Earth's Answer

 

 

In this poem Blake is truly expressing how the human race has been exploiting and misusing Earth’s recourses. Earth is personified wonderfully; she of course is a woman. She begins to show her discontent with humans, and shares the pain she feels for being mistreated, as well as unappreciated. He lucidly describes it in the first stanza. The part where he says, “Earth raised up her head,” is almost trying to show that she is kind of ashamed to have let the abuse go on this long.

 

“Selfish father of men! Cruel, jealous, selfish fear!,” this one phrase could not be more accurate in describing exactly how people are, and the reasons why they feel the need to try to conquer everything around them. People fear the unknown, and get super worked up about things that are out of their control. They try to tame the untamable. Earth is one of those things we simply weren’t meant to conquer, although it doesn’t seem like we understand that. It was not too long ago that our ancestors walked this land and had a beautiful bond with it. They knew how fragile it is, and how horrible it would be if it was left in the wrong hands. However somewhere along the way civilization took over and greed did as well.

 

 “Brake this heavy chain, that does freeze my bones around! Selfish, vain…” Money and power was the only thing people began to care about.  Vainness played a big part in it as well. Simultaneously she wishes nothing more than for the hurting to end. To be free again is all that she asks for, so her rivers can run on their own course, and her trees can grow where the want. Towards the end of the poem it seems like even though she has been betrayed by the humans she still feels love for us and hopes we are able to realize that without her we literally cannot survive. Hopefully we still have the time needed to repair all the damaged we have inflicted upon her, and that we are still able to salvage our relationship with her.