Speaker and characters

Apart from the speaker, the poem “The Echoing Green” by William Blake features two collective characters, the children and the adults.

The speaker

The speaker, or lyrical I, describes a spring day in which children play outside, guarded by adults. The speaker makes his presence felt by the use of personal pronouns and endearing appellatives such as “our sports” (p. 202, l. 9), “our play” (p. 202, l. 16) and “Old John” (p. 202, l. 11), which indicate that he knows the people he is describing and is part of the group of children who play games outside.

The children

The children in the poem are presented as playful and jolly, as they play some sports outside during a spring day, making the adults “laugh at our play” (p. 202, l. 16). The use of the expression “Ecchoing Green” (p. 202, l. 10) also indicates that they are probably quite loud when they play.

After a day’s play, the “little ones” (p. 203, l. 1) are “weary”...