William Blake's work, "Innocence and Experience" attempts to juxtapose just what the title explain, innocence and experience. He creatively gave many of the poems the same title, along with similar subjects. Each of these poems is told from a different point of view, contrasting the difference in innocence and experience. For example, such poems as Holy Thursday , The Chimney Sweeper , and Divine Image belong in both Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience.
The Chimney Sweeper, from "Songs of Innocence" describes a child who has a vision of happiness. In his poem, the child, Tom Dacre, dreams that
"And by came an Angel who had a bright key,
And he open'd the coffins & set them all free.
Then down a green plain leaping laughing they run
And wish in a river and shine in the Sun." (page 81-lines 13-16)
This green plain free of care and worry is metaphorically heaven, shown by the Angel releasing the children to a warm and happy place where they would "have God for his father & never want joy" (page 81-line 20). Again, Blake shows the metaphor for the children reaching heaven.
This poem reflects the ideas of innocence; that the child believes still in the purity of life (shown by lines 23-24, "Tho' the morning was cold, Tom was happy & warm/So if all do their duty they need not fear harm") shows his innocence. He is not yet the bitter child shown in The Chimney Sweeper from "Songs of Experience."
In the poem from "Songs of Experience," the little child sweeper explains that his mother and father have "gone up to the church to pray" (page 89-line 4) for they think that the little child is happy.
"And because I am happy & dance & sing,
They think they have done me no injury:
And are gone to praise God & his Priest & King
Who make up a heaven of our misery." (page 89-lines 9-12)
This passage contrasts with the ending stanzas of the poem from "Songs of Innocence." In this poem, the child is not happy and innocently believing that all will be right in the end, instead, by stating that those make a heaven from the misery of people, the child clearly shows a contempt for God and those who believe in him.
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Leanne,
ReplyDeleteIt takes you a little while to find your focus in this post, but when you do you make some insightful comments about Blake's two chimney sweepers. This focus sets up a natural contrast that you bring out well through quotations and analysis.
I like the fact that you compared the end of both poems. Although the innocence of children is present in both poems it is quit evident how innocence turns to experience as the "Songs of Innocence" child comments on heaven and compares the presence of heaven to the his emotion of misery.This represents the child's first experience with death and grief. This is something that a lot of adults go through every time that someone close to them dies. We are told that when someone dies they are out if their misery and rejoicing in heaven. Although most adults have experience with death most go through the same emotion of contempt.
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