William Blake's "The Little Girl Lost" and "A Little Girl Found"
...r gets the impression of the felines taking Lyca away to their caves where they will watch over her. Eventually, the story continues with “A Little Girl Found” where the author now begins to use Lyca’s parents’ perspective. This poem is a continuation due to the parents are now searching for Lyca for seven days and eventually they find the lion and he takes them to their daughter. “’Follow me,’ he said / ‘Weep not for the maid / In my palace deep / Lyca lies asleep.’” (Blake, ?). The poem ends with Blake describing how Lyca and her parents are no longer afraid of nature and its beings. When Lyca is lost in the cave with the feline animals, her parents are worried and grief stricken while trying to find her. Eventually however, they come across a lion that is described in the poem as being respectable and kingly. “They look upon his eyes / Filled with deep surprise / And wondering behold / A spirit armed in gold. On his head a crown / On his shoulders down / Flowed his golden hair. Gone was all their care.” According to an article called “The Little Girl Lost” & “The Little Girl Found” by Katherine Montwieler, critics all interpret Blake’s poetries in many different styles. One author, John Ingamells wrote an article in 1963 comparing the painting “La Boehemienne Endormie” painted by Henri Rousseau and the lion in the Lyca poems. He states, “The lion is a metaphor for Lyca’s parents’ interpretation of her sexual adventures. Yet although parents are terrified when ‘they first see the adult passions manifest themselves [in their children, they] later see that nothing very dreadful has happened, after all.” (Montwieler, Ingamells; 1). Another interpretation of the lion is that he is a metaphor for Jesus Christ. The lion acts as a higher figure to Lyca in the “Lost” poem. They describe the feline’s coming upon Lyca and all of the smaller animals are playing and enjoying themselves around her while the lion just sits and observes her laying there. “Leopards, tigers, play / while the beast of prey, / come from caverns deep, / Viewed the maid asleep. The kingly lion stood, / And the virgin viewed / Then he gamboled round / O’er the hallowed ground.” (Blake, ?). In this context, the lion is therefore presented and represented as being the king of the felines and the most respectable and glorifying member of the cat family in the woods. In the “Found” poem, Blake presents the lion to the parents of Lyca and their initial response is fear until the lion gives them his peace offering and leads them to Lyca. “Smelling to his prey / but their fears allay / When he licks their hands / And silent by them stands.” (Blake, ?). The lion at this moment in the story of Lyca becomes a godly figure. Jesus was feared by the people of his time because they knew that he was God’s son and he had power. But eventually, after taking an extreme amount of time to prove his identity, some of the people realized who Jesus was and his importance and began following him. The poem scenario represents the Bible scenario in this way. The lion gave his signal to the parents that he was not going to hurt them and that if they trust in him, they will by far achieve the benefits. Also, Blake uses a stanza in the poem to describe how the lion is seen through their eyes. “On his head a crown / On his shoulders down / flowed his golden hair. Gone was all their care.” (Blake, ?). This stanza represents Jesus again in the idea that the physical description is one of Jesus. Jesus had a crown of thorns when he was crucified and it is a very well known image of Jesus having long golden brown hair. When he was crucified their sins were all forgive. The lion also takes away all the cares of Lyca’s parents when he reassures them that everything is fine the same way that Jesus assured all of his followers that they would be ok now that he is sanctifying all of their sins with his death. Not only does Blake touch upon Christianity and beliefs within that religion but also he relates to the Greek queen of the Underworld, Persephone, and her story of how she became just that, the queen. The story of Persephone is quite simple. According to Wikipedia, Persephone was the daughter bore by Zeus and Demeter, but she did not have a specific duty on Mount Olympus. Her mother, Demeter, continuously kept her away from the other Gods and Goddesses so Persephone ended up living a very happy peaceful life until Hades, the God of the Underworld, came and kidnapped her, causing Demeter (goddess of the Earth) to go into perpetual depression while she spent most of her time searching for Persephone. Eventually, because Demeter was so depressed and spending her time off Mount Olympus searching, the Earth began to die and Zeus became very upset about this. Because Helios told Demeter what had happened, Zeus forced Hades to return his daughter. However, Hades forced Persephone to eat ...