Songs of Innocence and Experience by William Blake - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages The essay "Songs of Innocence and Experience by William Blake" discusses in detail two poems of William Blake, ‘The Lamb’ and ‘The Tyger’. He requested to be apprenticed to James Basire, an engraver; under the directions of Basire, William was able to develop his inborn skills. William Blake worked as an illustrator, drawing teacher, and an engraver and he was able to meet artists like John Flaxman, Henry Fuseli, and Sir Joshua Reynolds. Blake was declared a failure during his lifetime and he accommodated a considerable amount of anxiety and resentment concerning the public laziness towards his financial straits and work. In 1809, Blake was faced with financial failure after he self-curated his works exhibition. The failure made him sink into depression and withdraw into obscurity and for the rest of his life he remained alienated. His contemporaries or colleagues viewed him as eccentric; he actually was odd. Blake’s poetic age or school is not known; this is because he is hanging between the 18th century age of neoclassicism and the early period of Romanticism. However, Blake began gaining recognition in the 20th century. During his time, Blake wrote poems and his first publication of poems collection was called Poetical Sketches; this collection was published in 1783. In 1789, he published Songs of Innocence and in 1793, he published Songs of Experience. In 1794, he combined the last two editions (Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience) to create a collection called Songs of Innocence and Experience....
To make the prints, the plates had to be inked to produce the prints; the prints were then filled with paint. The production method was labor-intensive and expensive, this resulted in limited distribution of Blake’s poetry during his era (SparkNotes Editors 1). General Analysis Songs of Innocence and Experience contrasts the innocent pastoral world of childhood and that of the corrupt and repressive adult world. Poems such as ‘The Lamb’ exhibit a humble virtue and others such as ‘The Tyger’ express opposing darker forces. In general, Blake’s collection of poems explores the limitations and values of two world differing perspectives. Most of these poems are paired such that the same situation is first seen through an innocent lenses before the experience (SparkNotes Editors 1). Majority of his poems are dramatic, that is, the voice of the speaker is dominant than the voice of the poet. Blake is distant from experience and innocence, that is, in a distanced place from which he has hopes of recognizing and correcting both fallacies. Specifically, he puts himself against restrictive morality, institutionalized religion, sexual repression, and despotic authority; his main focus is on the means through which these different methods of control work together to stifle the most holy things in human beings (SparkNotes Editors 1). The Songs of Innocence exaggerate the naive fears and hopes that inform children’s lives and track their transformation as they enter adulthood. A number of poems written by Blake are from the children’s perspective and other are concerned with children but from an adult perspective. Most of the poems focus on the positive elements of natural ...Download file to see next pagesRead More