Songs of Innocence and Experience

Songs of Innocence and of Experience compiles two contrasting but directly related books of poetry by William Blake. Songs of Innocence honors and praises the natural world, the natural innocence of children and their close relationship to God. Songs of Experience contains much darker, disillusioned poems, which deal with serious, often political themes. It is believed that the disastrous end to the French Revolution produced this disillusionment in Blake. He does, however, maintain that true innocence is achieved only through experience.

First sentence: Piping down the valleys wild,

Year

1971

Language

English

Publisher

Oxford University Press, USA

Editions

9

Pages

226

ISBN

9780192810892

Data source: Wikidata