Please write a paragraph explaining what the main theme of the poem “The Little Black Boy” by William Blake is and how far it reflects the poet’s feelings.

The main theme of Blake's poem, one of Blake's Songs of Innocence, is that black people and white people might have different skin colors, but they are equally children of God. As the poem states:


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 sun-burnt face
Is but a cloud, and like a shady grove.


When the speaker says that black bodies are but "a cloud," he means the outward form of person is fleeting and insubstantial. What really matters is the inner self, the soul. The black boy tells the white boy that he too will be freed of his "white cloud" (his white body) some day and that both of them will stand "round the tent of God" with "joy."

This is the innocent song of a child who fully doesn't realize the impact of racism. It reflects Blake's hatred of slavery and his conviction that skin color is of no consequence in the eyes of God. Blake believed black and white souls are equal. His poem quietly condemns racism.