1. Blake describes innocence and experience as “the two contrary states of the human soul.” What do you think he means by this?
2. Compare the mode of creation described in “The Lamb” with that of “The Tyger.” How are they similar? How are they different?
3. In “London” the speaker says he hears “mind-forged manacles” (line 8) What do you think that phrase means?
4. What differences do you see between the two “Chimney Sweeper” poems?
5. 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?
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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 of The Lamb Blake is asking the lamb if it knows where it comes from. He then proceeds to describe the lamb to itself, connects it to the rest of nature and lastly he answers his own question. He is talking about God and possibly Jesus, who is often referred to as a lamb of God.
In the poem of the tiger Blake is asking the Tiger who made it but this time doesn’t offer an answer. The tiger is described more fiercely which is to be expected however, it has an industrial feel to it. The hammer, furnace and dread hand and feet make it seem unnatural in origin. He relates the poem to The Lamb by asking the tiger if it’s made by the same being, insinuating that it might not be.
2. Compare the mode of creation described in “The Lamb” with that of “The Tyger.” How are they similar? How are they different?
In both poems a question is posed to the animal that the poet encounters. In The Lamb, it is a refrain, “Little lamb, who made thee? Does thou know who made thee?” In its repetition a song emerges, like a nursery rhyme asking a rhetorical question of the lamb that it can mull over as it goes to sleep. The speaker knows the answer and concludes with the truth, that the lambs origin is God. In fact, the beauty of the lamb is “He is called by thy name,” and the lamb’s qualities are described as the direct expressions of God – tender, bright, valuable. The poet does not approach the beast of The Tiger as if it is something to be nurtured. The question “What immortal hand or eye/ Could Frame they fearful symmetry?” is not rhetorical but posed in awe. The poet speaks from a distant, analyzing the tiger’s powerful features, its enflamed eyes, the furnace burnt brain. The story of creation for the tiger is not the Godly extension of the good and the peaceful as the lamb, but a mythological conflict in which “the stars threw down their speakers/ and watered heaven with their tears.” In a world in which God is the lamb, what could be the origin of such power that the tiger emanates from? Only the kind of primordial creation home to the stories of Dionysian’s or Gnostics.
Blake describes innocence and experience as “the two contrary states of the human soul.” What do you think he means by this?
Innocence in comparison to experience does indeed mark two very different ends of the spectrum of life. Innocence marks that period in a person’s life when they are just a child who is naive and unaware of the true nature of this world and all the harshness and evil that comes along with it. Much like Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden when they were first placed there by God, their minds were innocent and far from the “knowledge” they were later exposed to after eating the apple. They were brought from an undefiled state to one that was more conscious. Similar to every human being who starts off pristine and through life and its experiences, are made more apprehensive and aware of the true nature of things compared to when they were simply enjoying childish whims. They have been corrupted by the effects of their environment and can never go back to that virginal state of mind that only an innocent child possess is what is interpreted from Blake’s reference to Innocence versus Experience.
In “London”, William Blake brings attention to a city, London, that seems to be overrun by hardships. Blake seems to bring the truth about London doing away with the positive views of the city and shows the economic hardships where power triumphed over goodness leaving behind poverty. When William Blake says “mind-forged manacles”(line 8), he could possibly mean that what could actually imprison people isn’t exactly poverty or hardships but perhaps their mentality and the way they think about approaching life. Therefore this mentality imprisons people with manacles.
Blake describes innocence and experience as “the two contrary states of the human soul.” What do you think he means by this?
Innocence and experience are two contrary aspects of life that bind together. According to Blake, innocence is the beginning state of life as a naïve child. During this stage, the child is not introduced to corruption in society as they typically are bound to do what is right. While on the other hand, experience is depicted as the stage of adulthood and corruption within life. People who attend adulthood would pertain to such situations as lying, stealing, violence and sex. Blake introduces the topics of experience and innocence to show the correlation of life. As a child, actions are typically innocent because they are not introduced to the corruption of society with harmful behavior. In addition as a adult the experience would intel to past corrupt decisions and tend to repeat even though they are knowledgeable of their actions.
2. Compare the mode of creation described in “The Lamb” with that of “The Tyger.” How are they similar? How are they different?
In the two poems “The Lamb” and “The Tyger”, there are very similar comparisons. In both poems the narrator questions the creator of both the Lamb and Tyger. In “The Tyger”, the lamb is brought even brought up, “Did he who made the Lamb make thee?”. The differences between both poems are the animals being presented. A lamb is viewed as a harmless and innocent being, while a tiger can be violent and fierce. Still with these differences, they both did come from the same creator which the narrator points out. The lamb and tyger can represent a yin yang.
