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    Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience
    Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience
    Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience
    Ebook61 pages17 minutes

    Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience

    By William Blake

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    About this ebook

    The "Songs of Innocence" were published in 1789 and republished in 1794 together with the "Songs of Experience". They represent Blake's two perspectives on the world, that of the child (innocence) and that of the adult (experience). 

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSC Active Business Development SRL
    Release dateApr 26, 2017
    ISBN9786069832578
    Author

    William Blake

    William Blake (1757-1827) was a nonconformist who associated with some of the leading radical thinkers of his day, such as Thomas Paine and Mary Wollstonecraft. A skilled engraver and illustrator, his illustrated poetry collections resembled the illuminated books of the Middle Ages.

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      Book preview

      Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience - William Blake

      CONTENTS

      SONGS OF INNOCENCE

      Introduction

      The Shepherd

      The Echoing Green

      The Lamb

      The Little Black Boy

      The Blossom

      The Chimney-Sweeper

      The Little Boy Lost

      The Little Boy Pound

      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

      The Schoolboy

      To Tirzah

      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

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