A Comparative Study of Children’s Suffering in the Poetry of William Blake and Nazik al-Malaika

Roland Barthes proposed the theory of the five codes for analyzing literary texts. Two of these codes—the proairetic (action) code and the hermeneutic code—are related to the narrative dimension of a literary work and its author, while the remaining three—the semantic, symbolic, and cultural codes—are concerned with meaning, other textual dimensions, and the reader. William Blake’s poems The Chimney Sweeper(s) and Nazik al-Malaika’s Ma’sata al-Atfal (The Tragedy of Children), both of which center on the suffering of children, reveal notable similarities at both the narrative and semantic levels and can be interpreted within Barthes’s theoretical framework. This paper examines the theme of child suffering in these works in order to uncover their narrative and semantic layers and to explain their similarities and differences. Adopting a descriptive-analytical approach and drawing on the American school of comparative literature, the study focuses on the proairetic, hermeneutic, and semantic codes. It ultimately addresses the question of how child suffering is represented in the poetry of two authors who belonged to different cultures and historical periods. The findings indicate that both poets foreground a bitter truth: childhood, rather than being a time of joy and play, becomes the source of profound suffering. Through a sequence of actions, riddles, and semantic connotations, both poets articulate this suffering. However, Blake adopts a socially critical perspective that allows for hope and liberation, whereas al-Malaika presents a philosophical and tragic vision marked by despair and the absence of escape.