Alright so let's talk about this poem called “The Ecchoing Green,” (yes echoing is spelled with two C's). "The Ecchoing Green" is a poem by William Blake, and it is mainly about life and death but represented in different ways. Ok so this poem begins with the sun rising, causing the birds to come to life and sing, which awakens (brings to life) the nature around this strange ecchoing green field (I'm pretty sure the two c's are to kinda show that that the field is echoing, you know what I mean). So then a bunch of little kids come running onto the ecchoing green field to play sports (so I'm pretty sure this mystic echoing field is just a normal soccer field that's just overhyped).
Blake uses these events to show how this field can appear to come to life by using nature and some kids playing sports. So around half way through the poem, Blake brings in these old guys who are sitting under a tree and watching the kids play sports on the field.
I mean like seriously there are just a heard of old people sitting under a tree watching some six year old kids play soccer or something, it's a little weird man. Then these old guys start remembering what it was like when they were the same age as the kids. They remember when they used to play sports on this exact same field, which is kinda sad because they are really old (like near death old) and are remembering their childhood. Then Blake starts really symbolizing death when he talks about how the children are tired after playing their sports and are ready for a long rest. Then Blake describes the nature around the field again but way darker than before. He describes how the sun is setting, and the birds who were chirping before quieted and went to sleep. Blake goes into a lot of detail, and he is pretty much describing how the field is being covered by the night sky. He straight up calls the field the darkening field rather than the ecchoing green field like the thing is literally covered in darkness kinda like death.
So you might be wondering what are all of these hints to death referring to, like who is dying in this poem. Well, I'm pretty sure you can think of it in two ways. First, you can think of it in a general sense, so pretty much meaning that all of the events Blake uses throughout his poem, such as the little kids playing on the field where the old men and women watching them used to play, are metaphors for the general idea of life and death. This is pretty much what I was talking about above about the different parts of the poem relating to life and death. You can also think of it within the poem, meaning that all of the events are symbols for the inevitable death of the old people in the poem. I mean think about it. The first part of the poem is all about how nature is waking up and coming to life, like when the birds are chirping and the sun is rising. As this is happening a bunch of youthful, happy, and energetic little kids come running onto the same field the old people used to play sports on. This can symbolize the past childhood of the old people during their lifetime because everything is bright and cheery, and they are picturing themselves as the little kids on the field. When the sun sets and birds become silent it gives the poem a darker tone. The darker tone is continued especially when the kids walk off the field because you can think of this as the old people's childhood leaving the field where they grew up and shows them growing old.
So, once the sun sets, the birds completely stop, the kids have all left the field, and the field is covered in darkness, you can think of it as the death of the old people who had been reliving their childhood. Like for real though, William Blake does a sweet job using these little metaphors and clues to symbolize life and death because he is able to perfectly form that idea in your head without ever mentioning life or death.
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