Short and Sweet Poem Analysis

Songs of Experience "Chimney Sweeper" by William Blake

2012-03-18T19:13:00.002-07:00

Disclaimer: This blog is not a source (don't cite me; these are only my opinions, really). I'm just writing these to incite a dialogue in your own mind about these poems. Thanks!

"Chimney Sweeper" by William Blake

A little black thing among the snow,
Crying! "weep! weep!" in notes of woe!
"Where are thy father and mother? Say!" -
"They are both gone up to the church to pray.

Again, we've got that authority figure, the church. We also have the mother and father. What's different about this poem from the one from Songs of Innocence is that this one is in the perspective of a chimney sweeper who is still young. His parents have gone to church to pray, leaving him out in the snow. This could mean that the parents are dead. Even so, the speaker introduces a triple decker hierarchy of authority.

Church >Parents>Child

"Because I was happy upon the heath,
And smiled among the winter's snow,
They clothed me in the clothes of death,
And taught me to sing the notes of woe.

The logic here is weird. How is it that the showing of happiness allows for abandonment? Perhaps happiness is a mark of experience. Perhaps happiness reflects comfort, independence. The parents probably felt as if their child was ready to be on his own, or the parents didn't feel too guilty giving the child up for chimney sweeping because of his profound key to happiness.

"And because I am happy and dance and sing,
They think they have done me no injury,
And are gone to praise God and His priest and king,
Who made up a heaven of our misery."

This last stanza is crucial. It shows that the child is, in fact, very experienced. He knows what is happening. He know why his parents left him. He knows that this place is corrupt and filled with misery. However, he is still happy as a form of rebellion, as a form of resistance.

Songs of Experience "Holy Thursday" by William Blake Analysis

2012-03-18T19:01:00.004-07:00

Disclaimer: This blog is not a source (don't cite me; these are only my opinions, really). I'm just writing these to incite a dialogue in your own mind about these poems. Thanks!

"Holy Thursday" by William Blake

Is this a holy thing to see
In a rich and fruitful land,
Babes reduced to misery,
Fed with cold and usurous hand?

The speaker sees this tension or contradiction. In a land of the rich, a land of holy, the orphans are miserable. Seems moral, right?

Is that trembling cry a song?
Can it be a song of joy?
And so many children poor?
It is a land of poverty!

Over there, where the children sing, is the land of poverty for them.

And their sun does never shine,
And their fields are bleak and bare,
And their ways are filled with thorns:
It is eternal winter there.

Basically, these children are not meant for this kind of forced labor. Over there, in the cathedral (or in the orphanage), the children are reduced to no sunlight, no green field. They should be playing and being kids, but they are forced to do drab things as if it were winter.

For where'er the sun does shine,
And where'er the rain does fall,
Babes should never hunger there,
Nor poverty the mind appall.

The speaker says this as a rule. They should never hunger there. This corrupt holiday is a direct reflection of the corrupt nature of the orphanage/church.

Songs of Experience "The Garden of Love" by William Blake Analysis

2012-03-18T18:50:00.000-07:00

Disclaimer: This blog is not a source (don't cite me; these are only my opinions, really). I'm just writing these to incite a dialogue in your own mind about these poems. Thanks!

"The Garden of Love" by William Blake

I went to the Garden of Love,

And saw what I never had seen:

A Chapel was built in the midst,

Where I used to play on the green.

The speaker introduces another authority figure (the church!). In a free, beautiful land, the speaker comes back to visit only to find his garden replaced by a church. Seeing the words "Garden of Love" reminds me of (dun-dun-dun-dun!) the Garden of Eden. The Garden of Eden is described as this botanical, beautiful, also a bit risque of a place. It was where Adam and Eve were buck naked, representing innocence and the pure sense of the body. The speaker also says that he used to play in the green grass. Now, all he sees is a chapel.

