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 fo...