the nurse become unable to appreciate the beauty in front of them.
The entire collection revolves around "contrary states" — Innocence and Experience aren't simply opposites, with one being good and the other bad. Instead, they serve as two perspectives that uncover different truths. The Nurse's Song pairing stands out as a clear illustration of this approach. Blake uses it to demonstrate that repression, envy, and bitterness are not merely character flaws; they're a predictable outcome of existing in a world that stifles the open, joyful nature of innocence.
Both versions adopt a relaxed ballad structure, featuring four stanzas each. They blend anapestic and iambic rhythms, creating a lilting, song-like quality—fitting for pieces titled "songs." The rhyme scheme is straightforward and steady (around ABAB or ABCB), enhancing the folk-song vibe and amplifying the impact of the dark themes in the Experience version against its seemingly cheerful form.