And the gates of this Chapel were shut,

And Thou shalt not' writ over the door;

So I turn'd to the Garden of Love,

That so many sweet flowers bore,

Not only that, but the chapel is not all that accepting. They're locked and closed off and hostile. The second line of this stanza reminds me of the 10 commandments. These commandments rule our lives (although, arguably, it would be kind of bad if we killed or stole), but at the same time, there's so much more restrictions.

And I saw it was filled with graves,

And tomb-stones where flowers should be:

And Priests in black gowns were walking their rounds,

And binding with briars my joys and desires.

So now there are graves. This was a place where things thrived and lived, but now they harness the dead. Perhaps we praise the dead too much, too, in comparison to the time we used to just live ignorantly like animals.

I think this poem is definitely questioning the church (the Church of England was pretty bad at this time), in its authoritative control and drab sense of religion. Religion started out as beautiful, natural, and innocent, but now it's turned into this institution filled with restraint.

Songs of Experience "London" by William Blake Analysis

2012-03-18T18:37:00.001-07:00

Disclaimer: This blog is not a source (don't cite me; these are only my opinions, really). I'm just writing these to incite a dialogue in your own mind about these poems. Thanks!

"London" by William Blake

I wander thro' each charter'd street,

Near where the charter'd Thames does flow,

And mark in every face I meet

Marks of weakness, marks of woe.

So the speaker walks down the streets of London. What does he see? Well, he sees faces marked with sadness. Why are they sad?

In every cry of every Man,

In every Infant's cry of fear,

In every voice, in every ban,

The mind-forg'd manacles I hear.

Let's talk about the "mind-forged manacles." Who instilled these manacles? Why are they there? Calm down, young padawan. All you need to know thus far is that every person has these manacles.

How the Chimney-sweeper's cry

Every black'ning Church appalls;

And the hapless Soldier's sigh

Runs in blood down Palace walls.

So we see two types of people: chimney-sweepers and soldiers. As we now know from the other poems of chimney sweepers, there is a large amount of authority and subservience here. Namely, the chimney sweepers are pretty much a product of the monarch and church. So are soldiers. The speaker named two archetypes controlled by an authority and controlled almost tyrannically.

But most thro' midnight streets I hear

How the youthful Harlot's curse

Blasts the new born Infant's tear,

And blights with plagues the Marriage hearse.

Harlots are basically sluts. They destroy the institution of family and unity. They are plagues. By the end of this stanza, we see separation, weakness and destruction.

To answer the first question, I think the mind-forged manacles are the adherences to this authoritarian control. Obviously the authorities aren't doing a very good job, because they're so tyrannical. But what's worse about this situation that the people are brainwashed into thinking that, first, they are controlled and, second, they can't do anything about it.

"The Tyger" by William Blake Analysis

2012-03-18T18:13:00.001-07:00

Disclaimer: This blog is not a source (don't cite me; these are only my opinions, really). I'm just writing these to incite a dialogue in your own mind about these poems. Thanks!

"The Tyger" by William Blake

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

This poem is from Songs of Experience, so questioning is a given. Basically, he's asking what could possibly make this scary killer of a creature.

In what distant deeps or skies
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand dare sieze the fire?

To mold this creature would be dangerous itself. It's be like creating fire with your hands--it's going to hurt you. So why WOULD anyone make a creature that can hurt and maim?

And what shoulder, & what art.
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand? & what dread feet?

Heart, in my mind, represents plenty of things. More in the past than today, probably, they thought memories, wills, and motivations came to and from the heart. In a tiger's heart, there are motivations of killing, eating, scavenging. Also, heart could represent how similar we are to the tiger. Do we not have a heart that beats? Again, the speaker questions what the motivations are to make such a monster.

What the hammer? what the chain?
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? what dread grasp
Dare its deadly terrors clasp?

I feel like the speaker is insinuating that the tiger was made in a different factory. They were made by the same hands, the speaker will admit that much, but this animal was definitely made with a different hammer, chain, furnace and anvil. Hell, all those tools listed are used to build weapons and metal machinery. But not humans. No, we were probably built with caring hands, like bread or clay.

