Throughout William Blake's Songs of Innocence the reader is introduced to the same reoccurring images of innocence. These images, such as infants sleeping, children playing, and little lambs grazing, all contain related meanings. Most contain religious significance because they are frequently seen throughout the Bible and therefore are well-known for their connotation of pureness. Blake uses these holy images constantly through "Songs of Innocence" to convey messages of true innocence to the reader. Some of the strongest images of innocence that Blake uses are found in the poem "Nurse's Song". In this poem, Blake creates the delightful image of children playing irresponsibly until dusk. This enchantment is not, however, continued into Blake's Songs of Experience poem "Nurse's Song", where all images of innocence are stripped from the nurse, as well as the children. These contrary poems highlight Blake's overall intentions in creating The Songs of Innocence and Experience.
             Before examining "Nurse's Song", let us first look at some of the general images of innocence that William Blake describes in his poems and discuss their meanings in relation to the text as a whole. The images that Blake creates for us of innocence are found abundantly throughout his Songs of Innocence. Blake uses the same images in many different poems and in many different ways. The image of the lamb is found in three different poems ("Spring", "Night", and "The lamb"). The images of birds such as sparrows, mockingbirds, and nightingales and their nests are also found in numerous occasions ("The Blossom"). The legendary image of pureness, the angel, is reoccurring and often comes to characters in the poems in a dream, not as a main focus ("The Chimney Sweeper"). Children are also innocent images found in the Innocence poems. The s...