Blake describes innocence and experience as “the two contrary states of the human soul.” What do you think he means by this?
Innocence and Experience are compared as good versus evil in Blake’s songs. With innocence, he demonstrates the innocent and naive state of childhood and with experience, the corrupt and dark world of adulthood. I agree to a certain extent. As children, we are new to the world and understand things to a certain level. To get to the next levels requires experience and experience takes away our veil of innocence. It turns simplicity into complexity. We are exposed to all the bad that the world has to offer; with more experience comes less innocence. However, one can still feel innocence in certain ways. I believe that genuine love can be innocent, whether it’s for a child, parent or significant other. Hospitality can be innocent such as inviting someone into your home and feeding them or putting a roof over their head. One can practice innocence by being wholesome and expecting nothing in return.
Blake describes innocence and experience as “the two contrary states of the human soul.” What do you think he means by this
I think what William Blake means is that, human innocence and experience is like a different state of mind within the human soul.Innocence within the human soul is often described as something that is pure or sacred and kinds of cleanses the soul. On the other hand, the experience is often associated with the come up of human development which is not so pure, due to activities human beings engaged in during their lifetime.
1. Blake describes innocence and experience as “the two contrary states of the human soul.” What do you think he means by this?
Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience portray the two phases of human life. Songs of Innocence describe the pure and naive nature of children. On the other hand, Song of Experience describes the other part of life where the pure nature of a child has been corrupted by the world. Blake uses contrasting figures such as a lamb and a tiger to describe this phenomenon. The lamb is pure and a creation of god, whereas the tiger is molded and shaped by human experience. Blake seems to greatly contrast the two phases of life to emphasize the importance of childhood.
2. Compare the mode of creation described in “The Lamb” with that of “The Tyger.” How are they similar? How are they different?
Both poems by William Blake, Blake uses animals to get his point across. In “The Lamb” Blake uses the lamb to show innocence, youth and hints at the religious tie of the lamb to Jesus Christ. In the poem “The Tyger” Blake contrarily uses the beast to show the other end of the spectrum being Fear, violence, and the aspect of predator vs prey to question god and the creator. How could a creator who is all benevolent create both these creatures who are complete opposites?
Compare the mode of creation described in “The Lamb” with that of “The Tyger.” How are they similar? How are they different?
Both of tiger and lam are made by the same god. Additionally, according to the poem, the two figures are beautiful in their own way.
However, tiger is horrific at the same time given its capicity of violence, which is diffent from the lamb. However, the god not only create the pure lamb, but also creates fierece tiger. I feel like that the auther wants to make his readers think about why God makes lamb and tiger at the same time, or in the other world, why God creates pure and then create evil and violence at the same time.
In “London” the speaker says he hears “mind-forged manacles” (line 8) What do you think that phrase means?
The speaker is saying that people in society are chained by there own mind. Mind-forged, the thought we are selves create and manacles a band or chain. We imprison ourselves and create our own suffering which are seen through society. With children becoming sweepers, soldiers sent out to kill, and prostitutes being bought and sold. It’s as though because you belong to a certain group you are chained down to the obstacles that bare with the metal constraints thats seen in London.
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” the tone is very happy and innocent like, full of hope. It perceives children’s nativity, and a willingness to submit to anything and anyone because it is “just.” In “The Tyger” the tone is completely different. Although it focuses on the same character from “The Lamb” it shows shifted perspectives of lost hope and hatred.
4. What differences do you see between the two “Chimney Sweeper” poems?
The main difference I see between the two “Chimney Sweeper” poems is that just as the poet suggests one is about Innocence and one is about experience. In the Songs of Innocence section it seems that the chimney sweeper boy does not really know whats going on and is innocent in the fact that he is gong to die from being a chimney sweeper. In his dream the angel is going to take him out of the black coffin and while the reader knows that is symbolic of death the chimney sweeper does not know this. In the songs of experience chimney sweeper poem it is suggested that the boy knows he is going to die via the quote “they clothed me in the clothes of death”. This is the key difference I found overall between the poems.
Blake describes innocence and experience as “the two contrary states of the human soul.” What do you think he means by this?
In “Songs of Innocence” and “Songs of Experience”, I think there is reasonable emphasis on imagination. Childhood is described as the ideal, edenic state of ‘Innocence’ where one is inexperienced, unblemished, virgin, simple, and honest whereas, ‘Experience’ on the contradictory is about knowledge, caution, and responsibilities. These are “the two contrary states of human soul” described in a rhyming pattern with a nursery rhythm by William Blake about how life revolves around these very two states and how it is characterized.