
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

Winter Day by Lucy Maud Montgomery
Lucy Maud Montgomery's 'Winter Day' is a short, poignant poem exploring the changing seasons of life. Through the lens of winter, she examines the sta...

Railway Train by Emily Dickinson
Emily Dickinson's "The Railway Train" is a short poem that uses the imagery of a train journey to explore themes of mortality and the passage of time....

Белая стая. Часть 1-я by Anna Akhmatova
Published in 1917, "White Flock" is a collection of poems by Anna Akhmatova, one of the most significant poets of the 20th century. The collection is...

Selected Poems of Oscar Wilde by Oscar Wilde
This book presents a selection of Oscar Wilde's early poetry, curated by his friend and literary executor, Robert Ross. It offers a glimpse into Wilde...

After Music by Josephine Preston Peabody
After Music is a collection of poems by Josephine Preston Peabody, exploring themes of love, loss, grief, and memory. The poems are characterized by t...

Mountain Song by Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson
Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson's "Mountain Song" is a powerful and evocative poem that celebrates the beauty and grandeur of the Norwegian mountains. It explor...

Enchanted Castle: Fairy Tales from Flowerland by Howard E. Altemus
This book, 'Enchanted Castle: Fairy Tales from Flowerland,' is a collection of enchanting tales that bring the world of flowers to life. Each story fe...

Mrs. Mulligatawny by Arthur Macy
Mrs. Mulligatawny is a collection of poems by Arthur Macy, a native of Nantucket. Macy's poems are infused with the unique flavor of his island home,...

The Cheery Way, a Bit of Verse for Every Day - June by John Kendrick Bangs
Start your day off with a smile with a poem from The Cheery Way, a Bit of Verse for Every Day - June by John Kendrick Bangs. This delightful collecti...

Selected Poems of Yone Noguchi by Yone Noguchi
Selected Poems of Yone Noguchi is a collection of poems by the influential Japanese poet Yone Noguchi. Noguchi was a master of both English and Japane...
Reviews for Poems of William Blake
No reviews posted or approved, yet...