Songs of Innocence and of Experience
by Blake, William
Blake presents the world through two lenses: the joyful wonder of childhood innocence and the bitter wisdom of adult experience, with paired poems like 'The Lamb' and 'The Tyger' illuminating each state.
22
Pages
1h
Reading time
1794
Published
5,503
words
22
Pages
35min
Audio
4
Chapters
Table of Contents
Text Preview
Free to ReadIntroduction The Shepherd The Echoing Green The Lamb The Little Black Boy The Blossom The Chimney-Sweeper The Little Boy Lost The Little Boy Found Laughing Song A Cradle Song The Divine Image Holy Thursday Night Spring Nurse’s Song Infant Joy A Dream On Another’s Sorrow SONGS OF EXPERIENCE 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 To Tirzah The Schoolboy The Voice of the Ancient Bard SONGS OF INNOCENCE INTRODUCTION Piping down the valleys wild, Piping songs of pleasant glee, On a cloud I saw a child, And he laughing said to me: ‘Pipe a song about a Lamb!’ So I piped with merry cheer. ‘Piper, pipe that song again.’ So I piped: he wept to hear. ‘Drop thy pipe, thy happy pipe; Sing thy songs of happy cheer!’ So I sung the same again, While he wept with joy to hear. ‘Piper, sit thee down and write In a book, that all may read.’ So he vanished from my sight; And I plucked a hollow reed, And I made a rural pen, And I stained the water clear, And I wrote my happy songs Every child may joy to hear. THE SHEPHERD How sweet is the shepherd’s sweet lot! From the morn to the evening he strays; He shall follow his sheep all the da...