Poems of William Blake
'Poems of William Blake' Summary
Songs of Innocence mainly consists of poems describing the innocence and joy of the natural world, advocating free love and a closer relationship with God, and most famously including Blake's poem The Lamb. Its poems have a generally light, upbeat and pastoral feel and are typically written from the perspective of children or written about them.
Directly contrasting this, Songs of Experience instead deals with the loss of innocence after exposure to the material world and all of its mortal sin during adult life, including works such as The Tyger. Poems here are darker, concentrating on more political and serious themes. Throughout both books, many poems fall into pairs, so that a similar situation or theme can be seen in both Innocence and Experience. Many of the poems appearing in Songs of Innocence have a counterpart in Songs of Experience with opposing perspectives of the world. The disastrous end of the French Revolution caused Blake to lose faith in the goodness of mankind, explaining much of the volume's sense of despair. Blake also believed that children lost their innocence through exploitation and from a religious community which put dogma before mercy. He did not, however, believe that children should be kept from becoming experienced entirely. In truth, he believed that children should indeed become experienced but through their own discoveries, which is reflected in a number of these poems. Blake believed that innocence and experience were "the two contrary states of the human soul", and that true innocence was impossible without experience.
The Book of Thel is a poem by William Blake, dated 1789 and probably worked on in the period 1788 to 1790. It is illustrated by his own plates, and is relatively short and easy to understand, compared to his later prophetic books. The metre is a fourteen-syllable line. It was preceded by Tiriel, which Blake left in manuscript. A few lines from Tiriel were incorporated into The Book of Thel. This book consists of eight plates executed in illuminated printing. 15 copies of original print of 1789-1793 are known. Two copies have watermark of 1815, which are more elaborately colored than the others.
Book Details
Language
EnglishOriginal Language
EnglishPublished In
Author
William Blake
England
William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognized during his lifetime, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history...
More on William BlakeDownload eBooks
Listen/Download Audiobook
- Select Speed
Related books
The Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle
The Lost World is a science fiction novel by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle, published in 1912, concerning an expedition to a plateau in the Amazon...
Winter Stars by Sara Teasdale
Winter stars are a mystery, a reminder of the beauty that can still be found even in the darkest of times. Winter Stars is a collection of poems by S...
The Art of Stage Dancing by Ned Wayburn
Ned Wayburn, a popular and outstanding choreographer of the early 1900's, writes about the different styles and requirements of dancing and his way of...
April by Virna Sheard
"When April comes, the world is anew, and so is the poet's heart." April is a poem about the beauty of the natural world and the power of new beginni...
Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie
Peter Pan is the well-loved story of three children and their adventures in Neverland with the boy who refuses to grow up. Swashbuckling, fairy dust,...
Over The Brazier by Robert Graves
It features a series of poems that offer a deeply personal and poignant reflection on the experience of war. The title of the collection is drawn fro...
Bannertail: The Story of a Graysquirrel by Ernest Thompson Seton
In the heart of an enchanting forest, a tale of courage, friendship, and the wonders of nature unfolds. "Bannertail: The Story of a Graysquirrel" by E...
The Divine Enchantment by John G. Neihardt
When the Princess Devanaguy falls into a deep trance-like sleep, she is visited by the god Vishnu: who causes her to fall pregnant with his holy child...
Jerusalem: The Emanation of the Giant Albion by William Blake
Jerusalem, subtitled The Emanation of the Giant Albion (1804–1820, with additions made even later), is the last, longest and greatest in scope of the...
Seed-Babies by Margaret Warner Morley
This is a captivating children's book that takes readers on an enchanting journey into the world of plants and the magic of seeds. First published in...
Reviews for Poems of William Blake
No reviews posted or approved, yet...