The subtitle of William Blake’s (1757-1827) collection “Songs of Innocence and of Experience” (1794) is Shewing the Two Contrary States of the Human Soul. In this collection, Blake shows two different sides of the human soul. One side is innocence, which is full of purity, joy, trust, and hope. The other side is experience, which is about suffering, cruelty, loss, and knowledge of evil. Blake believes both innocence and experience are important to understand life.
Innocence: The poems in “Songs of Innocence” show a happy and simple view of life. Innocence is full of purity, joy, trust, and hope. In “The Lamb,” a child asks a lamb who made it. The child also answers that God did. The lamb represents innocence, gentleness, and love. It also represents Christ and the pure soul of a child. Blake uses the lamb to show the innocent side of life.
In “Nurse’s Song,” children play happily in the fields. Their nurse watches them with love. The nurse enjoys their laughter and lets them play late.
"Well, well, go and play till the light fades away.”
It shows the innocent side of the human soul. This side values childhood, joy, and freedom.
In “The Chimney Sweeper,” even though the little children are forced to work, they hold onto hope. Tom Dacre, a little chimney sweep, sees in a dream that an angel releases all the children from "coffins of black."
“And he opened the coffins & set them all free;”
The children then leap, run, laugh, and play in the green fields and bathe in the river. This dream shows the child’s innocent belief. He believes that good behavior and faith will bring reward in heaven.
Experience: The poems in “Songs of Experience” show the darker side of life. Experience brings knowledge of pain, loss, and how society can be cruel.
In “The Tyger,” The tiger is a symbol of violence, power, and evil. It represents the darker side of life. Blake asks how the same God could create both the lamb and the tiger.
“Did he who made the Lamb make thee?”
Just as the lamb and tiger both exist, human souls have two contrary states: innocence and experience. Human life contains both goodness and cruelty.
In “The Chimney Sweeper” (Songs of Experience), this little chimney sweep is aware of society’s cruelty. He feels bitter and angry. He knows how children are forced to work in dangerous conditions. He is covered in black soot. He cries in the snow. While he suffers, his parents pray in church. He says they have given him “clothes of death.”
“They clothed me in the clothes of death.”
This line shows the child’s suffering and misery. He blames society and religion for using children like him and pretending everything is fine. This side is experience.
In “Nurse’s Song” (Songs of Experience), the nurse no longer enjoys watching the children play. Instead, she feels bitter and jealous. She calls their play a waste of time. She sees childhood joy as meaningless. Because she knows life will bring pain. This shows how experience destroys the freedom and joy of childhood.
Blake’s View of the Human Soul: Through these contrary states, Blake portrays the journey of the human soul. Innocence shows the beauty of life. Experience teaches us about life’s difficulties. Blake shows both exist in the world. He believes both are necessary to understand life. We must know both the joy of innocence and the lessons of experience.
In conclusion, William Blake presents the two opposite sides of the human soul. Innocence reminds us of life’s beauty and joy. Experience forces us to confront life’s hardships and injustices.