Songs of Innocence and of Experience

The Image of the Child in William Blake’s Poems: The Chimney Sweeper in the Songs of Innocence and of Experience Britain witnessed many developments and changes throughout the centuries and one of them was Industrial Revolution. It brought many issues that affected people’s life. Population and immigration were some key issues affecting the society directly. With the Industrial Revolution, people from rural areas started to migrate urbanized industrial cities and that changed the balance of…

Loss of Innocence: Aging men through the War The lost generation is one that was hopeful for their life ahead of them; only to be crushed by the harrowing experiences of World War I. The war caused many soldiers to lose their innocence, much like those we see in All Quiet on the Western Front. Nationalism plays a key role in premature responsibility and pressure on these men. Propaganda influences soldiers and their feelings towards the war, which they will later realize to be false. The final…

reading any of his poems, one has to be aware of the mental “state” of the speaker of the poems. In some cases the speakers address the same issue, but from entirely different perspectives. For example, the child of “The Chimney Sweeper” in Songs of Innocence lives in…

The Enlightenment may have brought us the ideas of democracy, and the Industrial Revolution may have eventually led to the technological marvel that is the cell phone, but equally important is the movement sparked in their opposition. Through the minds of Locke, Montesquieu, Whitney and Watt, the modern ages of government and technology were born, but not all at the time were completely in favor of these ideas. In fact, there was an artistic movement that began as a response to these glorious…

poetry that he had written of his past 14 years. In August 1782, Blake married a woman named Catherine Sophia Butcher, who was illiterate. The newlywed was taught by her husband how to read, write, draw and color. He also helped her learn how to experience visions, as he did. Catherine believed strongly in her husband’s visions and in vibrant mind, and she supported everything he did. Right up to his death 45 years…

Romanticism, originating in Europe around the 18th century, is a period of art and literature that was created in retaliation against intellectualism and the rigidity of social structure during the Enlightenment. Romanticism was characterised by specific features directly countering the ideals of The Enlightenment including, celebration of the individual, awe of nature, interest in the common man and strong senses of emotion, all these of which I believe analyzation is necessary. Although all…

emotional state. The detracting of Elisa and the chrysanthemums influence their point of view upon themselves, emphasizing a theme of the story. In “The Chrysanthemums”, the connection of Elisa to the flowers, the belittlement of magnitude they each experience, portrays how the treatment and point of view of others upon you can affect your own self…

the firstly named author: Blake. It is about the poem “The Chimney Sweeper: A little white thing among the snow” from 1794 from his collection of works named Songs of Experience. The poem is a companion poem to the formerly written “The Chimney Sweeper: When my mother died I was very young” from 1789 to be found in Blake’s Songs of Innocence. This paper is going to answer the question, which Romantic elements are to be found in the poem “The Chimney Sweeper: A little white thing among the snow”…

vision, it led to him writing ‘Songs of Experience’ where children had no redemption. “Selfish! Vain! / Eternal bane! / That free Love with bondage bound” (‘Earth’s Answer’, P. 913, Line 23- 5). This quotation displays Blake’s anger towards the people of the city treating children as slaves and that the powerful force of nature is losing to society. It also suggests the children’s freedom has been taken away from them – “bondage bound”. Furthermore, in the ‘Songs of Experience’, Blake shows a…

As we grow and learn different things through our experiences of life, we learn that we are vulnerable and that makes us capable of falling short of God’s will. These poems also give the idea that we need both good and evil for balance. It also proposes the question, why did God make both innocence and evil? Ultimately, the lamb representing the pureness and innocence of man and the tyger representing evil and temptations, goes to show how man’s sin can evolve…