When the stars threw down their spears,
And watered heaven with their tears,
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the Lamb make thee?

Was the creator proud of his work? He must have been to actually have made everything else as well as the tiger. But even the stars up in heaven wanted to kill it dead. Perhaps the only thing that loves it unconditionally is its creator.

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

This was basically the same stanza as before. The speaker hasn't come to a conclusion. Compare this to "The Lamb." The previous poem had a distinct ending, a resolution. This poem, however, is left open. Who would create this monstrosity? The fact that the speaker left it open ended is probably in denial that the same creator that created the lamb also created the tiger. Also, perhaps the trouble of experience is that there are often times questions left unanswered.

Furthermore, I'd like to bring up the fact that this speaker could very well be asking: is the same creator who created the tiger is also the creator of me? If so, what am I capable of?

As a Blakian, I'll leave that question for you.

Songs of Innocence "Holy Thursday" by William Blake Analysis

2012-03-18T17:54:00.002-07:00

Disclaimer: This blog is not a source (don't cite me; these are only my opinions, really). I'm just writing these to incite a dialogue in your own mind about these poems. Thanks!

"Holy Thursday" by William Blake

‘Twas on a Holy Thursday, their innocent faces clean, 
The children walking two and two, in red and blue and green, 
Grey headed beadles walk’d before, with wands as white as snow, beadles = ceremonial officers
Till into the high dome of Paul's they like Thames’ waters flow. 

Apparently, it was a thing in England at the time for orphaned children to march down on Holy Thursday to St. Paul's Cathedral.

Oh what a multitude they seem’d, these flowers of London town!
Seated in companies they sit with radiance all their own.
 The hum of multitudes was there, but multitudes of lambs,
Thousands of little boys and girls raising their innocent hands.

The speaker compares the multitude of orphans to flowers (perhaps to the people sitting far away, they did look like flowers of red, blue, and green). To me, this suggested that they have been planted there, for viewing pleasure. This is the second time they were described as "innocent." Perhaps they don't realize how much of a spectacle they are. Also, they are compared to lambs, suggesting they were herded almost willingly to the cathedral.

  Now like a mighty wind they raise to heaven the voice of song, 
Or like harmonious thunderings the seats of Heaven among.
 Beneath them sit the aged men, wise guardians of the poor;
Then cherish pity, lest you drive an angel from your door.

Not only are the children there for the visual, but they are there to sing and raise their hands to heaven. I see irony in the fact that the children are entertaining the society that abandoned them. Perhaps this scene can be viewed further; perhaps the people are abandoned. The people still praise their creator for abandoning them (wow, I'm really reading Blake as some agnostic).

Songs of Innocence "The Little Black Boy" by William Blake Analysis

2012-03-18T17:16:00.002-07:00

Disclaimer: This blog is not a source (don't cite me; these are only my opinions, really). I'm just writing these to incite a dialogue in your own mind about these poems. Thanks!

"The Little Black Boy" by William Blake

My mother bore me in the southern wild,

And I am black, but O! my soul is white;

White as an angel is the English child,

But I am black, as if bereav'd of light.

So there is already a dichotomy. The child says he is black, but his soul is white. Alright, there are two dichotomies. First, the dichotomy between black and white. Innocently, black is perceived to be evil, dark, dreary. White is perceived to be celestial, heavenly, good, and bright. The poem also suggests a dichotomy between the physical body versus the soul. The child has both good and bad. His body is bad, and his soul is good.

The superficial interpretation is that this is a racist text. Hold your horses! Blake is much deeper than that.

My mother taught me underneath a tree,

And sitting down before the heat of day,

She took me on her lap and kissed me,

And pointing to the east, began to say:

Right away, I thought of the Tree of Knowledge in this stanza. The mother teaches the speaker under that tree. What does she teach? Will she teach him something benign? Also, this stanza suggests an authority figure, the mother.

"Look on the rising sun: there God does live,

And gives his light, and gives his heat away;

And flowers and trees and beasts and men receive

Comfort in morning, joy in the noonday.

