There seems to be little to distinguish the Songs of Innocence and the Songs of Experience. Discuss with reference to content, style, form and poetic technique
Blake’s songs of innocence and experience are written differently to emphasise the differences in what we find appealing at different ages. The Songs of Innocence are written in a way, which could be compared with nursery rhymes for their style and rhythm. This is shown differently in the Songs of Experience, which seem much more appealing for an older audience giving more focus on the content. In this way, the Songs of Innocence are much more similar to the Songs of Experience but our focus is taken away from the content and put more into the way in which it would be read. In this way, they abandon the cheery form by which the Innocence poems are written (regardless of their content) and give a much more sombre effect. In the Songs of Innocence, Blake often uses exclamations to emphasise a happy and joking atmosphere as opposed to an exclamation of anger. These give the impression that the subjects Blake was writing about are being portrayed in a child-like manner with laughter and sadness mixed. This is shown in all the Songs of Innocence with the exception of “The Echoing Green,” “Little Boy Found,” “The Divine Image” and “Night.” The other 15 poems in this collection all
The first line of the first stanza, “Tiger, tiger, burning bright” could also be sung as a nursery rhyme, resembling most of the poems in Songs of Innocence and Experience. This could even be sung to the tune of “Twinkle, twinkle little star” which is one of the more innocent nursery rhymes sung to small children, children of the age of “The Chimney Sweeper” which shows the irony of what Blake is portraying because he is describing the harsh realities of life. They poems of Innocence seem much lighter but only due to the tone. It is clear that Blake does not only feel that adults remove the innocence of children but also the church. “They [his parents] clothed me in the clothes of deathAnd taught me to sing the notes of woe. He explains that the reason why he is black is due to the sweeping of chimneys and the reason for him to be in this job is because his father sold him at a very young age after his mother died. However, his innocence is displayed quite clearly when his friend has a dream about God rescuing them from their dark days, as long as they “grin and bear it” until they meet Him. This poem is very powerful as Blake’s resentment towards adults and the church is made very clear. These are all features adults and possibly also religion can possess. The poems in Innocence could be included with Songs of Experience as they all contain the same sorts of underlying messages of despair and grief, but they are written in a much lighter tone to give the sense of an innocent situation, but the reality is that both the Songs of Innocence and Experience are written about the same things, just written differently. He seems to be unable to comprehend the reasoning behind the creation of both innocence and experience, experience in this case being almost morally evil. In the first stanza, he asks: “What immortal hand or eyeCould frame thy fearful symmetry?”And in the last stanza he asks:“What immortal hand or eyeDare frame thy fearful symmetry?”In the last stanza he asks who dares to create the tiger and its terrifying demeanour. In the Experience version, it is explained because it shows that he is experienced in feeling woe and therefore knows why it happens. The difficulty to distinguish between the Songs of Innocence and the Songs of Experience is due to there being both innocent and experienced messages in each poem. A priest punishes him, although due to the nature of the punishment, we are led to sympathise for the “lost” boy.
Common topics in this essay:
Songs Experience,
Tiger” Blake,
Sweeper” Experience,
Chimney Sweeper”’s,
Innocence Experience,
Songs Innocence,
Lost Nought,
Girl Lost”,
Chimney Sweeper”,
Divine Image”,
songs innocence,
songs experience,
innocence experience,
songs innocence experience,
“the chimney,
“the tiger”,
songs innocence written,
innocence written,
“the chimney sweeper”,
chimney sweeper”,
“little boy,
thy fearful,
frame thy fearful,
thy fearful symmetry”,
lost faith,
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Acceptance Essays
