
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
Authors

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...
Books by William BlakeDownload eBooks
Listen/Download Audiobook
- Select Speed
Related books

Indian Summer by William Wilfred Campbell
William Wilfred Campbell's 'Indian Summer' is a poetic exploration of the Canadian autumn, capturing its visual, olfactory, and auditory aspects. The...

Sun Shadows by Ella Wheeler Wilcox
Sun Shadows is a collection of poems by Ella Wheeler Wilcox that explores themes of love, loss, life, and the beauty of the natural world. Wilcox's wo...

Tale of Paddy Muskrat by Arthur Scott Bailey
The Tale of Paddy Muskrat is a delightful children's story set in the charming Pleasant Valley. It follows the adventures of Paddy, a lazy muskrat who...

House on the Hill by Edwin Arlington Robinson
LibriVox volunteers bring you 16 different recordings of The House on the Hill by Edwin Arlington Robinson. This was the weekly poetry project for the...

The Track of the "Typhoon" by William Washburn Nutting
The book of poems that reflects Nutting's love of nature and his religious beliefs. The poems in "The Track of the 'Typhoon'" are inspired by the bea...

A Thunderstorm at Night by Eric Mackay
It is a true masterpiece, beautifully depicting the raw power and majesty of nature during a thunderstorm. This poem was written in the late 19th cen...

Hour of Twilight by George William Russell
LibriVox volunteers bring you 14 different recordings of The Hour of Twilight by George William Russell, published in "Collected Poems" in 1913. This...

Sleep Is Supposed To Be by Emily Dickinson
This book is a collection of poems by Emily Dickinson that explore the nature of sleep, dreams and the subconscious mind. Through her unique and evoca...

Selection from the Sonnets of William Wordsworth by William Wordsworth
This selection of William Wordsworth's sonnets showcases his deep appreciation for the natural world, his reflections on human relationships, and his...

Seasons' Comfort by Robert Laurence Binyon
'Seasons' Comfort by Robert Laurence Binyon is a collection of essays and reflections on the passing of time and the cyclical nature of life. Binyon,...
Reviews for Poems of William Blake
No reviews posted or approved, yet...