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Songs Of Experience
''Songs of Innocence and of Experience'' is a collection of illustrated poems by William Blake. It appeared in two phases: a few first copies were printed and illuminated by Blake himself in 1789; five years later, he bound these poems with a set of new poems in a volume titled ''Songs of Innocence and of Experience Shewing the Two Contrary States of the Human Soul''. Blake was also a painter before the creation of ''Songs of Innocence and Experience'' and had painted such subjects as Oberon, Titania, and Puck dancing with fairies. "Innocence" and "Experience" are definitions of consciousness that rethink Milton's existential-mythic states of "Paradise" and "Fall". Often, interpretations of this collection centre around a mythical dualism, where "Innocence" represents the "unfallen world" and "Experience" represents the "fallen world". Blake categorizes our modes of perception that tend to coordinate with a chronology that would become standard in Romanticism: childhood is a ...
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Songs Of Innocence And Of Experience, Copy AA, Object 1
A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetition and variation of sections. Written words created specifically for music, or for which music is specifically created, are called lyrics. If a pre-existing poem is set to composed music in classical music it is an art song. Songs that are sung on repeated pitches without distinct contours and patterns that rise and fall are called chants. Songs composed in a simple style that are learned informally "by ear" are often referred to as folk songs. Songs that are composed for professional singers who sell their recordings or live shows to the mass market are called popular songs. These songs, which have broad appeal, are often composed by professional songwriters, composers, and lyricists. Art songs are composed by trained classical composers fo ...
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The Lamb (poem)
"The Lamb" is a poem by William Blake, published in ''Songs of Innocence'' in 1789. "The Lamb" is the counterpart poem to Blake's poem: "The Tyger" in ''Songs of Experience''. Blake wrote ''Songs of Innocence'' as a contrary to the ''Songs of Experience'' – a central tenet in his philosophy and a central theme in his work.Kazin, Alfred. "Introduction". ''The Portable Blake''. The Viking Portable Library. 41–43. Like many of Blake's works, the poem is about Christianity. The lamb is a frequently used name of Jesus Christ, who is also called "The Lamb of God" in the Gospel of John 1:29 and 36, as well as throughout John's Book of Revelation (or Revelations) at the end of the New Testament. Poem Structure At first glance, this poem appears to consist of rhyming couplets, and the first and last couplet in the first stanza could be said to exhibit identical rhyme; however, the rhyme is an exact repeat of the three last words, or phrase, "who made thee," and the last coup ...
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A Dream (Blake)
"A Dream" is a poem by English poet William Blake. The poem was first published in 1789 as part of Blake's collection of poems entitled ''Songs of Innocence''. Background ''Songs of Innocence'' is a collection of 19 illustrated poems published in 1789. According to scholar Donald A. Dike, the collection does not “describe an absolute state of being or fashion an autonomous truth.” Rather, he says the poems are resistant, being “consciously against something and trying to see their way through something.” Songs of Innocence was followed by Blake's ''Songs of Experience'' in 1794. The two collections were published together under the title ''Songs of Innocence and of Experience'', showing the "two contrary states of the human soul.” The poem Structure and summary In this poem, Blake portrays the concepts of the return to innocence from experience. No wonder the artist thought first of including it in “Songs of Experience” at first, finally deciding to move it ...
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Infant Joy
"Infant Joy" is a poem written by the English poet William Blake. It was first published as part of his collection ''Songs of Innocence'' in 1789 and is the counterpart to "Infant Sorrow", which was published at a later date in '' Songs of Experience'' in 1794. Ralph Vaughan Williams set the poem to music in his 1958 song cycle '' Ten Blake Songs''. The poem Description Both "Infant Joy" and "Infant Sorrow" use two stanzas; however, "Infant Sorrow" uses a regular AABB rhyme scheme for both stanzas; whereas, ‘Infant Joy’ uses ABCDAC for the first stanza, and ABCDDC for the second. The most marked pattern in ‘Infant Joy’ is the double rhyme repeated in lines three, six, nine, and twelve, this pattern contrasts with the more insistent rhymes found in "Infant Sorrow". The two stanzas and their contrasting speakers, use repetition with variation link many of the other 'Songs of Innocence' poems, demonstrating what critic Heather Glen called the "difference yet harmony ...
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Nurse's Song
''Nurse's Song'' is the name of two related poems by William Blake, published in ''Songs of Innocence ''Songs of Innocence and of Experience'' is a collection of illustrated poems by William Blake. It appeared in two phases: a few first copies were printed and illuminated by Blake himself in 1789; five years later, he bound these poems with a ...'' in 1789 and '' Songs of Experience'' in 1794. The poem in ''Songs of Innocence'' tells the tale of a nurse who, we are to assume, is looking over some children playing in a field. When she tries to call them in, they protest, claiming that it is still light and therefore there is still time to play. The poem fits in with the theme of innocence, as it makes no mention of the negative aspects of playing outside; the children are oblivious of the dangers of playing outside late at night that would be considered in a modern society. The language uses various images associated with children's playing and imagination. The nurse is of a ...
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Spring (Songs Of Innocence)
Spring is a lyric poem written and illustrated by William Blake. It was first published in '' Songs of Innocence'' (1789) and later in ''Songs of Innocence and Experience'' (1794). Background William Blake's ''Songs of Innocence'' (1789) is a lyric anthology that consists of nineteen illuminated poems. Each poem is accompanied with an illustration by Blake. ''Songs of Innocence'' was later combined with Blake's ''Songs of Experience'' in 1794 to make ''Songs of Innocence and Experience'', and were printed combined as well as separately. Poem Style The poem is split into three stanzas. The rhyme scheme goes AABBCCDDE. The last line of each stanza is the same to show the joy the author has for this time of year. The poem is written in dactylic feet. There are several reference's to other poems or characters from Blake's "Songs of Innocence." For example, the introduction of this poem speaks of the flutist, which comes from several of Blake's poems and is illustrated on the f ...
