Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience: Shewing The Two Contrary States Of The Human Soul (Dover Thrift Editions)
By:
- Synopsis
-
As both painter and poet, William Blake (1757–1827) was a powerful and visionary artist whose two early collections of poetry, Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience, contain memorable lyric verses embodying the emerging spirit of Romanticism.
The two works were published together in 1794 with the subtitle, "Shewing the Two Contrary States of the Human Soul." The poems of Songs of Innocence describe childhood states of naturalness and purity in delicately beautiful lyrics that reveal a child's unspoiled and beatific view of life and human nature. In Songs of Experience the mood and tone darken, the poems suggesting the bitter corruptions and disillusionment that await the innocent.
The contrast between the two sets of lyrics is perhaps at its most acute in the poems "The Lamb" and "The Tyger," the latter ultimately expressing wonderment at the seemingly paradoxical coexistence of good and evil. The full texts of all the poems in the 1794 edition of both collections are included in this volume.
- Copyright:
- 1991
Book Details
- Book Quality:
- Publisher Quality
- Book Size:
- 64 Pages
- ISBN-13:
- 9780486111490
- Related ISBNs:
- 9780486270517
- Publisher:
- Dover Publications
- Date of Addition:
- 11/07/18
- Copyrighted By:
- Adult content:
- No
- Language:
- English
- Has Image Descriptions:
- No
- Categories:
- Poetry, Literature and Fiction
- Grade Levels:
- Ninth grade
- Submitted By:
- Bookshare Staff
- Usage Restrictions:
- This book is in the public domain and is freely available to all.