In William Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Songs of...

In William Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience, many of the poems correlate in numerous aspects. For example, The Chimney Sweeper is a key poem in both collections that portrays the soul of a child The Chimney Sweeper in Innocence vs. The Chimney Sweeper in Experience In William Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience, many of the poems correlate in numerous aspects. For example, The Chimney Sweeper is a key poem in both collections that portrays the soul of a child with both a naà ¯ve and experienced persona. Blake uses the aspects of religion, light versus dark imagery, and the usage of the chimney sweeper itself to convey the similarities and differences of the figure in both poems. The†¦show more content†¦After Tom awakes from this dream, he was â€Å"happy and warm† with the knowledge that with God, there was no need to fear death. However, in Songs of Experience, the outlook on life and death is not so joyful. The religious imagery is not so much as in Songs of Innocence, possibly because people tend to believe more religiously when innocence dominates terrible experiences. In the latter poem, however, the â€Å"little black thing† has been â€Å"clothed in the clothes of death† by his parents forcing him to become a chimney sweeper. His parents have â€Å"gone to praise God and his Priest and King, who make up a heaven of our misery† and the boy cannot understand this as he â€Å"sings the notes of woe† and not happiness. This chimney sweeper does not have the innocence and hopefulness of the chimney sweeper in Songs of Innocence. This child possesses experience of hardship and does not hold much faith in God and religion. This version of The Chimney Sweeper lacks the hopefulness and faith found in the former version although it is the same setting, factors, and occupation. William Blake conveys both innocence and experience with the literary technique of light versus dark imagery. In Songs of Innocence, Blake discusses the issue of soot on several instances. In the beginning verse, the young chimney sweeper slept in soot, showing the incorruptibility and despair of the young child. Also, Tom Dacre’s â€Å"white hair† was shaved so that the dark sootShow MoreRelatedWilliam Blake s The Tyger1132 Words   |  5 PagesWilliam Blake’s â€Å"The Tyger† and Tragedies William Blake wrote a set of poems in his collection Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience. Some of the poems in each collection were meant to be read together to show the difference between innocence and experience. Many people question why Blake wrote a two part series to his poems and what they could actually mean. Two specific poems, â€Å"The Lamb† and â€Å"The Tyger,† were meant to be read together. â€Å"The Lamb† is a part of Blake’s Songs of Innocence andRead MoreWilliam Blake in Contrast of Songs of Innocence and of Experience1452 Words   |  6 PagesEN 222-Intro to British Lit. 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