William Blake, Songs of Innocence and Experience
- Blake describes innocence and experience as “the two contrary states of the human soul.” What do you think he means by this?
- Compare the mode of creation described in “The Lamb” with that of “The Tyger.” How are they similar? How are they different?
- In “London”, the speaker says he hears “mind-forged manacles” (line 8) What do you think that phrase means?
- What differences do you see between the two “Chimney Sweeper” poems?
- Choose a single line from any of the poems that made a strong impression on you and share it here. What is going on in this line in terms of language and meaning? Why do you think this line resonated with you?
- The introductory poem to Songs of Innocence refers to a poet/singer/piper who composes “…happy songs,/Every child may joy to hear.” To what extent does this line describe the poems in Songs of Innocence?
This entry was posted in
Uncategorized. Bookmark the
permalink.
Compare the mode of creation described in “The Lamb” with that of “The Tyger.” How are they similar? How are they different?
In the poem “The Lamb” creation was spoken of as us humans being the creation of god. Sheep are loyal followers who follow their shepherd. God our creator is our shepherd who leads us in the right direction in this materialistic world, preparing our journey unto the spiritual world.
In the Poem “The Tyger” creation is spoken in terms of animals, specifically a tyger. The viewer is amazed at how something so ferocious is created perfectly. S1 lines 3-4 mention “What immortal hand or eye could frame thy fearful symmetry” This indicates the admiration for such creation, implying a divine presence being the only capable creator of such a thing.
Compare the mode of creation described in “The Lamb” with that of “The Tyger.” How are they similar? How are they different?
In William Blake’s “The Lamb” and “The Tyger” they are both portrayed as two very contrasting poems. “The Songs of Innocence” and “Songs of Experience” both explore the themes of being innocent and being experienced in life, with that comes childhood and the realities of adulthood. In “The Lamb” the depiction of the Lamb is something pure and gentle, everything we would characterize as innocent, that lamb in this case symbolizes everything pure and childlike. The language is used as something simple and peaceful adding to the idea of “dreamlike” reality. However in “The Tyger”, this poem begs the question of how God can create something so dangerous and murderous. The Tiger is characterized as violent and harmful, aditonally, the language is more intense and harsh adding to the theme of the dangers of life characterized as the tiger. In both poems, they both connect and contrast each other. “The Lamb” portrays the beginning stages of innocence while “The Tyger” depicts everything dangerous and mysterious that comes with life. However, they both explore the ideas of our own existence and show how something so beautiful in life can later come to dangers and harsh realities.
Blake describes innocence and experience as “the two contrary states of the human soul.” What do you think he means by this?
I think Blake means that as you gain more life experience, you lose more of your innocence. Children are associated with innocence, and they don’t have much life experience. They are naive and haven’t been exposed to the harsh realities of the world. For instance, a life experience many people go through as they grow older is the death of a loved one. This grief shaves off a bit of the innocence you would have had as a child. Innocence and experience are contrary because you cannot be innocent if you have gone through all of life’s experience. Not all experiences are devastating, but they can still teach you something about the reality of life.
Choose a single line from any of the poems that made a strong impression on you and share it here. What is going on in this line in terms of language and meaning? Why do you think this line resonated with you?
“I am a child and thou a lamb”. What this line is stating that the child and the lamb are similar, in terms of they are both similar in age and show a sign of innocence. Since a lamb is known for sacrifice in the Christian religion, the child is hinting at this possibility as well. I think it resonated with me because I went to Catholic school my whole life until college, so I was instantly able to make this connection.
Hi Richard, I agree with your understanding of this line and would like to add on that the sacrifice the child might be hinting at is the loss of innocence due to growing up.
Richard, I do not give credit for blog posts shared during class. I wish that you were paying attention and participating in class, rather than using the time to catch up on homework.
Blake describes innocence and experience as “the two contrary states of the human soul.” What do you think he means by this?
I think Blake mean there two different sides of life on how there are experiences and innocence. The experience is like when you’re an adult and you have learned how life is really hard with countless struggles. But on the innocence side, you are still like a child without any knowledge about the real world and you don’t know how everything work yet. I think he means as we get older we get to know the harsh side of life in which we struggle compared to when we were little.
Tony, I do not give credit for responses posted during class. Your time would be better spent paying attention and participating in what’s going on in the classroom.
Compare the mode of creation described in “The Lamb” with that of “The Tyger.” How are they similar? How are they different?
In both “The Lamb” and “The Tyger” we are able to make out some similarities as well as differences between the two. The similarities between the two are that of the nature of creation and the specific choice of words in the description of the animals. It is clear that in “The Lamb” William Blake is describing the innocent animal and its plush characteristics. On the other hand in “The Tyger”, we see the author use words like “burning bright” which is a reference to the color of the animal as well as its fiery nature. Furthermore, in both poems, we see a sequence of questions that allows the reader to think about the nature of the creation of the animals. Although there are similarities the differences are significant, such as the theme of innocence versus experience and imagery. In “The Lamb” which is in the “Songs of Innocence”, Blake describes an innocent baby-like animal, whose creator is soft, nurturing, and loving. While in “The Tyger”, which is in the “Songs of Experience”, the author depicts an animal that is fierce with a darker complexion, whose creator is rugged. We can infer that the poem “The Lamb” portrays a child who is innocent because they haven’t experienced anything in life yet. “The Tyger” is a person whose characteristics have been built through hardship and are complex.
