Introduction
Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience are two separate collections of painted poetry composed and sketched by William Blake, the precursor of the Romantic Movement in Literature. Both of these books appeared in 1789 and 1794 respectively. Those two collections of poetry strive to strike a difference between the "two contrary states of human soul" which are innocence and experience. The two collections contain some poems with the same title but their tone and subject matter is changed from the innocent one to the darkness of the experience. This is how the transition from innocence to experience takes place in Blake's early romantic landscape. In this write-up, I shall go through the duo of poems that are included in the syllabus of Sargodha University and shall present how they transition from the murmur of innocence to the shriek of experience.
The Chimney Sweeper
In the innocent version of The Chimney Sweeper, a "little black (sooty) boy" narrates his sooty adventures while cleaning up the chimneys. The grimness of the condition is almost alleviated through the innocent tone of the poem. But the poet manages to convey the innocent desires of the little chimney sweepers to roam about and to relax in the open air in of course, the form of an innocent dream,
And by came an angel, who had a bright key,
And he opened the coffins, and set them all free;
Then down a green plain, leaping, laughing, they run
And wash in a river, and shine in the sun.
But the second version of the poem, also titled as The Chimney-Sweeper shatters everything which is associated with the innocent cries of the chimney sweepers to be temporarily liberated from the dangerous work. The poem abruptly changes from the "innocent cries" to the "notes of woe". In the experienced version of the poem, Blake directly attacks religion and monarchy as the key factors responsible for the plight of the chimney sweepers who put themselves in danger because they are forced by their social and financial circumstances to endanger their lives,
And because I am happy and dance and sing,
They think they have done me no injury,
And are gone to praise God and His priest and king,
Who made up a heaven of our misery.
Holy Thursday
Holy Thursday is a poem that depicts the procession of the orphans on The Ascension Day. The day which is renowned for the march of the orphans to the Cathedral of Saint Paul. The poem does not hit directly at the authorities who are responsible for the dismal condition of the orphans. Rather it focuses on the innocent march of the multitude of children which looks like the strong flow of the river Thames.
O what a multitude they seemed, these flowers of London town!
Seated in companies they sit, with radiance all their own.
The hum of multitudes was there, but multitudes of lambs,
Thousands of little boys and girls raising their innocent hands.
But it is in the experienced version of the Holy Thursday in which the satire and the true meaning behind the innocent version of Holy Thursday are revealed. In this poem, Blake explicitly hits at religious authorities and institutions along with the people in the highest hierarchy of authority for the hunger orphans have to face. Blake mocks that in this land of prosperity, how can hunger prevail? He also questions the religious rite the orphans are compelled to perform that is it a song of joy when their lives are marked with suffering.
Is that trembling cry a song?
Can it be a song of joy?
And so many children poor?
It is a land of poverty!
Divine Image
Divine Image theorizes and illustrates human virtues and vices in Songs of Innocence and Experience respectively. The Divine Image, from Songs of Innocence, presents a utopian idea of humans obtaining the divine qualities of [Christian] God to make their lives better. Four virtues, mercy, pity, peace and love are promoted as a solution to establish their connection with God.
For Mercy has a human heart,
Pity a human face,
And Love, the human form divine,
And Peace, the human dress.
A Divine Image (from Songs of Experiences) flips the switch from The Divine Image and showcases the darker side of negative human behaviours. Just like The Divine Image, A Divine Image also uses the parts of the human body to separate one vice from the other. Mercy is contrasted by cruelty, pity with jealousy, love with terror and peace with secrecy [more like hypocracy].
Cruelty has a Human Heart
And Jealousy a Human Face
Terror the Human Form Divine
And Secrecy, the Human Dress
Conclusion
The transitioning from the poems of innocence to the notes of experience display a person's growth to the innocent myths to the reasons behind the harsh realities of life. But such an experienced transition also helps us in getting the true meaning behind the innocent lines of the poet.
