Poems’ Analysis: Anne Bradstreet’s “The Prologue” and “The Little Black Boy” by William Blake (Essay Sample)

Poems’ Analysis: Anne Bradstreet’s “The Prologue” and “The Little Black Boy” by William Blake
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Poems’ Analysis: Anne Bradstreet’s “The Prologue” and “The Little Black Boy” by William Blake
A collective evaluation of the poems "The Prologue" by Anne Bradstreet and William Blake's "The Little Black Boy" reveals nothing short of the cry for help to the injustices that socio-cultural inequality has posed to the world since the beginning of time. The central theme in "The Prologue" is equality. The poet strives to share with the writer her feelings about the poetry world being primarily dominated by men, despite women bearing a great impact on life's literary spheres. On the other end, "The Little Black Boy" exposes the inequality caused by the evident difference between the black boy's skin colour and that of the white boy, creating the impression that the poet was criticizing racial inequality and injustice at the time and future too. These two poems share the same theme of denouncing the prejudice created by different types of inequality – it is masculinity against feminism for Anne Bradstreet's "The Prologue" and white supremacy over Black cultures for William Blake's "The Little Black Boy". Using detailed quotes from the above two different poems' lines, this essay will illustrate how they share the same thematic perception and image of the world.
William Blake brings out the inequality theme in the most exquisite manner. Through literary devices like symbolism and similes right from the beginning of the poem, it is evident that the image of the difference between Black and White communities speaks volumes about social purity. In stanza 1, line 2, it is quoted, "And I am Black, but O! My soul is white (Blake, line 2)." This is clear proof that despite accepting his black nature, the black boy sees his soul as pure white, just like that of the white boy. Symbolically, the boy is not aware that the difference in his physical appearance compared to that of the white boy does not define the nature of their respective souls. Even though it does not bear much scrutiny on the poem itself, the idea of the "sun-burnt" Black boy's skin caused by the sun implies an inequality on skin difference between Black and White folks as the sun is likened to God's light by the poet.
The poet does a great job to share with the readers how the boy was raised in such a biased world filled with White supremacy. Later in the poem, the Black boy wishes that he would help the white boy bear the harsh rays from God's light as it is evident that he cannot handle the heat. The boy is also willing to stroke the White boy's silver hair just to feel accepted and loved by him. It is quoted, "I'll shade him from the heat till he can bear (Blake, line 25)," to mean that the Black boy is willing to do anything that will acquire him the White boy's approval. From these illustrations, it is clear that racial injustice is the central theme, while a biased society's partiality is the outward image.