William Blake is known to be a 'lunatic' of his time, from 1757 to 1827, for producing imaginative engravings and mystical poems with radical viewpoints regarding world and fundamental values. For this reason, his work was not appreciated by the general public at that time even though they eventually became extremely important on the literary motion known as Romanticism. His condemnation of the authoritarianism nature of organized religious beliefs is blatantly shown in Melodies of Experience through the depiction of relentless suffering due to belief that structured religion and sociable injustice are essentially conflated. For example within the Garden of Love from Experience, Blake creates a distinction between the innocence and carefree dynamics of children "[playing] on the green", which is also observed in The Echoing Green in Music of Innocence, and criticism of the Chapel represented by the metonym, "Chapel". The mention of "green" presents the centre of the town community prior to the Industrial Revolution and more importantly, to the innocence of the prelapsarian. In addition, the fact that the Chapel is "built in the midst" illustrates the view that the Cathedral predominantly causes corruption and hardship in society where contentment is something of the past as implied by the expression "used to". Subsequently, the binary opposition of innocence, the idyllic mother nature of childhood and experience, the problem of mankind in the headings of the volumes is an ironic contrast to symbolize the constraints of spiritual doctrines and the agony inflicted on people as a result. Gaining worldly encounters and knowledge will ultimately distort our innocence; so Blake criticizes the Church and its part in creating as well as upholding public injustice during the Industrial Revolution. This is worthy of exploring because Blake is a poet of the first generation of romanticism so he had written keen poems as a protest during the Industrial Trend when values are shifted and oppression of the indegent was a norm. Therefore we're able to get an perception into what folks felt during that time of adversity through Blake's powerful lyrical delivery using poetic terminology, rather than needing to interpret meaningless facts and numbers.
The isolated Songs of Innocence was first publicized in 1789, and the merged volume of Music of Innocence and of Experience was later shared in 1794, which actually is one of the very most famous illuminated literature Blake has ever before composed. He caused a groundbreaking technique at the time, comfort etching, which empowered him to incorporate visuals and words to provide a alternative representation of his vision to the reader. The combination of both volumes includes a supplementary subtitle - 'Shewing the Two Contrary Expresses of the Human Heart', to illustrate both extremes of mankind; innocence which may be associated with the prelapsarian prior to the Semester of Man and experience, usually associated with the postlapsarian. This can be observed in the engravings on the name page of the volume of flames representing God's wrath blasting over Adam and Eve who are covering their loins, illustrating their status of experience. In adition to that, the additional going emphasizes the value of Blake's intention for the two originally separated books to be read side by side, so a total argument emerges because "Without contraries is not a progression", he insisted. For example, complementary poems of the same name like Intro are available in both Songs, operating as commentaries on each other with diverse viewpoints. The poem from the Innocence collection is simple with a good tone, showing life through the sight of children. Within the first two lines, we sense that the narrator is fresh and untainted by the world because the repetition of "Piping" advises a simply spontaneous and natural form of music. Furthermore, the fact that the melodies are without lyrics symbolizes that in this period of innocence children are not limited to the intricate meanings spoken words denote. As a direct contrast, in Benefits of Experience, "The Holy Term" has been noticed by people; signifying intricacy is brought into life after gaining experiences and they are put through exploitation and suffering.
Other than that, we can observe from the name internet pages of both Melodies the graduation of life. It is because the small children portrayed in Innocence receive education from a nurse, which presents pleasure and innocence as shown in Nurse's Songs, the nurse says
"My heart is at rest in my breast
And everything is still"
when she watches children play on the field. A similar form of innocence is evident in her because she requires pleasure in watching her children in their carefree spirit. However on the subject page of Experience, the young children from Innocence are grown up and shown to be weeping by the deathbed of their parents. This symbolizes that children eventually have to grow to withstand the harsh encounters life brings, for example loss of life as signified by "Runs in bloodstream down Palace walls" in London. Furthermore, they are prone to experience suffering that life as well as contemporary society brings to them, the last mentioned being ironical due to exploitation of children throughout that period in careers like chimney sweeping. That is suggested in the Benefits of Innocence where the development of the last two stanzas foreshadows a change from innocence to see. An component of purity is helped bring ahead when the narrator uses drinking water as ink to write, since it is normally used to represent purity. As the narrator "stain'd the clear" additionally it is implied that sins will eventually corrupt the purity of the child, and the inevitability that innocence will become experience is first proposed. Therefore, Blake appears to be suggesting that we find our own balance through these subtle comparisons between the two 'expresses' and also to boost his disapproval of the treatments of folks in those days by painting a model situation of what would become more desirable.
