William Blake’s Songs Of Innocence And Songs Of Experience Essays Example

William Blake was a famous English poet and painter. Because of his acknowledgment in both areas, he is considered to be one of the most important figures of the Romantic Age in England. Among others, The Songs of Innocence and The Songs of Experience belong to his poetic works. The poems are interesting because they allow tracing the development of Blake as a poet. The first part was written in 1789 and the second one was published in 1794. In these poems Blake expressed not only his poetic mind but also his philosophic and political views. Moreover, the author wanted to describe two states of the human soul.
Two states of the soul are clearly visible from the beginning of both poems. The main character of the introduction in The Songs of Innocence is a Piper and the Bard opens The Songs of Experience. The Piper is happy and cheerful; he is walking down the valleys and sings happy songs everywhere. During his walks he meets a heavenly child, who is innocent and just wants to listen to a song about a lamb. Then the child asks him write the book of happy songs. The character of Piper is optimistic. Blake uses words “merry”, “joy” and “happy” to demonstrate the pure joy and innocence of Piper.
Unlike Piper, Bard is an experienced man. He knows “present, past, and future.” Bard is old because he walked under ancient trees. In this case it can be an allusion the Garden of Eden. The character represents the voice of William Blake himself. The author calls people to hear voice of Bard and to get the control over the world to renew the fallen light. In comparison to Piper, Bard is calling to action. He wants to participate rather than to describe the event. The character of Bard demonstrates the role of a poet according to William Blake’s beliefs.