“Songs of Innocence and Experience” is a collection of illustrated poems by William Blake1. The work compiles two contrasting but directly related books of poetry.
Songs of Innocence honors and praises the natural world, the natural innocence of children, and their close relationship to God2. It was originally a complete collection of 23 poems first printed in 17891. This collection mainly shows happy, innocent perception in pastoral harmony, but at times, subtly shows the dangers of this naïve and vulnerable state.
Songs of Experience contains much darker, disillusioned poems, which deal with serious, often political themes2. It is a collection of 26 poems forming the second part of Songs of Innocence and of Experience1. The poems were published in 1794.
Blake was also a painter before the creation of Songs of Innocence and of Experience and he engraved, hand-printed, and colored detailed art to accompany each of the poems in Songs of Innocence and of Experience1. This unique art helps tell the story of each poem, and was part of Blake’s original vision for how each poem should be understood.
The text of the poem and the accompanying illustration formed an integrated whole, each adding meaning to the other3. The Songs are now often studied for their literary merit alone, but they were originally produced as illuminated books.
For example, one of the poems from Songs of Innocence, “Holy Thursday”, describes the annual Holy Thursday (Ascension Day) service in St Paul’s Cathedral for the poor children of the London charity schools3. The poem is based on the contrast between the ‘innocent faces’ of the children and the authority of the ‘grey headed beadles’ and the other ‘aged men’ who act as their guardians.
In summary, “Songs of Innocence and Experience” is a profound exploration of the two contrary states of the human soul, as seen through the innocent and experienced eyes of children and adults respectively.