216 Blake, William
and connected. Performing other rites, such as the
imported Ghost Dance or the Heyoka Ceremony,
which mimicks a later vision of Black Elk, serves
equally to make the community not only happy but
empowered at a time when battles waged against the
Lakota nation and other Native American tribes are
destroying the livelihood and voices of these indig-
enous peoples.
Michael Moreno
BLAKE, WILLIAM Songs of Innocence
and of Experience (1789, 1794)
William Blake’s Songs of Innocence (1789) were
included in Songs of Experience (1794), a book of
lyrics engraved with illustrations and then hand-
colored. Blake’s Songs are known for their visual
effects, enhanced by his illustrations and his graphic
words and images. Not immediately popular when
it appeared, Songs included lyrics that later became
canonical texts, such as “The Chimney Sweeper”
poems and “Tyger.”
Songs of Innocence begins with a cheerful dialogue
between the narrator’s persona, a piper, and a child.
The lyrics that follow present a benevolent world
with happy children and infants, tame animals and
birds, and bountiful nature. Songs of Experience starts
with a grim soliloquy by the narrator’s persona, the
Bard, addressing the barren earth. The lyrics that
follow present miserable children and infants, wild
animals, and destroyed nature. These lyrics question
faith by focusing on social and religious corruption.
While the chimney sweepers and the children of
Innocence patiently bear their hardships with prom-
ises of a rewarding afterlife, their counterparts in
Experience expose the hypocrisy of their patriarchal
protectors for perpetuating such abuses and failing
to offer relief.
Through his two sets of lyrics, Blake (1757–
1827) explores such themes as innocence and
experience, spirituality, nature, parenthood,
education, love, and suffering. It is important
to note that he does not suggest a binary relation-
ship between the songs of Innocence and those of
Experience because they supposedly complement
each other. The poems trace the growth of the poet/
speaker from innocence to experience, from the role
of a mere piper to that of the all-knowing Bard.
Blake also does not offer a definite answer concern-
ing his political and religious beliefs but, rather,
presents disparate orthodox and unorthodox views
to consider.
Mariam RadhwiinnOcence and experience in Songs of
Innocence and of Experience
Blake uses the theme of innocence and experience
to criticize institutionalized religion as a corruptive
force, ruining children and grownups alike. In Songs
of Innocence and of Experience, he demonstrates the
different ways of perceiving the world. Innocence
offers an innocent perspective of the world, namely
that of children, who simply believe what they
are told. Although difficult for adults to appreci-
ate, these lyrics reveal children’s socially acquired,
though unquestioning, attitude toward religious and
social doctrines, an outlook accepting of any possible
discrepancies or injustices. Experience depicts the
same world from a different perspective, exposing
the injustices and cruelty dominant in the world
and pleading for immediate relief.
For Blake, innocence is the outlook on life that
stems from an uncomplicated, childish viewpoint.
He values such a view because it lacks the bitterness
accompanying experience and is all-accepting rather
than questioning. The lyrics in Experience differ
from those in Innocence in their pervading gloom
and skepticism stemming from the experiences
one gains from passing through life’s challenges
and hardships. Although such experiences shape
the necessary maturity accompanying adulthood,
experience endows one with the critical outlook
that reshapes formerly perceived beliefs, especially
the unquestioned acceptance of suffering. However,
such an experienced outlook is not limited to adults
but is also experienced by the abused children of
“The Chimney Sweeper” and “The School Boy”
who resist their oppressed situations and expose
their patriarchal protectors.
The songs also have differing ways of treating
childhood. In “A Cradle Song,” childhood raises
holy thoughts of baby Jesus and a passion for the
health of the sleeping baby. The poem presents
a mother watching over her sleeping child and