Why the Echoing Green?

Many years ago, fifteen to be exact, I was taking a mass amount of English literature classes.  One of the classes focused primarily on Romanticism and I was required to read and write essays on dozens of poems from that time frame.  One of the poets we focused on was William Blake.  In his "Songs of Innocence", there is a poem entitled "The Echoing Green". 

Ironically, when going to name our second child, we knew for sure that his name would be William, after my husband's late father, however, we could not decide on a middle name.  My husband was leading towards Blake and I kept telling him that most people would associate him with the poet.  After polling people, I was shocked to see how few people actually knew who William Blake was.  He eventually conceded and we settled on William Hunter.

The Echoing Green

The Sun does arise,
And make happy the skies.
The merry bells ring,
To welcome the Spring,
The sky-lark and thrush,
The birds of the bush,
Sing louder around,
To the bells cheerful sound,
While our sports shall be seen
On the Echoing Green.

Old John with white hair
Does laugh away care,
Sitting under the oak,
Among the old folk.
They laugh at our play,
And soon they all say,
Such, such were the joys,
When we all, girls & boys,
In our youth time were seen,
On the Echoing Green.

Till the little ones weary
No more can be merry
The sun does descend,
And our sports have an end:
Round the laps of their mothers,
Many sisters and brothers,
Like birds in their nest,
Are ready for rest:
And sport no more seen,
On the darkening Green.

As both a mother and someone who is heavily involved in the environment and conservation, I thought that it would be a perfect title for my blog.  Enjoy!