Reading Response #3: Mark Edmunson's "William Blake's America, 2010"

Mark Edmunson’s “William Blake’s America, 2010”, annotates Blake’s poem “London” and the selfhood it represents. It compares the state of London from Blake’s perspective 200 years ago, to how America is now, specifically in New York. A poet wanders throughout the city and is appalled by the misery surrounding him. The main source for this overwhelming misery, Blake blames on the peoples’ inability to see more than just from their own perspective. Blake goes on to talk about the chimney sweeps and the horrible lives they are forced to live. The children born into families too poor to feed them are made to work these horrible conditions. Children are a perfect fit for cleaning the chimneys, but it is a job far too dangerous for them to do. Edmunson then connects how children are treated to the moral state of the country. He also compares this theory to America and the state it is in. Children in America, though living in a country so rich, are going hungry. Many Americans are so concerned with how to advance themselves further in wealth and success, that they forget what is really important. “…you see the world from your own perspective. You look out for your own advantage. You pursue your own success. You hog and hoard. You’ve entered the state that Blake calls the state of Selfhood…”(Edmunson 1). In the eyes of Blake, that was what had filled the streets of London, and for Edmunson, this is what America had come to be. He also refers to the part in Blake’s poem that talks about the soldier’s who are forced to fight for a country who has forgotten all about them, offering no support. Edmunson believes that both in our world and Blake’s, compassion and courage have been lost. Although they both believe their worlds have fallen to selfhood, they still feel there is hope for change.

Edmunson says, “You think that affirming Selfhood will get you what you want in the world… But all the state of Selfhood does is cut you off from the possibility of a better life”(Edmunson 1), and I couldn’t agree more. No one can get through this life alone, so only being concerned about yourself will send you on a downward spiral. Like in Blake’s “On Another’s Sorrow”, it is not yourself you are concerned with when another is hurting. When seeing someone crying in pain, empathy is apparent. Having compassion for someone is the total opposite of being in selfhood, something that no one should fall to, yet so many are. Selfhood, although seeming to bring “happiness”, will in itself bring you to sorrow. When your own success is all you live for, what happens when you don’t succeed? You are left with nothing. America is filled with many of these people, whose number one concern is the successfulness of their business. While they are up to their necks in money, there are people right around the corner with no home and no food. These same people let children attend schools who have no money for books, leaving these children with no means for learning. While some families barely have enough to get by, the rich are still asking for more. This is what has become of America. Blake saw the same misery surrounding London, and yet 200 years later, there is almost no difference. The soldiers of America are not forgotten, unlike the ones of London, but do they really know what they are fighting for? They may not know the exact reason we are at war, but they are willingly fighting for our country. That is why I don’t feel as if the courage is lost. Our soldiers aren’t being forced to fight, like the draft many years ago, but voluntarily devoting their lives to protect the country they live in. So yes, there is still hope for change. America has regained the courage lost so long ago, but the selfhood taking over the country is the war we are still fighting everyday. Both Blake and Edmunson saw hope for the future, now it is time that those in selfhood open up their eyes “to help see what’s directly in front of them”.