In the poem “Holy Thursday”, William Blake talks about the celebration that takes place on the auspicious “Holy Thursday” (it is believed that Christ was crucified on this day). On this day, hundreds of orphan children walk in bright and coloured clothes.

However, according to the poet, they are not happy and also these bright and shining clothes are not given to them as a token of love but to extract money from the people who watch them walking on the streets.

The “Grey-headed beadles” are their guardians who have no sympathy for these poor orphans and rather use them to earn money in the form of donations from the people.

The poet is thus exposing the hypocrisy in the society. The people think that they have done their duty by donating money and on the other hand, the guardians of those orphans use that money for their own benefits.