Songs of Innocence and of Experience

What makes you ‘you’? Perhaps the answer to the question varies from group to group; Perhaps, we are a collection of our physical, mental, and spiritual components, all unique and different. The Birthmark is a short story written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1843. The audience is introduced to a brilliant scientist, Aylmer, whose life revolved around his experiments and quest for scientific perfection. While controversial, Aylmer abandons his laboratory to marry Georgiana, a beautiful woman that…

Wondrous but Fearful Tyger William Blake’s “The Tyger” in Songs of Experience, written in 1794, describes the Tyger as “fearful” while appreciating its beauty. During this time, Blake was one of the first people to see a tiger; this inspired him to write “The Tyger” and paint the creature as a majestic but fierce being. Although the origins of the Tyger are questioned, the creator is referred to as “he” implying a male divine creator. While examining who or what created the Tyger, in addition…

What is my life all about? Why am I living in a world that is a hamster wheel of birth, work and death? What is it that makes my heart sing and how could I live by my own standards? And, most importantly, why am I not listening to that inner voice that keeps trying to warn me when I’m about to do something stupid. Every few years I would find myself practically homeless, broke, hungry, trying to hang onto whatever strands of a human existence I had left. I had a hole within me that was so vast…

in front of weep to associate the words weep and sweep to show that the chimney sweepers while they were sweeping they were often crying or sobbing. This really helps the reader understand how miserable the lives of these children were. In "The Chimney Sweeper (1789)" poem the main character has a name and in "The Chimney Sweeper (1794)" poem the protagonist is never referred to with a name but merely referred to as, "A little black thing among the snow,"(1). Blake gave the chimney sweeper in…

I’ve been planted in a pot My roots are welded to the soil My buds are blossoming But I am fed fertilizer named Hindering Eventually these petals will be a memory My existence dust (A Marginalized Rose) These words by Francisco DH in his poem ‘A Marginalized Rose’ illuminates the mental and emotional condition of the marginalized groups and draws a picture upon the cruel social system, that disconnect a particular group from the mainstream culture and hinder their growth. Marginalization is the…

by William Wordsworth describes how an experience of natural pretty and beautiful can enter happiness…

Life is sweet, but life is hard. In “The Tyger” and “The Lamb” by William Blake, the speaker expresses a conflicted attitude towards God and the two poems differ in their tone towards God and all of his creations. The speaker, a follower of the christian faith, creates a powerful tone through the use of diction, imagery, and repetition in “The Tyger” and “The Lamb.” Both poems have conflicting attitudes toward God, for “The Lamb” creates a confident and passionate tone while “The Tyger”…

having innocence and how growing up you start to lose your innocence. When you first have your innocence you think the world is perfect and you see it through a black and white lense.However when you lose your innocence you start to notice the hardships people start to go through in life, and you start to notice that the world is not just black and white it has many other colors waiting to be discovered. I started my portfolio with a haiku, that sets up childhood. Then I put a poem on Innocence,…

in an affirmative tone, whereas Plath conveys positivity in a more obscure way resulting the tone to be more mysterious and perplexing. Furthermore, the poem ‘Once upon a time’ by Gabriel Okara comments on society’s hypocrisy in contrast to the innocence that is deeply embedded in the infant. In a similar way, ‘Piano’ by D.H. Lawrence also uncovers how the adult’s world contrasts with the innocent childhood. On the other hand, ‘Infant Sorrow’ by William Blake,…

William Blake was born in London, England on November 28, 1757. He attended school for a short while and was homeschooled by his mom as a child. At a young age, Blake had many visions and at age 4, he was said to have seen god’s hands at a window. Blake’s visions would affect the poems that he later would write. At age 10, Blake sketched ancient statues of human bodies and at that point, it was clear that Blake was gifted with an artistic talent. At age 14, Blake was apprenticed to the engraver…