In the pairing from the Lamb from Innocence as well as the Tyger from Experience, a realistic perspective on religion is submit when the naf ignorant view of children is set against a cynical experienced view. The Lamb is organized like a catechism, which is utilized to be used to teach children religious teachings, with questions and answers in the first and second stanza, respectively. The central question from the narrator is
"Little Lamb, who made thee?
Dost thou know who made thee?"
This is actually one of the fundamental and questionable problems of mankind, regarding the creation of life and the universe. The repetition of "Little Lamb, I'll notify thee" in the first two lines of the second stanza shows the narrator's self confidence in his answer. Blake illustrates the hyperlink between your lamb and Jesus Christ, whom is symbolically the 'Lamb of God', in the lines:
"For he calls himself a Lamb.
He is meek, & he's mild".
The alliterative adjectives "meek" and "mild" are a conventional belief of Christ's features and the emphasized interconnection between the "Lamb" and Christ is obvious. Therefore, this depicts the simple and innocent trust that is typical in children because they don't question their beliefs or government bodies, even although notion of "just a little child" being the inventor of the "Little Lamb" should seem to be absurd for an innocent head.
On the other side, within the Tyger there are always a group of rhetorical questions posed, rather than one central, focused one, and the build seems marginally interrogative, adding more pressure to the poem. The question which explicitly relates it to The Lamb is in the fifth stanza: "Did he who made the Lamb make thee?" The poem reveals a questioning of whether or not the same divine being or "immortal side or eye" is the creator of both lamb and the tyger, if so; why would He create such a terrifying creature anyhow? The destructive character of the tyger is expressed throughout the poem, for example in the next stanza. The imagery of the "fire" burning up within its eye exudes a sense of ferocity and hazard, which is also recommended by its "fearful symmetry". As well as that, the standard iambic meter with a anxious first syllable on each range gives the poem an ambitious and pounding rhythm. This brings the tyger alive, conveying its movements and the audience can feel the beating center in the poem, adding a level of level, whereas within the Lamb, there is a resemblance to melodies and hymns with a peaceful rhythm to it. This is due to the delicate vowels and repeated couplets, presenting the poem a sense of moving continuity. Subsequently, the tyger is essentially symbolic for the bad and darkness of human being characteristics which eventually is responsible for instigating the sociable evils, as opposed to innocence and goodness symbolized by the lamb. Corresponding to that, the poem supplies the reader a far more 'experienced' issue as they say, that God produces hurting and violence in the world too, challenging the normal and conventional beliefs of God that innocent Christians would hold. Another point worth noting is usually that the tyger portrayed in the poem is in some ways similar to the devils of the Industrial Revolution. The real reason for this is that God is provided as a blacksmith with the workmanship of divinity, recommended by the lexes: "hammer", "chain", "furnace" and "anvil" in the fourth stanza which can be associated to the various tools and noises that may be heard during that period. The easy union of both concepts of imperfect God - creating good and bad embodied in the lamb and the tiger, and the never-ending fighting the Industrial Revolution resulted in, gives the reader a glance into Blake's ideology of the partnership between organized religious beliefs and communal injustice.
