Themes and message

The main themes of the poem “The Echoing Green” by William Blake are man and nature, and cyclical human existence. The poem can be interpreted as an extended metaphor for human life which mirrors the cyclical flow of nature, while also showing the contrast between innocence (the children) and experience (the old folks).

Man and nature

The theme of man and nature is present all through the poem as human activities such as games/sports which take place in a natural landscape during spring time. In this poem, man and nature are in harmony, which is suggested first by the intertwining of the song of birds with the chimes of bells (which are manmade):

The sky-lark and thrush,
The birds of the bush,
Sing louder around,
To the bells cheerful sound. (p. 202, ll. 5-8)

Then, nature reflects the joy of men (children) by echoing the sounds they make while playing, process metaphorically depicted by the poet as “the Ecchoing...