William Blake s Poetry Relationship Between Innocence...

Michelle Kasperski James Harr British Literature II March 5th, 2015 Title William Blake explores in-depth the relationship between innocence and experience in his work, Songs of Innocence and Experience and the resulting tension between these two contrasting states. Blake demonstrates those in a state of innocence are oblivious of that state, ignorant of any other state of consciousness. However, those aware of innocence cannot honestly envision it because their perceptions of reality have been colored by experience, which will stain their depictions of innocence as well. The subtitle underlining the title of Blake’s collection clearly illustrates this purpose and intention when writing Songs: â€Å"Shewing the two contrary states of the human soul.† The two contrary states are innocence, a purity not yet repressed by industry or oppressive morality, and experience, a soul’s recognition of difficult realities such as injustice and corruption. Blake’s works are a reaction to what he felt was the withering of traditional values in the late 18th century, an attempt to release society from its ‘mind-forg’d manacles’, cuffed by the decrees of a tyrannical church and government. Blake found his society wanting, calling for the freedom of creativity and self-expression. Among his responses, Songs is also a merciless criticism of the enlightenment, an age manifested by industry and subjugation. Both books open with an introduction, which allows Blake to set the tone of each seriesShow MoreRelatedWilliam Blake s Innocence And Experience Analysis Essay1529 Words   |  7 PagesIsha Fidai Amber Drown English 2323 14 September 2016 William Blake s Innocence and Experience Analysis The Romantic Era was a movement in literature that began in the late seventeenth century throughout the eighteenth century that was mainly influenced by the natural world and idealism. Romanticism was predominantly focused on emotion and freedom emphasizing individualism. Formed as an uprising against neoclassicism, romanticism was more abstract, focusing on feelings and imaginations, insteadRead MoreWhitman And Blake Vs. Blake889 Words   |  4 PagesWhitman and Blake both use animals to symbolize humankind’s experience of Nature The theme of the work is â€Å"Whitman and Blake both use animals to symbolize humankind’s experience of Nature†. To begin with I’d like to tell some information about Whitman and Blake’s life and work. Walt Whitman was an American poet, publicist and reformer of the American poetry. Whitman was the singer of the world democracy†, positive sciences, love and the association without social borders. He was also an innovatorRead MoreThe Human Abstract Essay1196 Words   |  5 Pagesthe poem by examining its various manifestations in Blakes manuscripts, reading it against A Divine Image, a poem w hich was never finally published by Blake, or comparing it to its Innocence counterpart, The Divine Image. Most critics seem to agree that The Human Abstract represents a philosophical turning point in The Songs of Innocence and of Expe rience, and in Blakes work as a whole. In 1924, Joseph H. Wicksteed observes that this difficult poem, originally called The h uman ImageRead MoreWilliam Poetry Of William Blake And William Wordsworth1980 Words   |  8 Pages The definition of childhood depends on the person. To some the definition is a time without any worry, to others, it is a more logical definition such as the period between infancy and adolescence. There are many versions of this definition, and this is seen in the poetry of William Blake and William Wordsworth. 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Later he writes, â€Å" Think of a cloud, as being holy you cannot love it but think of a holy man within the cloud love springs up in our thought, for to think of holiness distinct from man is impossible to the affections. Thought alone can make monsters, but the affections can not† (Green, p.123). This further explains that Blake felt God was love andRead MoreThe Romantic Movement Of William Wordsworth And Samuel Taylor Coleridge Essay1427 Words   |  6 Pagescite) During this era poets express their feelings for the love of poetry by conveying nature in their writings. Nature is considered an authoritative characteristic that motivates poets to write subjective poems that reflect on solidity and God. William Blake, William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge were amongst the Romantic poets who published revolutionary Lyrical Ballads that illustrate the association of human relationships with nature (ADD CITE). According to (ADD SOURCE HERE), theseRead MoreEssay about The Representation of the Female in William Blake1921 Words   |  8 PagesRepresentation of the Female in William Blake If William Blake was, as Northrop Frye described him in his prominent book Fearful Symmetry, a mystic enraptured with incommunicable visions, standing apart, a lonely and isolated figure, out of touch with his own age and without influence on the following one (3), time has proved to be the visionarys most celebrated ally, making him one of the most frequently written about poets of the English language. William Blake has become, in a sense,Read MoreWilliam Blake was born in London on November 28, 1757 to James and Catherine Blake. His father,1600 Words   |  7 PagesWilliam Blake was born in London on November 28, 1757 to James and Catherine Blake. His father, James was a hosier (seller of legwear) in London. Blake had four brothers, James, John, Richard and Robert; and a sister named Catherine (Harris 5). Blake got along best with his younger brother, Robert as they shared an interest in art (Clarke 1). As a young boy, Blake claimed to have had visions of God, spirits, prophets and angels. When he was four he is claimed to have seen God’s head in his windowRead MoreWilliam Blake’s  Revolution 3088 Words   |  13 Pages Blake’s  Songs of Experience  was published in 1794 against the backdrop of Robespierre’s Reign of Terror and England’s war with France. Blake, an English Jacobin who, as his biographer Gilchrist writes, â€Å"courageously donned the famous symbol of liberty and equality—thebonnet-rouge—in open day; and philosophically walked the streets with the same on his head† (93), was by this date becoming increasingly disenchanted in his hopes for sweeping political reform in England. One does not often speak of