Again, the mother suggests that light is good. God is in the sun. The sun brings joy and life to the world. What does darkness then bring? To me, it brings rest and sleep and the beauty of stars. I already see this authority figure as weird, but let's see how the child sees her.

And we are put on earth a little space,

That we may learn to bear the beams of love;

And these black bodies and this sunburnt face

Is but a cloud, and like a shady grove.

This stanza reminds me of the second stanza, which describes how the mother and child are in the shade. Why don't they go out to enjoy the sun if it's that great? No, the sun can be unpleasant and hot. That's why they're in the shade. But they describe their adversity as a cloud/shady grove. This suggests that maybe the mother is saying their skin color isn't actually that bad (I hope so at least). Their skin is the moment of relaxation once the heat of love gets too hot. Or it could suggest that their skin color is a hinderance, but only a minor hinderance.

For when our souls have learn'd the heat to bear,

The cloud will vanish; we shall hear his voice,

Saying: 'Come out from the grove, my love and care,

And round my golden tent like lambs rejoice.' "

This stanza makes me question some more. Here's my first question: do people with dark skin have a greater chance of not learning the heat of love? Here's my second question: what is the thing they have to overcome to learn to love? Third question, little black boy, who made thee? I'll try to answer them. I believe that the mother is unreliable. She has learned this information from people with a lighter skin-tone, people who claim to be holy (maybe she learned this from her own mother). And so this discrimination makes her believe that she has to work harder than others to learn the heat of love. Finally, God made this black boy in the first place, making him have a celestial form and making this whole thing about the black boy working harder moot.

Thus did my mother say, and kissed me;

And thus I say to little English boy,

When I from black and he from white cloud free,

And round the tent of God like lambs we joy,

Now, the black boy becomes an authority figure to the English boy. The black boy has something to say to the English boy.

I'll shade him from the heat, till he can bear

To lean in joy upon our father's knee;

And then I'll stand and stroke his silver hair,

And be like him, and he will then love me.

So the black boy takes on his job as someone with the power of shade (SHADE POWER!). And he serves the white boy by shading the white boy and stroking the white boy's hair. All for the reason of solidarity. Seems legit. In all seriousness, I see this poem as an example of mentally constructed barriers. Just because of this boy's physical appearance, others treat him differently. Thus, he only THINKS he needs to do all these extra things in order to show how white his soul is. And this mental barrier is constructed by authorities after all.

Songs of Innocence 'The Chimney Sweeper" by William Blake Analysis

2012-03-18T16:46:00.000-07:00

Disclaimer: This blog is not a source (don't cite me; these are only my opinions, really). I'm just writing these to incite a dialogue in your own mind about these poems. Thanks!

"The Chimney Sweeper" by William Blake

When my mother died I was very young,
And my father sold me while yet my tongue
Could scarcely cry 'weep! 'weep! 'weep! 'weep!
So your chimneys I sweep, and in soot I sleep.

Notice how the speaker *was* very young. Now, it can be assumed that he isn't very young at all. So when he was younger, his mother died, and he was sold into chimney sweeping (this actually happened quite often).

There's little Tom Dacre, who cried when his head,
That curled like a lamb's back, was shaved: so I said,
"Hush, Tom! never mind it, for when your head's bare,
You know that the soot cannot spoil your white hair."

We are introduced to Tom Dacre, who is the speaker's friend. The speaker compares Tom to a lamb, and Tom's head gets shaven for the job. The speaker takes note that since Tom's head is bare, the soot can't spoil his "white hair." This suggests a sort of stoic outlook the speaker promotes; namely, the speaker suggests that they take the work as it comes. We can further analyze that the speaker is submissive to the authority figures, like a child to a parent.

And so he was quiet; and that very night,
As Tom was a-sleeping, he had such a sight, -
That thousands of sweepers, Dick, Joe, Ned, and Jack,
Were all of them locked up in coffins of black.

So Tom dreams of all the previous sweepers that died are in black coffins. They died from the hard job they had to do.

