William Blake I Comparative Analysis of 'Songs of Innocence & Songs of Experience'

William Blake (1757-1827) was a great poet, painter, engraver and printmaker of his time. He remained unpopular during his life time but time proved his metal. In 2002, his name appeared at 38 in the list of 100 greatest Britons. He was one of the forerunners of Romantic age who had their being even before the first-generation Romantic poets i.e., Wordsworth and Coleridge etc.

Blake was a visionary poet therefore his poetry is generally characterized as illuminated poetry. With the help of a few words, he could generate such vivid images as could produce alluring effects on the mind of the readers. He used to make idiosyncratic claims of seeing the visions of supernatural elements therefore people called him mad and insane. But the fact was that they had never looked deep into the symbolic versions of his visions.

He has composed all of his poetry almost with the same iambic rhythm. His poems can be divided into two broad volumes e.g., Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience. The former contains 19 poems which was published in 1789 whereas the latter, comprising on 26 poems, came forward in 1794. Later on, both the volumes were merged into one entitling ‘Showing the Two Contrary States of Human Soul’. In its preface, he stresses on the need of contras in life which he believes to be essential for existence in that each value loses its charm in the absence of its contra. G. K. Chesterton’s remarks are worth mentioning in this regard;

“Blake has brought together day and light, heaven and earth, hell and heaven into one breadth.”

Most of his poems (The Divine Image, The Lamb and Auguries of Innocence) from ‘Songs of Innocence’ reflect such ideas as are contrary to those presented in the poems (A Divine Image, The Tiger and London) from ‘Songs of Experience’. In the former set of poems, Blake glorifies the virtuous characteristics of human nature whereas in the latter one, he illuminates the dark aspects of human behaviour.

‘The Divine Image’ is a 20 lines poem divided into five quatrains (a stanza of four lines). The central theme of this poem deals with four most prominent attributes of Man which God loves;

“Where Mercy, Love, and Pity dwell,

There God is dwelling too.”

One who inculcates these virtues, becomes most loved of Almighty God. Blake goes to argue that mercy, pity and peace dwell with ‘Love’ and God loves those who bear love for His creatures. He extends his argument in that the abode of mercy is heart, pity rests in face and peace mirrors through thoughts whereas it is love that runs through blood and soul. The poet opines that a man’s righteousness, piety and chastity can be judged through the presence or absence of the ibid qualities where love stands central to all.

The difference between ‘The Divine Image’ and ‘A Divine Image’ is the difference between ‘The’ and ‘A’ that signifies a shift from particular to general; meaning thereby that the characteristic features described in the former poem are peculiar to men of God only whereas those presented in latter one are very common and can be found everywhere.

‘A Divine Image’ is an 8 lines poem divided into two quatrains. In this poem, Blake confesses that God has created each and every thing whether physical or abstract. In fact, he wants to say that the Supreme Being is the creator of Man and his emotions whether positive (mentioned in ‘The Divine Image’) or negative;

“Cruelty has a Human Heart,

And Jealousy a Human Face,

Terror the Human Form Divine,

And Secrecy, the Human Dress.”

If God has created cruelty, it is He Who has made it dwell in the hearts. Similarly, He has created jealousy to rest in the faces. According to William Blake, terror is central to all evils. Unfortunately, Man prefers to become a paragon of fear, horror, cruelty and tyranny. Men, in England, are pretending to be pious and humble but in fact, they are vagabonds and hypocrite.

Nevertheless, the Almighty has created bad along with good (Contras) so that the value of virtue may shine in contrast with evil. Charm of life lies in contrasts has been a life-long creed of Blake. Therefore, he hankers after the juxtapositions with a keen eye on the positive aspects of the collocation. But Blake mourns over the state of people of his time whose hearts rejoice in cherishing negative emotions;

“The Human Face, a Furnace seal'd,

The Human Heart, its hungry Gorge.”

Another couple of corresponding poems ‘The Lamb’ and ‘The Tyger’ reflects Blake’s obsession with contras. Once again, the poet harps on the same string and exclaims with belief that God is the creator of both the tiger (symbol of tyranny) and the Lamb (symbol of innocence).

“Did he smile his work to see?

Did he who made the Lamb make thee?”

He has made the lamb so innocent that the tiger can easily make it its prey. Meaning thereby, people have become so self-centered and obtrusive that they pay a deaf ear to the soul’s voice and desire to prosper materialistically at any cost. They are ready to slaughter their nicer emotions like innocence, chastity and holiness to meet their ends.

Through ‘The Lamb’, the poet wants to convey a message that innocence is the ornament of Man. According to the poet, innocence is a living thing that lives, dies, feels gusto and nurtures too. Its dress is tender, delicate, pure and white, it feeds upon the deeds of kindness and virtues, it sings for soul and diffuses pleasure;

“Gave thee such a tender voice,

Making all the vales rejoice!”

God loves those who love the lamb (Innocence) even when tiger (evil deeds) allures them with its charms and fascination;

“Tyger Tyger burning bright,

In the forests of the night.”

To conclude, William Blake succeeded in fabricating a web of opposites. His poetry proves that he was quite justified in his philosophy which sees all charms of life in juxtaposition of contrary elements. His readers enjoy the rhythm which he produces with the help of iambic meter. He was really a perpetual fountain of good sense.

Blake’s ‘Auguries of Love’ marks a striking contrast with his ‘London’ in which the former exposes the pre revolution malpractices of the sub class which were smashing the exquisite sentiment of innocence under their feet whereas the latter highlights how the aristocratic class exploits the hard toil of the ragamuffins and butchers their innocence.

‘London’ is a 16 lines poem divided into four quatrains. In this poem, Blake, in a pathetic tone, illuminates the pitiable conditions suffered by the masses living in any corner of the Great Britian;

“I wander thro' each charter'd street,

Near where the charter'd Thames does flow, 

And mark in every face I meet,

Marks of weakness, marks of woe.”

Blake’s heart bleeds when he hears the cries of the poor street children who clean up the smoky chimneys of the upper-class houses just for a piece of bread. He makes the readers’ heart bleed by exposing that he has heard the plightful sobbing of unwilling young girls who sell their chastity, for bread, on the beds of aristocratic profligacy;

“But most thro' midnight streets I hear,

How the youthful Harlots curse.”

The effects of this negativity find expression in his famous poem ‘London’. People indulge in malpractices and the resultant moral laxity and poverty bring destruction in their social, economic and political structure;

“And mark in every face I meet,

Marks of weakness, marks of woe.”

Symbolism and imagery are dominant features of Blake’s poetry. In fact, Romantics had a strong tendency of using symbols to convey deeper meanings behind the superficial diction. Therefore, his poems are replete with symbols and images which work collaboratively to take the readers into the illusionary world of vision.

To conclude, Blake’s ‘Songs of Innocence’ and ‘Songs of Experience’ speak of two aspects of human nature e.g., virtuous & dark. He has, in fact, shown the mirror to the readers through which they can see their own true faces.