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.