Songs of Innocence and of Experience

William Blake/"Songs of Innocence"& “Songs of Experience” It is said that as a young child, Blake, had visions and saw God and a tree full of angels. His parents had noticed that he was different from his peers. This allowed him to create ideas for his poems. He was heavily influenced by the Bible as he was growing up so many of his writings were influenced by it. William Blake, a poet, writer, and an illustrator of his own books, known for his poems, "Songs of Innocence," and “Songs of Experience,” are some of his best known works that got this British author some recognition (Britannica 2). William Blake was born on November 28, 1757, in London. His parents were James and Catherine Blake. His father worked as a hosier and his mother was a housewife. As a child, Blake and his family of eight lived in the country part of London. Blake was the third child out of seven. Two of his sibling passed away in infancy. His parents didn't force their child to go to a conventional school because of how much different he was from other kids his age. Instead, he learned to read and write at home from his…

faith in the goodness of mankind. This explains why much of the poems in Songs of Experience are about bad experiences rather than good ones. The purpose of the poems in Songs of Innocence and Experience were to show the two opposing states of the human soul. These being that a child with no experiences are innocent and happy, but when they grow and gain new experiences this innocence is ripped away from them. Blake used these poems to prove something he believed in. He believed that true…

The Gain of Self-discovery: From Innocence to Experience William Blake’s The Songs of Innocence and The Songs of Experience aim to show the two “contrary states of the human soul” by presenting paired poems respectively focusing on the bright and dark sides of the world and human spirit. Among these poems, the two versions of “The Chimney Sweeper” explore the issue of child labor in the 18th century of England from children’s perspective. By comparing the two poems, readers will find that…

The titles are inherently influenced by teachings of the Bible, which state “so God created man in the divine image, in the divine image he created him; male and female he created them.” (New International Version, Genesis 1.27) Blake’s songs were written to shed light on the two opposing states of the human soul, primarily as one of innocence that believes man was created in the physical and virtuous image of God, “For Mercy, Pity, Peace and Love/Is God,…

On a casual glance, one would never expect the Songs of Innocence and the Songs of Experience to parallel Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein. The first two are books of poetry romanticizing the simplicity of nature over the rushed boom of the Industrial Revolution, and the later, a horror story about an articulate, yellow skinned monster that inspired a whole subgenre of fiction and films. The connections lie deeper than what a quick read can pick up; they’re in the fiber of the themes of distinction…

oppression. The two poems present the condition of innocent minor children who are sold off by their greedy parents to the wealthy in order to meet their needs. In the Songs of Innocence, a little boy is forced to go through the misery of exploitation with the hopes of a better tomorrow (Blake pp. 1-2). Unfortunately, the little boy is oblivious and unaware of the kind of injustices posed to him because of his innocence due to the young age. The Songs of Experience seems to echo the ordeal of…

In William Blake’s poetical verses explaining the two contrary states of human existence, he observes the world with an extensive view from a state of “innocence and of an imagination unspoiled by stains of worldliness” (Keynes 12), and from a state of “indignation and pity for the sufferings of mankind as he saw them in the streets of London (Keynes 12). Holding firm to such ideologies as proposed by John Milton and Emmanuel Swedenborg, Blake believed in the philosophy that because all men were…

The images of death and innocence in William Blake’s “The Chimney Sweeper” poems “The Chimney Sweeper” is a title of two poems by William Blake, the first one was published in the collection of poems Songs of Innocence in 1789, the second one in Songs of Experience in 1794. Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience contain several titles which are contrasting with each other and Blake presents innocence and experience of the poems of chimney sweepers as a perfect example of it. As both these…

views about social issues that affected him directly and indirectly. There are many issues that are displayed throughout his work, in William Blake’s book Songs of Innocence and Experience reflecting on the stages of childhood and the adult life and how people’s perspective change over their life span. Songs of Innocence is the child-like and more playful naive way of seeing the world, which contrast to Songs of Experience being harsh and bold statements on the real world. Songs of Innocence…

William Blake was one of the great first-generation Romantic poets. In his poetry, Blake uses many variations of archetypes, which are basically symbols and represent a specific idea. Although Blake did not use the word 'archetype,' he understood the concept very well. Blake was very interested in philosophy and had an amazing view of nature and life. In his poetry, he often uses animals as his archetypes, such as in “The Lamb” and “The Tyger.” The archetypes he uses in his series of poems…