Joy and Woe by William Blake

Joy and Woe written by William Blake

‘Joy and Woe’ is a short poem written by William Blake. In this poem poet tries to say that joy and sorrow are the important part of human life. Both the things are equally important in our life. The poem is divided in to two stanzas, each have four lines.

Joy and Woe are woven fine,

A Clothing for the soul divine;

Under every grief and pain

Runs a joy with silken twine.

In the first stanza poet says that joy and pain are connected with each other, both come naturally in sequence, here to explain this things poet has use the example of woven, in a seance that connection. Joy and woe are connected with each other and inter-depended. In human life, happiness and grief are equally important. These two things connect together and make cloths for our divine soul. In the next two lines poet gives us a tips to find out joy in pain. Poet says that, in every pain and sorrow there are also joy and happiness, we need to find it out. If we find joy in every pain we start enjoying the pain as well. But we have to remember that we are made for both joy and pain. Because if there is no pain than we come to know the prize of happiness. And in happy moment we have to remember that first we have felt the pain than we get this happy moment.

Poet say that do not become unhappy when sad moment come, there are always happy moments also. To understand the value and price of the joy one have to pass out through the pain. Once you know that joy and woe both are come turn by turn. One can live happily in every moment of life.     

So, we know that joy and woe are part of our life, we can live happy in sad moment also. This thing happen when we understand the value of pain and happiness in our life, one has to identify the happiness in every split second.

Here in this first stanza poet has use personification with the using the ‘clothing for the soul divine’. The poet has successfully used the alliteration in the stanza, the word ‘Woe’ is alliterating with ‘Woven’. The word ‘Fine’ and ‘Divine’ rhymed with each other, as same ‘Pain’ and ‘Twine’ rhymed with each other. And poet has compared the joy with silken twine.    

It is right it should be so;

Men was made for joy and woe;

And when this we rightly know,

Safely through the world we go.

In the second stanza poet say that it is very right that man was (is) mad for both joy and woe. Because no one in the world made only for joy and no one is made only for sorrow both are equally important for the human life. There is no person in the world that has not feel happiness and there is no person in the world that has not feel sadness. Every person in the world has felt both the things. Because joy and woe are connected with each other, and man is made for both the things joy and woe. It is very right for the man to pass through joy and sorrow. 

In next two line poet says that when a person rightly know about this truth of life, that joy and woe are important at that or from that moment one can safely move or go through the world. Because if one person is in grief, he is not able to understand that after the pain there is joy is waiting for him/her. One started blaming ‘god’ life, and other persons. But if one understand that joy and woe are connected with each other. He started enjoying the life even in painful situation. For example if someone gives you only sweets every day, than what happen one day, you longing for some spicy things. The same things happened in our life that if one person is too much happy one cannot live more happily, the same thing happen with the sad person.         

In this stanza, the word ‘Were’ alliterate with ‘woe’.  Word ‘so’ and ‘woe’ rhymed with each other and the word ‘know’ and ‘go’ rhymed with each other.

In short if one understands the value of happiness and sadness in human life they can enjoy every situation of life. In this very short poem, poet tries to deliver the big massage of life, and the massage is that the joy and woe are linked with each other and equally important part of our life. If we understand that human is not made only for joy and not only for woe, but made for both the things. Without joy we cannot know the value of pain and without pain we cannot understand the price of joy. Poet tries to say that there is happy moment in sadness also, one have to try to be happy because joy and woe are woven together. Human kind is rightly made for both the things joy and woe.