The conflict between the discussions of creation in both aforementioned poems causes the imminent theme of interpersonal injustice, which Blake deemed to be produced available by the Church which he also accuses to be accountable for repression. This is explored in both different The Chimney Sweeper poems as Kathleen Raine delicately puts it: "The Chimney Sweeper of Innocence can evade in dreams into a heavenly country; but Experience reminds us that the crimes of world against the children of the poor are none the less for your. " To begin with, in the poem in Innocence, even although sweeper is discontinued as implied by the lines "[his] mom perished And [his] daddy sold [him]", he seems to be quite happy with his situation. On the other hand, the narrator's mindful awareness and blame of his parent's betrayal and their part in his abject circumstances in Experience is visible in the lines:
"Where are thy father & mother? Say?
They are both gone up to the chapel to pray".
To conceal their guilt, the parents go to chapel and compliment God, perhaps so that their sins of abandoning their child to an unhealthy job can be forgiven. Optimism is first shown in Innocence in the dialogue the narrator has with Tom,
"Hush, Tom! Never head it, for when you head's bare
You know that the soot cannot spoil your white head of hair. "
A sense of hope in shown in this speech, which is typical of children but additionally, it may mean that nothing can take away the innocence of children, through the juxtaposition of "white wild hair" symbolizing purity and blackness of the soot which can not only represent evilness of man that resulted in this fighting but sins too; also beginning with the notice, 's'. However, Blake demonstrates this to be untrue in other poems as the innocent will eventually get exposed to the corruption and distortion that is included with time and experience.
On the other side, The Chimney Sweeper in Experience acts as a problem of the exploitation of children to be chimney sweepers with bitterness, presenting the hard fact. Rather than believing that "So if all do their duty they want not fear injury" like the chimney sweep in Innocence thought, which is packed with naivety because he's hopeful in the cruelty of his situation and faithful that being obedient will eventually get him to the area he wishes to be - Heaven; he assumed that
"Because I got happy upon the heath,
And smil'd on the list of winter's snow,
They clothed me in the clothes of death,
And trained me to sing the records of woe. "
Blake runs on the 50 percent rhyme in this stanza to stress the atrocity of the problem and the scope of the narrator's fighting. Therefore, the narrator acknowledges that he's made a sufferer because his parents envy his pleasure so he's "clothed in the clothes of death" which might resemble the dark-colored soot that protects a chimney sweeper's body and clothes, or it can illustrate his life of limitless anguish that resembles death anyway. In adition to that, the notion of the narrator in Innocence is twisted and ironic in a way since the aspect of the job is dangerous, as implied in the poem in Innocence through "coffins of black" conveying loss of life, so in reality they are simply constantly being "harmed". Therefore this may suggest that prepared religion sometimes allows for children to be made sufferer of their own innocence. In the same way in Experience, the chimney sweep has been dehumanized to "Just a little black thing" and the stark comparison of colors between your snow and him is indicative that he's corrupted to just a spot of impurity after the snow.
Blake's contempt and skepticism for parents who neglect to protect their children, and authorities in England in those days are apparent in the final stanza. Following the exploitation of children, the parents "think they have got done no injury" which ultimately shows their ignorance because in reality the children aren't only in physical form harmed but also psychologically. The bowl of this poem paints an authentic picture of a chimney sweep looking at the sky packed with gloom, with a bag on his back again presumably filled with soot. The result of this design is the fact that it gives the poem an excellent of poignancy because the son is together, after realizing that his guardians have disregarded his protection. Other than that, the last two lines of the poem are a robust accusation due to the fact that Blake condemns "God & his Priest & King". In other words, the Chapel and the federal government are criticized for endorsing and upholding the chimney sweep trade, but God is also reproached for his callousness as well as for condoning the hurting of His children, His 'lambs'. Blake seems to be recommending that the Church and the government are conspiring to oppress the weaker neighborhoods in contemporary society, for instance the indegent, perpetuating their misery. The conclusion of the poem, " constitute a Heaven of our misery" evokes much thought since it is the narrator's realization that the authorities who provoke the anguish makes certain assurances - of Heaven, of eternal happiness, "if he'd be considered a good guy" as informed by the Angel in Innocence. However, these may only be a form of illusion made to make the agony and cruelty of the world seem plausible and even honorable.
