The Little Boy Found

“The Little Boy Found” was written by William Blake and published in his 1789 poetry collection titled Songs of Innocence. Blake later published the companion poem, “The Little Boy Lost,” in Songs of Experience (1794) in a publication combining both these volumes of poetry.

“The Little Boy Found” poem relays the physical and spiritual journey of a boy led astray, rescued by God, and returned to his mother. The poem features a simplistic structure consisting of two quatrains and alternating rhyme with a varied meter shifting between iambic and anapestic feet. Written during the British Romantic Period (1785-1832), Blake incorporated various traits from this period into “The Little Boy Found,” including an exploration of mental states and heightened emotional journeys.

Throughout his life, Blake claimed to see visions from God of angels and spirits of the deceased, and these theological leanings are evident in “The Little Boy Found” with the portrayal of God as the boy’s savior. In addition to writing poetry, Blake was an artist specializing in painting, illustrating, and engraving. Blake is often grouped in with what was known as the “Big 6” poets of British Romantic literature with William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, John Keats, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and George Gordon, Lord Byron. These six were originally the primary focus of Romantic literary studies, though academics have expanded research to other authors and continue to include new writers in this canon.

Poet Biography

William Blake was born in London in 1757 to father James—a hosier—and mother Catherine. Both parents were Nonconformists. They had seven children, but only five lived beyond infancy. From early childhood, Blake professed to see visions of God, the prophet Ezekiel, and angels. He also early exhibited artistic inclinations, and when he was 10 years old, his parents enrolled him at Henry Pars’s drawing school. When the school proved too much of a financial burden, he was apprenticed to engraver James Brasire. Blake worked with Brasire from 1772-79, during which time he “was sent to Westminster Abbey to make drawings of tombs and monuments, where his lifelong love of gothic art was seeded” (“William Blake Biography.” Biography.com, A&E Television Networks, 2021). After his apprenticeship ended when Blake was 21, he studied for a short time at the Royal Academy of Art’s School of Design and also worked as a “freelance” engraver for booksellers and other employers.

Blake started writing poetry at only 12 and published his first collection of poems: Poetical Sketches (1783), which was amassed over 14 years. Another significant event around this time was Blake’s marriage to Catherine Boucher. In addition to being his wife, Boucher served as a sort of “apprentice.” He taught her how to read, write, and assist with his printing. After his marriage and following the death of his father in 1784, Blake attempted to start a printshop with James Parker, but was unsuccessful.

One of the most significant events of Blake’s life was when his brother Robert, with whom he was very close, died in 1787 from consumption/tuberculosis. Blake claimed to have seen Robert’s spirit leave its bodily form and ascend to heaven. Even after Robert’s death, Blake declared seeing his brother’s spirit, and stated that it was said spirit who directed him in 1788 “to produce his text and design on a copper plate with an impervious liquid. The plate was then dipped in acid so that the text and design remained in relief. The plate could be used to print on paper, and the final copy would then be hand colored” (“William Blake.” Poetry Foundation). This style of printing and illustrating Blake named illuminated printing.

Following Poetical Sketches, Blake used this new style of “illuminated printing” to publish Songs of Innocence in 1789 and a combined edition of Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience in 1794. Though the titles of both publications sound separate and distinct, Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience blurred the lines between the two states. Blake's other publications include “Visions of the Daughters of Albion” (1793), The Book of Urizen (1794), and The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (1790-93). As Blake was writing during and following the French Revolution, his texts often include political themes and social commentary against tyranny. Blake also shared company with various political radicals such as Mary Wollstonecraft and William Godwin.

Another significant event in Blake’s life moving to Felpham in 1800. Here, Blake worked for his patron William Hayley and was charged with sedition after forcibly removing a soldier named John Schofield from his property. In 1803, Blake and his wife returned to London, and in 1804 he was acquitted of the sedition charge. His time at Felpham was not for naught, though, as he likewise attributed various spiritual experiences to this period of his life which helped inspire later publications. These “great visionary epics” included Milton (1804-08), The Four Zoas (1797), and Jerusalem (1804-20).

During his final years, Blake exhibited his work and continued to produce engravings and commissions. His work did not always draw the most positive reviews, with one even calling him an “unfortunate lunatic” (“William Blake Biography.” Biography.com, A&E Television Networks, 2021). As his confidence in his work dwindled, so did his finances. His final years were spent in the company of John Linnell and a group of aspiring artists called “the Ancients” who aided Blake with money and boosted his professional self-esteem. He met Linnell in 1818 and maintained contact with him and “the Ancients” until his passing in 1827. Blake’s final project was a series of drawings for Dante Aligheri's work.

Poem Text

The little boy lost in the lonely fen,

Led by the wandering light,

Began to cry, but God, ever nigh,

Appeared like his father, in white.

He kissed the child, and by the hand led,

And to his mother brought,

Who in sorrow pale, through the lonely dale,

Her little boy weeping sought.

Blake, William. “The Little Boy Found.” 1789. Poetry Lovers Page.

Summary

“The Little Boy Found” by William Blake from his collection Songs of Innocence tells the story of a little boy lost in a desolate mire, seemingly led astray by a strange light. God—who is described as looking like a father-figure dressed in white—finds the boy in his despair. God affectionately takes the child and returns him to his mother, who has been looking for her child, though in the wrong location: She has been searching in a valley rather than in the marshland. She is in a state of sorrow and turmoil. Relayed through the perspective of an objective, third-person speaker, the poem provides readers with a satisfying, happy conclusion implying that all both physically and spiritually ends well for the mother and son.