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William Blake's Songs of Innocence and Experience is a collection of poems that present analogous images of children, religion and society in general. However, these poems also invoke the idea that a person in a state of innocence might see certain entities quite differently than would a person who has reached maturity.
Blake understands that the words "innocence" and "experience" seem to completely oppose each other, and he skillfully portrays this contrast. However, a closer examination of the poems from each section reveals that these two perspectives are equally important and inseparable.
Blake's poems present a contradiction between the states of innocence and experience, two phases through which all people must pass. The two sets of poems juxtapose the untainted, naturalistic world of childhood against the adult world of corruption and restraint. Blake does not ally himself completely with one particular view; in fact many of the poems are written in the voice of a separate speaker, thus somewhat disconnecting the poet from his narratives. It is as if Blake hopes to identify the fallacies and flaws of each.
He does not present the two viewpoints with intention to persuade the reader into choosing between them, for Blake believes that no such choice is possible. Rather her decides to simply portray each point of view, infusing his poems with the idea that innocent bliss is not necessarily superior to the anguish of experience.
Blake's Songs of Innocence depict the naiveté that permeates the hopes and fears of young children before they have begun their progression to adulthood. One particular poem that exhibits this is the Innocence version of The Chimney Sweeper. The setting of this poem is 18th century London, where it was quite common to find parents selling their children into apprenticeships as chimney sweeps. It was not unusual to find chimney sweeps as young as four years of age, as such small children could maneuver more...
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