A reference to chimney sweepers is also manufactured in the famous poem London in Experience, getting to light the exploitation of children in those days and the sociable degradation that resulted. That is shown in the third stanza where in fact the victim, "Chimney-sweepers", combined with the others such as the "Harlot" and "Soldier", is shown as an effective noun to enhance the scrutiny of the fighting they are made to experience. The "cry" refers to the brand "Could scarcely cry "'weep! 'weep! 'weep! 'weep!" inside the Chimney Sweeper of Innocence, which not only echoes innocence because it acts as a plaintive cry but it also urges the audience to empathize with the son. However it also suggests that the boy is unable to appropriately pronounce 'sweep', which comes with age. Therefore it deepens the effect of the poem since a young innocent boy has to seek ways to escape from the atrocities in life that he needs to face; which in reality he shouldn't have to. The next range reminds the reader of Blake's criticism that the Chapel condones chimney sweeping, which covered the children with dark-colored soot. Plus, the term "black'ning" symbolizes the corruption and wearing down of the reputation of the Church and its own morality which "appalls" Blake, as well as the residents of London and the reader. The choice of vocabulary is very interesting here, as "appalls" functions as a pun insinuating fatality; a pall being truly a cloth to protect a coffin, further suggesting that the Chapel condones loss of life which is also used in Holy Thursday of Innocence. On the other hand, The Ecchoing Green of Innocence, which may be regarded as the counterpart of London, depicts per day in the life span of children enjoying the liberty of character as suggested by the first brand "The Sun does grow" representing dawn and in the last stanza, dusk: "The sun does descend". As a result, it's possible that this reflects the pattern of life as well and the graduation of childhood to maturity. Other than that, the liberty of dynamics is apparent through the repetition of words that provides a sense of delight throughout, for illustration "happy", "merry", "chearful", "laugh" and so forth. It is obvious that the delightful firmness conveys an idealistic love for nature and life as opposed to the revulsion of what has become of one's living in London.
The form of London is essential in understanding the key theme; the alternative rhyming lines, and regular quantity of lines and syllables with a straightforward tempo throughout evoke a feeling of limitation. Therefore, it provides a preliminary idea that the poem will contain numerous images of restriction and an in-depth study of the worries of individuals during that time frame. The Ecchoing Green however, has three verses of ten brief lines with an alternating rhyme plan. The result of the short lines is usually that the rhyme is been told more frequently therefore the atmosphere of the poem is more lighthearted instead of the dark, bitter build of London. Other than that the rhyme enables the poem to stream, and producing the 'echo' as recommended by the name at the same time, which brings to head a raw setting. The notion of confinement of London is further handled in the ambiguity of the word that looks in the first lines - "charter'd", which is also repeated in the next line, as it can convey flexibility as well as constraint and control. But when the term is put resistant to the phrase "Thames will flow", an oxymoron is created by implying a flowing river has been restrained; further growing the notion of a lack of freedom in the town. Furthermore, the progression from a visible imagery in the first stanza - "Marks of weakness, markings of woe", to aural within the next - "Atlanta divorce attorneys Infant's cry of fear" makes it practically impossible for the reader or audience to shy from the grave matter. Blake employs a pun in "draw" where it is first used as a verb in "make in every face" and then as a noun to stress the commonality of misery. On another word, the numerous instances in which deliberate repetition is employed in the poem not only give emphasis to the subject but it addittionally reinforces the thought of human degradation that should not be forgotten.