Blake describes innocence and experience as “the two contrary states of the human soul.” What do you think he means by this?
By describing innocence and experience as “the two contrary states of the human soul”, I think he means that both are important characteristics of humanity and yet they are completely different. Innocence means inexperienced and free of blame, we are usually in this state in our childhood. Experience, on the other hand, means that you have already made mistakes and may not be as pure as you were before, but through this you have acquired wisdom. They are the opposite sides of the same coin and make life interesting and worth living. If we were born and knew everything (hence we would not be innocent) then we would have nowhere to progress. On the other hand, if we were born innocent but had no chance to become experienced, then we would have no desire to grow.
Choose a single line from any of the poems that made a strong impression on you and share it here. What is going on in this line in terms of language and meaning? Why do you think this line resonated with you?
A line that made a strong impression on me was in the poem “The Chimney Sweeper” from Songs of Experience that states “And because I am happy, & dance, & sing, they think they have done me no injury” (line 9-10). In this line the language that is being used can be considered to be ironic because Blake is criticizing the ignorance that parents and society have when it comes to child labor. These lines are trying to portray a message that because you can’t see the injuries physically on a child that doesn’t mean these kids haven’t faced horrible experiences and pain doing these kinds of jobs. I think this line resonated with me the most because in a way it made me reflect back on myself as also being an ignorant person when it comes to not considering the pain or internal suffering someone can be facing just because they show a normal appearance.
Blake describes innocence and experience as “the two contrary states of the human soul.” What do you think he means by this?
While experience stands for the acquisition of information and the understanding of life’s intricacies, innocence represents a condition of purity, joy, and simplicity untarnished by the harsh realities of the outside world. Blake considered these states as being in perpetual conflict with one another and with the potential for development and greater understanding to result from their interaction. His writings employ this contrast to criticize restrictive elements of organized religion and social conventions, asking readers to consider their own journey towards spiritual and moral enlightenment through the reconciliation of two diametrically opposed states within themselves and in society.
Choose a single line from any of the poems that made a strong impression on you and share it here. What is going on in this line in terms of language and meaning? Why do you think this line resonated with you?
“Tho’ the morning was cold, Tom was happy and warm.” The quote refers to the scene in ‘The Chimney Sweeper’ where a child has a dream about being saved by an angel away from the Chimney sweeper’s life. After waking from the dream, the child had a warm spirit full of hope. This line from ‘The Chimney Sweeper’ in From Songs of Innocence made a strong impression on me because I can relate. Day in and day out it’s a constant battle in life with responsibilities, family, work, bills, you name it. Life is like a chimney. We dive in like the children would do to clean the chimney. Then we go home or a place of comfort and feel the warmth the child was eluding to. Despite what the world may bring, you can still have a positive, warm outlook towards it.
Blake describes innocence and experience as “the two contrary states of the human soul.” What do you think he means by this?
Blake associates innocence with an idyllic childhood. He describes innocence as purity, joy, wonder and happiness. In comparison, experience is associated with worldliness, maturity, loss and learning. Both states are contrary as you gain experience you lose your innocence. However, they make up the reality of human existence as all humans have experienced both at some point in their lives.
Blake describes innocence and experience as “the two contrary states of the human soul.” What do you think he means by this?
Blake describes innocence and experience as “the two contrary states of the human soul.” People are born innocent. Children are innocent, but they lose their sense of innocence as they have new experiences and go through life’s hardships. The innocence becomes experience which can be seen as the knowledge gained from life. This is a process everyone goes through in life. You lose innocence and gain experience thus not being able to have both.
Blake describes innocence and experience as “the two contrary states of the human soul.” What do you think he means by this?
I think by describing that innocence and the experience as the contrary states of the human soul Blake is saying that these two states contradicts each other and are all stages we will come to. In the text he portrays innocence as an inexperienced child who does not really know better, who its exploited by elders , its pure and ignorant of what is happening. On the contrary he describes experience as a person who went through innocence, has understood the perception of life and can make their own choices freely knowing the outcomes of good and bad.
Compare the mode of creation described in “The Lamb” with that of “The Tyger.” How are they similar? How are they different?
In the poems of “The Lamb” and “The Tyger” by William Blake’s there are seen similarities and differences. They both share a connection with “The Songs of Innocence” and “The Songs of Experience”. The people of the lamb strongly connects with the “The Songs of Innocence” because the lam is portrayed as a child. It represents someone who is naive. It gives a sense of childhood and someone who is just learning and growing in life. On the other hand “The Tyger” is a poem that really shows more of a violent connection. It tries to share a message of adult hood and how dangerous it can be as you’re in an adult phase. The similarity between both these poems is that they both connect to life growth and the two different phases people are part of in their lives.
Compare the mode of creation described in “The Lamb” with that of “The Tyger.” How are they similar? How are they different?
In “The Lamb,” creation is shown as being kind, compassionate, and supportive. The speaker addresses a lamb, which is frequently connected to purity and innocence. However, in “The Tyger,” the process of creation is presented in a far more aggressive and violent way. The narrator addresses the tiger as a representation of pure strength and ferocity.