And by came an angel who had a bright key,
And he opened the coffins and set them all free;
Then down a green plain leaping, laughing, they run,
And wash in a river, and shine in the sun.

An angel comes down and releases the children. They leap and run into the river to bathe. The tone becomes happy and hopeful. Tom dreams of more than this weird dream, but he dreams of a reward for the cruel work.

Then naked and white, all their bags left behind,
They rise upon clouds and sport in the wind;
And the angel told Tom, if he'd be a good boy,
He'd have God for his father, and never want joy. want = lack

The kids are clean and free. The angel tells Tom that if he'd be a good boy, then Tom would get the same reward. And so we are introduced again to an authority figure. God is the authority figure. If Tom goes through all the physical toils, if he is indeed a good slave, he will get paradise. But this is in fact a dream. Dreams are not real. This could very well be a flimsy promise for economical gain. But Tom is innocent, and the corrupt prey very well on the innocent.
And so Tom awoke; and we rose in the dark,
And got with our bags and our brushes to work.
Though the morning was cold, Tom was happy and warm;
So if all do their duty they need not fear harm.

So Tom wakes up and works happily. He is completely convinced of a DREAM! If it were me in the same situation, I'd probably question this promise. I'd want to see it to the end. But wouldn't that make me suffer for a longer period of time? Wouldn't my abhorrent questions make me an unhappy person for all my days? Perhaps this boy's innocence is what makes him blissfully happy.

Song's of Innocence "Introduction" by William Blake Analysis

2012-03-18T16:28:00.001-07:00

Disclaimer: This blog is not a source (don't cite me; these are only my opinions, really). I'm just writing these to incite a dialogue in your own mind about these poems. Thanks!

"Introduction" by William Blake

Piping down the valleys wild
Piping songs of pleasant glee
On a cloud I saw a child.
And he laughing said to me.

So we see a piper piping a song, and a child comes to him. The child is on a cloud, which is curious. This gives a heavenly aura to the child.

Pipe a song about a Lamb:
So I piped with merry chear,
Piper, pipe that song again--
So I piped, he wept to hear.

The child tells the piper to pipe a song about a lamb. How in the hell do you pipe a song about a lamb? The piper doesn't question and pipes it anyway. This suggests that there is some innocence to the piper. If that kid came up to me and told me to pipe a song about a lamb, I'd probably tell him to get lost (the fate of having gone through experience). And there is progression. The piper went from piping his own tune to taking recommendations. He is piping to an audience.

Drop thy pipe thy happy pipe
Sing thy songs of happy chear,
So I sung the same again
While he wept with joy to hear

The kid tells the piper to sing a song about happy cheer. So there is more progression. The piper went from piping a song of a lamb to singing a song. In a song, there is possibility for narrative or verbal agenda. Thus, the song is clearer than that of a pipe song.

Piper sit thee down and write
In a book that all may read--
So he vanished from my sight
And I pluck'd a hollow reed.

The child tells the piper to write a book, and the child leaves. Again, there is progression. Most importantly, the piper goes from having no audience to having a large, amorphous audience. The piper does not see the kid anymore because writing something causes a disconnect from the audience.

And I made a rural pen,
And I stained the water clear,
And I wrote my happy songs,
Every child may joy to hear.

This poem is way, crazy deep if you read into it further.

"The Lamb" by William Blake Analysis

2012-03-18T16:16:00.000-07:00

Disclaimer: This blog is not a source (don't cite me; these are only my opinions, really). I'm just writing these to incite a dialogue in your own mind about these poems. Thanks!

"The Lamb" by William Blake

Little Lamb, who made thee?

Dost thou know who made thee?

Gave thee life, and bid thee feed

By the stream and o'er the mead;

Gave thee clothing of delight,

Softest clothing, woolly, bright;

Gave thee such a tender voice,

Making all the vales rejoice?

Little Lamb, who made thee?

Dost thou know who made thee?

