Book Cover of Songs of Innocence and Experience

Songs of Innocence and Experience

by William Blake

“Tiger, tiger, burning bright/In the forests of the night/ What immortal hand or eye/ Could frame thy fearful symmetry?” These often quoted lines are part of The Tiger in William Blake's Songs of Innocence and Experience. In 1789, William Blake released a limited edition of the book. Being a gifted artist, poet and printmaker, he undertook to personally publish all his work himself through a very painstaking but highly artistic process of etching, thereby transferring his drawings and poems individually onto copper plates by hand. He himself inked each plate and printed each individual page, hand painted the illustrations and bound the pages to create each single volume. As this was extremely laborious and time consuming, there were very few editions of each book. Blake's works pose an unusual problem. Since he displays both his art and his literary skills together and himself considered them inseparable, it was not easy to review his books as literature or art alone. Additionally, he was writing at a time of literary transition. The Neo-classicism of the 18th century was fading and the Romantic Movement was yet to fully emerge. Caught between these two traditions, Blake remains a genius who cannot truly be classified under any category. Songs of Innocence and Experience showing the Two Contrary States of the Human Soul to give it its full title combined two separate volumes that he had released earlier. Blake's “Innocence” is the classical notion of the Romantics—a childhood that is pure and untainted, free from the Biblical notion of “original sin” yet supremely aware of the world and its doings. When the world begins to influence this state of innocence, Blake terms it as “Experience.” Institutions like the Church and the State are examples of the latter, along with the knowledge of corruption, fear and grief that encounters with the realities of life bring.

Book Details

Language

English

Original Language

English

Published In

1789

Genre/Category

Tags/Keywords

Authors

William Blake image

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 Blake

Listen/Download Audiobook

Read by:
00:00
Playback Speed 1.0
00:00
  • Select Speed

Related books

In Spring Cover image

In Spring by Aline Kilmer

As the world awakens from its winter slumber, Aline Kilmer's "In Spring" invites us into a captivating realm of rebirth and renewal. With each line, s...

May Day Cover image

May Day by Sara Teasdale

To celebrate May Day, LibriVox volunteers bring you six different recordings of May Day, by Sara Teasdale. This was the weekly poetry project for the...

The Dreamers Cover image

The Dreamers by Theodosia Garrison

Theodosia Garrison was a New Jersey poet and a friend of Ella Wheeler Wilcox, she attained a high level of popularity during her lifetime.

At Dawn And Dusk Cover image

At Dawn And Dusk by Victor Daley

Victor Daley, then a happy, wondering Irish lad, drifted out to Australia. His head was full of old tunes and fragments of poetry; his pocket was near...

Old Man Rain Cover image

Old Man Rain by Madison Cawein

Through vivid imagery and evocative language, Cawein paints a poetic portrait of the Bluegrass State, capturing its natural beauty, rich history, and...

Spring, 1918 Cover image

Spring, 1918 by Sara Teasdale

Sara Teasdale's "Spring, 1918" is a collection of poems reflecting on the profound emotions of World War I. Teasdale grapples with the contrast betwe...

Longing for Spring-time Cover image

Longing for Spring-time by George Logan Moore

This poem is taken from the Chambers’s Edinburgh Journal, March 15, 1879. This Fortnightly Poem is dedicated to the long-awaited coming of Spring.

Dream within a Dream Cover image

Dream within a Dream by Edgar Allan Poe

LibriVox volunteers bring you 15 different recordings of A Dream within a Dream by Edgar Allan Poe. This was the weekly poetry project for the week of...

Spring's Bedfellow Cover image

Spring's Bedfellow by William Morris

“Spring’s Bedfellow” is a poem by William Morris, known for its evocative imagery and intricate symbolism. It explores themes of love, nature, and the...

The White Sail Cover image

The White Sail by Louise Imogen Guiney

"The White Sail" is a luminous constellation of poems penned by the gifted wordsmith, Louise Imogen Guiney. Like stars in the night sky, each poem ill...

Reviews for Songs of Innocence and Experience

No reviews posted or approved, yet...