William Blake's poem “The Echoing Green” begins with a spring morning on which the ringing bells compete with the singing of sky-lark and thrush in making a cheerful sound while sports are played on the green (an area of grass close to the center of the village and often adjacent to the church). Presumably these sports also make their share of noise. Even if there is no literal echo, the sounds are of such similar types and have such similar effects on their hearers that it sounds as though they are echoing each other.

In the second stanza, the old folk laugh at the children playing and recall their own youthful games. Once again, the stanza ends with “the Echoing Green,” and we assume the third stanza will end the same way. However, by this time it is the end of the day, the games are over, and everyone goes home to rest. The green, therefore, no longer echoes. There is no sound and no sport. The green is darkening. This is literally true, whether or not one understands a figurative meaning about the end of youth and joy. The word “darkening” also sounds sufficiently like “echoing” to change the meaning without doing violence to the rhythm and meter.