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Night (Blake)
"Night" is a poem in the illuminated 1789 collection ''Songs of Innocence'' by William Blake, later incorporated into the larger compilation ''Songs of Innocence and of Experience''. "Night" speaks about the coming of evil when darkness arrives, as angels protect and keep the sheep from the impending dangers. ''Songs of Innocence'' was written by William Blake in 1789 as part of his Illuminated Books. Blake's aim for his ''Songs'' was to depict the two contrary states of human existence: innocence and experience. The Songs speak upon the "innocence" of being a child and the "experience" gained over a lifetime. The ''Songs'' are separated into ten different objects, with each object offering a different situation and how it is viewed from a child's perspective. Background Blake was a non-conformist. He opposed the British monarchy and aligned his thoughts with Thomas Paine and Mary Wollstonecraft. Blake was an advocate for using the imagination over natural observations. He believe ...
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Holy Thursday (Songs Of Innocence)
Holy Thursday is a poem by William Blake, from his 1789 book of poems ''Songs of Innocence''. (There is also a Holy Thursday poem in '' Songs of Experience'', which contrasts with this song.) The poem depicts a ceremony held on Ascension Day, which in England was then called Holy Thursday, a name now generally applied to what is also called Maundy Thursday: Six thousand orphans of London's charity schools, scrubbed clean and dressed in the coats of distinctive colours, are marched two by two to Saint Paul's Cathedral, under the control of their beadles, and sing in the cathedral. The children in their colourful dresses are compared to flowers and their procession toward the church as a river. Their singing on the day that commemorated the Ascension of Jesus The Ascension of Jesus ( anglicized from the Vulgate la, ascensio Iesu, lit=ascent of Jesus) is the Christian teaching that Christ physically departed from Earth by rising to Heaven, in the presence of eleven of hi ...
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The Divine Image
"The Divine Image" is a poem by the English poet William Blake from his book ''Songs of Innocence'' (1789), not to be confused with "A Divine Image" from ''Songs of Experience'' (1794). It was later included in his joint collection ''Songs of Innocence and of Experience'' (1794). In this poem (see Wikisource below) Blake pictures his view of an ideal world in which the four traditionally Christian virtues–Mercy, Pity, Peace and Love–are found in the human's heart and stand for God's support and comfort. Joy and gratitude are sentiments expressed through prayer for the caring and blessing of an infallible almighty God and are shared by all men on Earth encompassing a sense of equality and mutual respect. The title of the poem refers to the Book of Genesis Chapter 1 verse 26: 'And God said: Let us make man in our image'.(KJV) Ralph Vaughan Williams set the poem to music in his 1958 song cycle '' Ten Blake Songs''. Summary In ''The Divine Image'', the figures of Mercy ...
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A Cradle Song
"A Cradle Song" is a poem written by William Blake in 1789, as part of his book ''Songs of Innocence''. Structure The 32-line poem is divided into 8 stanzas of 4 lines each. Each stanza follows an "AABB" rhyme scheme. “A Cradle Song” follows a couplet structure where each pair of lines rhyme. This lends the poem a graceful sound and makes it easy to sing. While writing this poem, Blake drew from the image of a mother sitting over her infant while the baby is in her crib falling sleep. Background Blake was born in London on November 28, 1757. He died on August 12, 1827.
"Cradle Song." Poets.org. Academy of American Poets, n.d. Web. 29 Mar. 2015.
He claimed that in a dream his brother Robert taught him the printing method that he used in ''Songs of Innocence'' and other illuminated works. ''Songs of Innocence ...
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Laughing Song
"Laughing Song" is a poem published in 1789 by the English poet William Blake. This poem is one of nineteen in Blake's collection ''Songs of Innocence''. Analysis of the poem "Laughing Song" is a lyric poem, written in three stanzas of four-beat lines rhyming aabb. The title of this poem and its rhyme scheme is very appropriate for the message that Blake is trying to convey. The title in itself states that this is a song about laughter, and the three stanzas give this impression, especially in the final line of the second stanza: "With their sweet round mouths sing 'Ha, Ha, He.' ", and the final line of the third stanza: "To sing the sweet chorus of 'Ha, Ha, He.' " Using words like "sing" and "chorus" for emphasis, Blake sets out to lure readers to the happiness of prelapsarian times, when things were unspoiled and innocent. Blake is inviting the readers to take part in the celebration; after all nature and all the people have begun to laugh and be merry, he wants all to come ...
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The Little Boy Found
"The Little Boy Found" is a poem by William Blake first published in the collection ''Songs of Innocence'' in 1789. ''Songs of Innocence'' was printed using illuminated printing, a style Blake created. By integrating the images with the poems the reader was better able to understand the meaning behind each of Blake's poems. "The Little Boy Found" is a sequel to "The Little Boy Lost". The two poems are written as simple songs, similar to nursery rhymes. The poem Structure The poem's rhyme scheme is ABCB DEFE, with internal rhymes (CC and FF) on the third and seventh lines (The third line of each stanza). Blake uses a form of alliteration in the first two lines, repeating the letter ''l'' in "little...lost...lonely...led...light". The repetition of sound creates a rhythmic flow, setting the tone for the rest of the poem. The poem consists of two stanzas. In the first stanza the little boy is lost in a bog, and afraid when God comes to him. In the second stanza God leads h ...
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