The Nurse's Song by William Blake

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 every thing 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 cover’d with sheep

Well well go & play till the light fades away

And then go home to bed

The little ones leaped & shouted & laugh’d

And all the hills echoed

analysis:  

The scene of the poem features a group of children playing outside in the hills, while their nurse listens to them in contentment. As twilight begins to fall, she gently urges them to “leave off play” and retire to the house for the night. They ask to play on till bedtime, for as long as the light lasts. The nurse yields to their pleas, and the children shout and laugh with joy while the hills echo their gladness.

The tone of the poet was relaxed and she is relieved from stress. The evidence is“My heart is at rest” This shows that she was free of tension and anxiety from reality as she was watching the children playing in the meadow. “laughing is heard on the hill” shows that the children was ‘connected’ to the nature and their laughter signifies their innocence and how well they got along well with one another without alienation. “Everything is still” also suggests that the peace and tranquility she had in her mind was timeless and it was delightful for the poet to watch the children run around the hill light heartedly.The poet also uses rhyming words such as hill and still for the poem flow smoothly and to give the poem a rhythm.

The children were very reluctant to leave the hill. “Till the morning appears in the skies “ This shows that  The writer is trying to persuade the children by assuring them that they will be coming back to the hills to have fun the next day however the children refuses to listen and they are unwilling to go back home. “And we cannot go to sleep” suggests that the children are having too much fun and they are not satisfied to go to sleep.

The writer eventually yields to the children’s pleas. The evidence is ”Well well go & play till the light fades away” This suggests that the poet didn’t want to cast a gloom over their innocence but rather support it and she wants to embrace the children with gentle protection rather than to be overprotective.. “The little ones leaped & shouted & laugh’d“ shows how pure and innocent the children were as they were overjoyed at little things like more time to play. “all the hills echoed” suggests that the poet’s tranquility resonates with the innocent laughter of the children and the peace of the natural scenery of the hill in the evening.