William Blake Research Paper

During the 1800s, England was a very industrialized country. Adults and children were working long hours; children would get severely punished if they did something wrong; women were being ignored; the streets and air were filled with pollution; the government was abusing its people; society was just a mess, and it was time for a change (“History: Living and Working Conditions”). One advocate for change was artist, engraver, and writer William Blake. William Blake was a visionary. He did not like where England was heading, so he decided to use his artistic skills to show England citizens how harmful the Industrial Revolution was. While several citizens agreed with his ideas, they were too afraid to act on those ideas, thus Blake ended up publishing

Like the yin-yang symbol: Songs of Innocence is the good or yin side, while Songs of Experience is the “bad” or yang side. In writing these series, William Blake juxtaposes the idea of individuals yearning for happiness and personal and political freedom, while fearing the ramifications these freedoms bring. Wanting to capture happiness and freedom that the England citizens craved for, Blake wrote a series of poems that portray the world as being “pure and joyous”: called the Songs of Innocence (Corbett 113). Writing about the innocence of a child and making said child be the speaker for most of these poems, Blake depicts England citizens yearning for happiness and freedom. This series begins with a poem called “Introduction.” This poem talks about a vision Blake had where he saw a child dancing on a cloud. The child is very happy and at peace, telling Blake to play happy songs and write happy

In the poems of Songs of Experience, the speaker is a much older individual who has seen the world and all it has to offer, and this individual is shocked. Like its innocence counterpart, this series also begins with a poem called “Introduction.” This poem alludes to the Garden of Eden story in the Bible, where mankind is banished from the garden because of their desire to become godlike. This fall could also be referring to individuals on a personal level, where once one becomes aware of mortality their consequence is losing their childlike innocence forever. Although realizing events and ideas might cause one to lose their childlike innocence, Blake still advocated for the idea of breaking free from the shackles of evil the governments have on them, and following one’s happiness and desires. Another poem that is both in the Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience is “The Chimney Sweeper.” While “The Chimney Sweeper” in Songs of Innocence was more optimistic, “The Chimney Sweeper” in Songs of Experience is gloomy and refers to death a lot. In this poem, there is a little boy who is a chimney sweeper. He is dressed “in the clothes of death,” and does his job happily while his parents go to church to pray (Blake 45). The parents believe that the child does not mind