William Blake (1757-1827) Songs of Innocence and Experience
"Songs is notable not only for a concern with the
different ways children and adults see and understand the
world (a theme that would occupy Wordsworth, too) but also for
its acid critiques of social evils, political injustice, and
their agents" (Longman 162).
Homework Questions: 123:
Describe Blake's production of his illuminated texts.
Explain Blake's conception of the relationship between
innocence and experience.
124-25:
Explain the main points of Blake's "mythmaking."
"The Chimney Sweeper"
[Songs of Innocence version ] 131:
What is significant about the comparison of Tom's hair
with a lamb's wool (6)?
What is the significance of the black and white imagery
used in the poem?
[Songs of Experience version]
137:
How does the message of this poem compare with that found
in the Songs of Innocence version?
Explain the final stanza.
"The Divine Image"
131-32:
Summarize the message of this poem.
"A Divine Image":
145:
How does this poem compare with "The Divine Image"?
Is it possible to reconcile the contrasting messages of
these two poems? Explain.
Other Discussion Questions: "The Chimney Sweeper" 131:
What does Blake mean by duty in the final line (24)?
137:
What are "the clothes of death" (7)?
Explain line 12.
Other Blake Poems:
The Tyger: 139-40:
What does Blake mean by "the forests of the night" (2)?
Explain the imagery used in lines 13-16.
What is the speaker's answer to the question in line 20?
"London" 141:
What does charter'd mean (1)?
What is the "marriage hearse" (16)?
What are mind-forg'd manacles (8)? How does this image
compare with the imagery found in lines 13-16 of "The Tyger"?