"In every cry of every Man,
In every Infant's cry of dread,
In every words, atlanta divorce attorneys ban,
The mind-forg'd manacles I notice. "
The insistent repetition of "every" in this case emphasizes that the fighting and agony offered is a communal norm, begging for the reader's concern and attention. Yet, the last type of the stanza brings to mind the emotional torment the Cathedral endorses; the restriction of thoughts and wishes as implied by the "mind-forg'd manacles" that bind the mind from thoughts and any outbursts of rebellion. Also, this can be related for the Garden of Love mentioned beforehand, since it alludes to the actual fact that organized religious beliefs and the Chapel has a major role in oppressing the poor. For example, the imagery Blake uses to portray this is actually the Garden of Love which is now "filled with graves, / And tomb-stones where blooms should be". The graves and tomb-stones indicate death following the lack of innocence, displayed by the "sweet bouquets" of the past, due to religious authorities. This conclusion can be drawn as a result of imperative price, "Thou shalt not" written on the entranceway of the Chapel, a biblical allusion to the Ten Commandments, and a musical instrument to make repression and prohibition of manifestation appear suitable whereas at the same time showing the level of the restriction imposed by religious doctrines. Although this poem has an implicit link with London, a far more obvious connection are available between it and The Ecchoing Green, which explains why many critics declare that the last mentioned is the true counterpart given to it. The series that attracts immediate link with The Ecchoing Green is: "Where I used to play on the renewable" in the first stanza, where the assessment of the tranquility of "The birds of the bush, / Sing lounder around" is manufactured against the garden which is destroyed by the regimentation of planned religion.
A stark distinction is shown between your Ecchoing Green and London with regards to love within a family. For example, in the former poem the children go back to their moms and through a simple simile "Like birds in their nest", Blake is able to express innocent love in family life whereas in 'London' even the most important marriage - one between mom and child, is tainted. That is evident in the last stanza where a prostitute is portrayed on your behalf of women who were victims in England during that time. "Plagues" means that the prostitute will pass on venereal disease to her children and family, hence the "curse" on the newborn and the paradoxical expression: "Marriage hearse". This is because a hearse is associated to death and funerals; implying that she'll wreck the relationship. Besides that, the condition she holds illustrates the corruption of physical home which Blake designed to be a criticism of society's lack of support because of this community. On top of that, the pun made on "curse" can be of the cussing scheduled to her self-loathing for the distress she causes her child, or it could be the horrors that the child will eventually have to face on the planet. Instead of the affectionate mothers inside the Ecchoing Green, she actually is responsible for passing on an illness. The "curse" can also be on world because many people are potentially cursed; the full total degradation of life and health provides poignant yet powerful indictment on the cultural injustices the "black'ning Cathedral" makes allowances for. Furthermore, a powerful condemnation is manufactured in the final two lines of The Garden of Love,
"And Priests in black gowns were walking their rounds,
And binding with briars my joys & dreams. "
Throughout the poem the first and third lines of every stanza rhyme but the last range is inconsistent with this rhyme design, hence highlighting its importance. An anti-priest view is explained when the bond between "Priests" and "black gowns" are created because it shows that organized religious beliefs is in charge of the fatality and the "graves" that are previously discussed. The inner rhyme in these two lines is significant because it shows the restriction enforced by the Chapel and it connects important words together, such as "briars" and "desires". As a result it demonstrates the suppression of thoughts and the dictatorship of the Church over people's liberty.
Similarly, both Holy Thursday poems form an accusation against world for hypocrisy and then for the grim lives of children living on charity when read collectively. The two poems depict children from charity schools aiming to St. Paul's Cathedral on Ascension Day, also known as Holy Thursday. However, each one of the poems offers another type of point of view of the occasion. For instance in the poem in Innocence there are repetitions of words such as "Innocent", "white", "flowers", "radiance" and "lambs", recommending innocence and joy. At first look the poem seems to be of children singing reward like "a mighty breeze" to the regulators that help the indegent - the "wise guardians of the indegent", nevertheless the reader's interpretation of it may transfer after reading a lot more realistic view in the poem in Experience. The "mighty wind flow" of these voices has now turn into a "trembling cry" which is ironic since the children shown in Innocence are filled with power but in reality they may be powerless when being exploited. As well as that the "wise guardians" are now compared to being truly a "usurous hand". This effectively shows Blake's criticism that the meant guardians lack the attention and compassion for the wellbeing of children because they are figuratively compared to a palm. Therefore these two instances show Blake's use of duality in his symbolisms and metaphors to enhance his grievance of society. However, the difference between the experience of the world of the narrators from each of the poems may be because of the difference in their values and their exposure to reality.
