Blakes Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience with Walt Whitmans Leaves of Grass - Essay Example

?Compare and Contrast: Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience with Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass Introduction Walt Whitman, the father of American poetry and William Blake, the precursor of the Romantics, the mystic revolutionary poet are not contemporary if the dates and history of English literature are abided. However, no one can ignore or undermine the fact that human imagination and ideas are timeless. Though Whitman and Blake are poet’s generation apart yet, their works seem seminal. The most celebrated work of Walt Whitman is “Leaves of Grass” which appeared before its readers in the year 1855. On the other hand, the mystical journey of the prophet poet, William Blake mostly appears in his “Songs of Innocence” and “Songs of Experience” whose first few copies were published by Blake himself in the year 1789. The “Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience” demonstrated two contrary states of human soul and Whitman’s “Leaves of Grass” displayed an inclination and consequential exaltation of the sensuality associated with human body and the pursuits of the material world. Yet, there are several facets imbibed within both the collections which complement and contrast ideas, theories and imaginations. Thesis Statement The essay intends to compare and contrast the two eternal works from the two most timeless and celebrated poets of English literature, Walt Whitman and William Blake keeping their most mystic and controversial works “Leaves of Grass” and “Songs of Innocence and Experience” at the locus of the essay. Compare and Contrast: Songs of Innocence and Experience with Leaves of Grass In order to draw the relation of contrast and comparison between Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Experience and Whitman’s Leaves of Grass, it is quintessential to learn that both William Blake in his “Songs of Innocence and Experience” and Walt Whitman’s “Leaves of Grass” serve as a critique of their respective societies during the contemporary frame of time. However, Blake’s approach towards societal institutions was very much different from that of Whitman and upon this paradigm the discourse of contrast can be woven effectively for both the works. For example, if Blake’s view upon religion verses man and Whitman’s propositions upon the same area are taken into consideration, one can draw the effective conclusion that Whitman believed that existence of God is in everything and therefore God is equal to all the existing features around. To explicate this, he writes in the poem ‘Song of Myself’, “I hear and behold God in every object, yet I understand God not in the least, Nor do I understand who there can be more wonderful than myself” (Whitman 72). For Blake, the concept of God revolves round the unification of man with God which is more for the purpose of redeeming mankind rather than seeking the existence of God unlike Whitman, Blake had an exclusive Christian vision pertaining to the unification of God with human soul and pondered much upon the hypocrisy of religion in the Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience. In poems such as “Holy Thursday” and “The Little Vagabond”, Blake criticizes the religion as an institution by vehemently attacking the spiritual leaders who have used wrongly or more precisely abused their religious authority. The men who should guide their followers as shepherds take care of their flocks, in the eyes of Blake are actually practicing and making space for the reinforcement of a socio-economic and socio-political system that are dehumanizing small innocent children into chimney sweepers and follow a repressing action in order to curb and curtail the human emotions of love and creativity among adults. In ‘Holy Thursday’, Blake writes, “Is this a holy thing to see,  In a rich and fruitful land,  Babes reduced to misery,  Fed with cold and usurous hand?  Is that trembling cry a song?  Can it be a song of joy?  And so many children poor? (Gillham 18) With regard to the societal criticism inherent in Whitman’s “Leaves of Grass” and Blake’s “Songs of Innocence and Experience”, Blake hammered the idea of destruction of childlike innocence from humanity. Songs of Experience is a sheer attempt to denounce the cruelty prevailing in society that has brought harm to the soul of man in such devastating ways that the pursuit of falling back to the innocent realm for mankind is also expressed by Blake as an effort to the redemption of the fallen world. Precisely, Blake selected religious matrix upon which he, criticized the social institutions and vices imbibed within his contemporary society and time. Contrarily, Whitman in his collection of poems in “Leaves of Gras” selected the political domain to criticize the social institution taking the refuge of the weapon of democracy and very subtly used the language of common man, colloquial slangs in his poetic diction to celebrate the life of a common man in America where people from every segment and sphere of society were included. The beauty of individual also found profound expression and space within the poetic compass of Whitman where every individual is unique and equal individuals with their unique aspirations are unified as a nation for all known as America. Whereas, Blake in his ‘Songs of Innocence and Experience’ equated man with state and state with God (Ferguson-Wagstaffe, “Sullen Fires Across the Atlantic: Essays in Transatlantic Romanticism”). Conclusion Whether Whitman was influenced by Blake or not shall remain the point of challenge and controversy through eternity. Nonetheless, both the poets in their individual capacity were great and challenged the prevailing societal institutions in their contemporary society by contrasting them with the ways of God to men with their stark difference of attitudes and approaches. Works Cited Ferguson-Wagstaffe, S. Sullen Fires Across the Atlantic: Essays in Transatlantic Romanticism. Praxis Series, 2005. Web. 13 Aug. 2013. . Gillham, D. G. William Blake. London: CUP Archive, 1973. Print. Whitman, Walt. Song of Myself. Stilwell: Digireads.com Publishing, 2004. Print. Read More