Songs of Experience: With the Original Illustrations by William Blake
William Blake
May 2022 · DigiCat
Ebook
15
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About this ebook
Songs of Experience is the second part of Songs of Innocence and of Experience: Shewing the Two Contrary States of the Human Soul (first published in 1794), an expansion of Blake's first illuminated book Songs of Innocence. The poems and artwork were reproduced by copperplate engraving and colored with washes by hand. Blake republished Songs of Innocence and Experience several times, often changing the number and order of the plates. The spellings, punctuation and capitalizations are those of the original Blake manuscripts. William Blake (1757 – 1827) was a British poet, painter, visionary mystic, and engraver, who illustrated and printed his own books. Blake proclaimed the supremacy of the imagination over the rationalism and materialism of the 18th-century. Largely unrecognised during his lifetime, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of both the poetry and visual arts of the Romantic Age. CONTENT: Introduction Earth's Answer The Clod and the Pebble Holy Thursday The Little Girl Lost The Little Girl Found The Chimney-Sweeper Nurse's Song The Sick Rose The Fly The Angel The Tiger My Pretty Rose Tree Ah, Sunflower The Lily The Garden of Love The Little Vagabond London The Human Abstract Infant Sorrow A Poison Tree A Little Boy Lost A Little Girl Lost A Divine Image A Cradle Song The Schoolboy To Tirzah
About the author
William Blake (1757-1827) remains an enigmatic figure in the pantheon of English literature, whose visionary artistry encompasses poetry, visual art, and printmaking. Often regarded as a precursor to the Romantic Movement, Blake's work encapsulates profound spiritual and metaphysical themes. His literary oeuvre is characterized by its rebel spirit and opposition to the dogma and institutional rigidity of his time. Best known for his two interconnected collections 'Songs of Innocence' and 'Songs of Experience', Blake lays out a dialectic that explores the dichotomy between the untainted world of childhood ('Innocence') and the more corrupt and oppressive dimensions of adulthood ('Experience'). 'Songs of Experience' (1794), expands upon its precursor, delving deeper into subjects of social injustice, existential suffering, and the loss of idyllic virtues. His use of simple stanzas and lyrical ballads belies the depth of his symbology and the complexity of his prophetic visions. Blake's works have been extensively analyzed for their radical social commentary and their exploration of good and evil, innocence and corruption, and the interplay of freedom and repression. His influence is seen not just in literature but in shaping broader cultural and philosophical realms. Despite facing widespread indifference and even dismissal during his lifetime, Blake's genius has been ceaselessly reevaluated, positioning him as a seminal figure in Western literary history.
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