Blake's consumption of contrasting colors of the uniforms "in red & blue & renewable" with the "grey-headed beadles" in the first stanza of the poem in Innocence shows that innocence is in the hands of abused expert. Furthermore, the "wands as white as snow" may evoke a sense of innocence but the wand can evenly suggest rigidity and regimentation. Besides that, the repetition of the number of people taking part in the occasion in the words: "multitude" and "enormous amounts", shows the large amount of poverty that been around, over a literal level. It also urges us to question why the charities are necessary to begin with, therefore challenging the grade of life people acquired in those days. Alternatively, a far more explicit condemnation is made through the rhetorical questions and partial answers in Experience. Firstly, in the first stanza the "flowers" are actually "Babes reduc'd to misery", which shows the vulnerability of the innocence to be exploited and it makes free from what they have become - patients. The rhetorical question provided therefore is whether or not it is "a holy thing" that many people are still so miserable in such a well-developed country. Also, this can stress the views brought forward inside the Tyger, challenging the conventional God which brings pain and torture as suggested by the word "fill'd with thorns", as well as wicked to the globe. The response to the question seems to be in the next stanza, where the repetition of "poor poverty!" creates an focus on the hostile conditions, where in fact the relentless fighting of the kids are also illustrated through the repetition of "And their" in the third stanza. Which means ironic comparison between a "rich and productive land" and "a land of poverty" is developed, where the second option may in actual fact suggest the spiritual poverty of the system which appears to be the main of the problem. That is also advised in the puns of the previous stanza where in fact the words "sun" and "rain" bring to mind "son" and "reign", respectively. These words can be related back again to Jesus and it implies that so long as Jesus exists in people there will be spiritual fulfillment. Because of this, the reason behind the exploitation of children is advised to be due to people's insufficient spiritual 'welfare' so they make up when you are materialistic. The two lines in which these puns are being used,
"For where-e'er the sun does shine,
And were-e'er the rainfall does fall"
present a perspective and hope for the near future where children are no longer abused by the machine. Plus, references to the nature are made as opposed to the "eternal winter" triggered by men and industrialization, which shows the bleakness of the children.
The structures of the two poems contribute too much to their purposes too; including the iambic heptameter and relatively longer lines in Holy Thursday in Innocence informs the audience about the gravity of the matter being handled, whilst the short lines of the poem in Experience is more upfront about the bitter indignation it offers. The rhyming couplets in each verse of the poem in Innocence provide a sense of the march of the kids that is being depicted. As well as that, the plates paint a melancholic and traditional picture of the reality of the situation where in Innocence children are being lead by the beadles whereas patients of poverty are depicted in Experience. The latter plate provides picture of lifeless children and their helpless moms in horror at the view of them. Consequently, if we go through the two plates together they imply the beadles or establishment symbolically 'led' the children to their death and suffering, which might be Blake's intention after all.
In final result, through the exploration of these various pieces of poems, a deeper understanding into Blake's critique of the sociable conditions and exploitation that are condoned with a intended 'guardian' of population, the Church, is evident. This is obvious through the blatant portrayal of struggling and darkness in the poems in Experience, most notably in London where in fact the depths of despair is shown through the "Marks of weakness, grades of woe". He emphasizes that this action of inducing misery on others by the Cathedral is despicable through his numerous allusions towards it, talking about that "Every black'ning Church appalls". As a result, it creates a daring and unashamed denigration of arranged religious beliefs in the 18th century. However, due to the dualism and the binary opposites that Blake employs through the idea of contrary states, he's also able to form an ironic satire out of certain poems in Innocence to emphasis that children are often exposed to the evils of the world so we as viewers must look deeper and help the patients. This is noticeable within the last line of Holy Thursday night in Innocence: "Then cherish pity, lest you drive an angel from your door" where Blake endeavors to share with the audience to be compassionate. The concept of dualism has been the motive that the extreme conditions can be laid out and the magnitude of the condition can be identified, especially the cultural evils permitted and upheld by the Cathedral, thus the audience can empathize with the patients. Therefore, it is possible that Blake just aims to bring the harsh conditions to light whilst advising the reader to check out make a change to rid of the evils of the authoritarians.
