The Portrayal Of The Child In William Blake S Songs Of Innocence And Of Experience

Seminar paper from the year 2014 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 1,3, University of Bristol (Faculty of Arts), course: Literature 3 - 1700 to 1830, language: English, abstract: The work addresses the representation of the child through selected works from Blake's Songs of Innocence and of Experience. As a poet of unknown value during his lifetime, William Blake remains an exceptional writer of the early Romantics. Blake was not only exceptional for his devotion for an aesthetic form of his illuminated poems but he was also unique for his strong concentration of thought. In contrast to the Enlightenment thinkers, John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau reconsidered the special stage of childhood. It was the great influence of Rousseau’s image of the child, not seen as a small adult but as a human being in its own entity and of natural innocence, which induced Blake to write his Songs of Innocence (1789) and its counterpart Songs of Experience (1794) a few years later.

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.

DigiCat Publishing presents to you this special edition of "Songs of Innocence, and Songs of Experience" by William Blake. DigiCat Publishing considers every written word to be a legacy of humankind. Every DigiCat book has been carefully reproduced for republishing in a new modern format. The books are available in print, as well as ebooks. DigiCat hopes you will treat this work with the acknowledgment and passion it deserves as a classic of world literature.

William Blake’s Songs of Innocence and of Experience includes some of the visionary poet’s finest and best-loved poems such as ‘The Lamb’, ‘The Chimney-Sweeper’ and ‘The Tiger’. Part of the Macmillan Collector’s Library, a series of stunning, clothbound, pocket-sized classics with gold-foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover. This edition has a foreword by Peter Harness. Blake’s work is instantly recognizable by its flamboyance and inventiveness. This gorgeous edition contains stunning reproductions of the fifty-four plates of the poems and illustrations together, which Blake etched himself and coloured by hand. Each has the poem printed on the facing page. Whilst Songs of Innocence captures the innocence of childhood, Songs of Experience is its contrasting sequel.

William Blake published his second collection of poetry, Songs of Innocence, in 1789. He published it with the accompanying illustrative plates, a feat accomplished through an engraving and illustrating process of his own design. The publication of Songs of Innocence began his series of "Illuminated Books," in which Blake combined text and visual artwork to achieve his poetic effect. Blake always intended the poems of Songs of Innocence to be accompanied by their respective illustrations, making analysis of the texts alone problematic at times. While ostensibly about the naivety and simplicity of innocent youth, Songs of Innocence is not merely a collection of verses for children. Several of the poems include an ironic tone, and some, such as "The Chimney Sweeper," imply sharp criticism of the society of Blake's time. Although clearly intended as a celebration of children and of their unadulterated enjoyment of the world around them, Songs of Innocence is also a warning to adult readers. Innocence has been lost not simply through aging, but because the forces of culture have allowed a hope-crushing society to flourish, sometimes at the direct expense of children's souls.