Little Lamb, I'll tell thee,

Little Lamb, I'll tell thee:

He is called by thy name,

For he calls himself a Lamb.

He is meek, and he is mild;

He became a little child.

I a child, and thou a lamb.

We are called by his name.

Little Lamb, God bless thee!

Ha! My format is exactly like the formatting of the poem. I just thought that was funny, and I'm too lazy to change it.

This poem came out of Songs of Innocence, so it takes on an almost childish tone. The beginning is all questioning ("Little Lamb, who made thee?"), much like how a child questions.

But then the second stanza shows that the speaker is not a child, but an authority figure. He tells the lamb who made him instead of further questioning it. Perhaps the lamb represents the ignorance of a child; perhaps it shows how easily a child takes anything for fact. But then again, there is no reply from the lamb.

I'm not going to touch on the fact that the lamb is an allegory to Jesus, because that's obvious, and it's been said and done.

"To one who has been long in city pent" by John Keats Analysis

2012-03-18T15:03:00.000-07:00

TO one who has been long in city pent,
’Tis very sweet to look into the fair
And open face of heaven,—to breathe a prayer
Full in the smile of the blue firmament.
Who is more happy, when, with hearts content,	5
Fatigued he sinks into some pleasant lair
Of wavy grass, and reads a debonair
And gentle tale of love and languishment?
Returning home at evening, with an ear
Catching the notes of Philomel,—an eye	10
Watching the sailing cloudlet’s bright career,
He mourns that day so soon has glided by:
E’en like the passage of an angel’s tear
That falls through the clear ether silently.

Terms: Firmament = Heavens, debonair = confident/stylish/charming, Philomel = musical instrument (looks like a violin), ether = clear sky

I thought at first "city pent" meant some sort of penitentiary, but upon further analysis, I found that "city pent" actually means someone who has been living in a city.

Already, the speaker sets up this dichotomy: city versus countryside. The speaker further says that a person in a city can't appreciate the infinite heavens, the green grass, the walk home, the catching of a tune of a "Philomel."

I found that by the last three lines, there is a tone of ambivalence. The speaker upholds this innocent beauty people can engage with nature, but he also sees that maybe it's too good. The day ends faster and the person "mourns that day so soon has glided by." Of course, this can be argued and interpreted differently, but I thought the change in tone was a bit funny.

"Keen, Fitful Gusts" by John Keats Analysis

2012-03-18T14:49:00.003-07:00

Disclaimer: This blog is not a source (don't cite me; these are only my opinions, really). I'm just writing these to incite a dialogue in your own mind about these poems. Thanks!

"Keen, Fitful Gusts" by John Keats

KEEN, fitful gusts are whisp’ring here and there
Among the bushes half leafless, and dry;
The stars look very cold about the sky,
And I have many miles on foot to fare.
Yet feel I little of the cool bleak air,	5
Or of the dead leaves rustling drearily,
Or of those silver lamps that burn on high,
Or of the distance from home’s pleasant lair:
For I am brimfull of the friendliness
That in a little cottage I have found;	10
Of fair-hair’d Milton’s eloquent distress,
And all his love for gentle Lycid drown’d;
Of lovely Laura in her light green dress,
And faithful Petrarch gloriously crown’d.

The speaker describes a coldish evening, probably in the fall or winter. The speaker is taking a walk home, and he has "many miles" to go. But he isn't brought down by the cold evening and the dead leaves (meaning he wasn't sad that it was unpleasant or ugly to observe). He is happy, rather, because he found great works by Milton and Petrarch (I'm not too sure who Laura is, so if you know, be sure to leave a comment) in a little cottage.

This sonnet poses the question of mind versus body. Milton and Petrarch were alive before Keats, so the speaker can really only meet these people through writing. So there is this celestial level that the speaker enters, and so his body doesn't mind the unpleasantness of the cold.

"To Hope" by John Keats Analysis

2012-03-18T14:33:00.000-07:00

Disclaimer: This blog is not a source (don't cite me; these are only my opinions, really). I'm just writing these to incite a dialogue in your own mind about these poems. Thanks!

"To Hope" by John Keats

When by my solitary hearth I sit,
And hateful thoughts enwrap my soul in gloom;
When no fair dreams before my "mind's eye" flit,
And the bare heath of life presents no bloom; heath = uncultivated land
Sweet Hope, ethereal balm upon me shed, ethereal = light/delicate / balm = ointment
And wave thy silver pinions o'er my head. pinions = outer part of wings

The speaker talks in hypotheticals; he talks to Hope and says, "If this should happen, please help me." The speaker sits alone with negative thoughts, and he begs for "Sweet Hope" to alleviate him. "Sweet Hope" is given very angelic/heavenly features ("pinions" and "balms").

The last two lines are repeated throughout.

Whene'er I wander, at the fall of night,
Where woven boughs shut out the moon's bright ray, boughs = branches
Should sad Despondency my musings fright, despondency = state of low spirits
And frown, to drive fair Cheerfulness away,
Peep with the moon-beams through the leafy roof,
And keep that fiend Despondence far aloof.

In another hypothetical, the speaker is taking a walk at night. The moon serves as some kind of celestial, hopeful entity, for the branches that block the moonlight make him sad again. The speaker sets a dichotomy between the darkness and the light; the darkness is sad and the light is happy.

Should Disappointment, parent of Despair,
Strive for her son to seize my careless heart;
When, like a cloud, he sits upon the air,
Preparing on his spell-bound prey to dart:
Chace him away, sweet Hope, with visage bright, visage = surface or face
And fright him as the morning frightens night!

In yet another hypothetical, the speaker is disappointed. Here, disappointment is in the form of a meta-cloud over his head. Hope, with a bright visage, has the ability to scare disappointment away.

Whene'er the fate of those I hold most dear
Tells to my fearful breast a tale of sorrow,
O bright-eyed Hope, my morbid fancy cheer;
Let me awhile thy sweetest comforts borrow:
Thy heaven-born radiance around me shed,
And wave thy silver pinions o'er my head!

We can assume that all these instances are hypothetical. He is in the state of mourning here. He says that if a good friend of his dies or has a bad fate, he beseeches Hope to help him to cope.

Should e'er unhappy love my bosom pain,
From cruel parents, or relentless fair;
O let me think it is not quite in vain
To sigh out sonnets to the midnight air!
Sweet Hope, ethereal balm upon me shed,
And wave thy silver pinions o'er my head!

If the speaker undergoes heartbreak, hopefully writing sonnets and poems would not be for naught. Again, he beseeches Hope to help him see this.

In the long vista of the years to roll,
Let me not see our country's honour fade:
O let me see our land retain her soul,
Her pride, her freedom; and not freedom's shade.
From thy bright eyes unusual brightness shed—
Beneath thy pinions canopy my head!

Perhaps this poem is much more deep than personal despair; perhaps this poem really is about the speaker's lament for his country's welfare (whoa! That rhymed!). He wants his country to still have its pride, freedom and honor.

Let me not see the patriot's high bequest, bequest = legacy
Great Liberty! how great in plain attire!
With the base purple of a court oppress'd,
Bowing her head, and ready to expire:
But let me see thee stoop from heaven on wings
That fill the skies with silver glitterings!

We see an image of "Great Liberty." She is dressed regally, but she is bowing her head, perhaps about to die. But the speaker does not want to see this. He wants "Great Liberty" to be revived. The speaker thinks Hope can do it.

And as, in sparkling majesty, a star
Gilds the bright summit of some gloomy cloud;
Brightening the half veil'd face of heaven afar:
So, when dark thoughts my boding spirit shroud,
Sweet Hope, celestial influence round me shed,
Waving thy silver pinions o'er my head.

Suddenly, the speaker is not speaking in hypotheticals anymore. He's speaking in absolute truth. Perhaps writing this whole poem out provided some positive reinforcement for him to believe in Hope. Yes, the last stanza shows that the speaker knows Hope can help him and his country.