Redemption
Songs of Innocence & Experience, William Blake (1794)
William Blake’s collection of poetry, Songs of Innocence and Experience, examines the innocent and hopeful world of childhood, which is Blake’s ideal condition for humanity, juxtaposed with the harsh realizations and conditions of an adult world. Several of the poems fall into pairs, showing the situation first through an innocence viewpoint and then an experienced one. Blake uses common day problems and corruptions in society to exhibit the destruction of childlike innocence. At first, the poems in Songs of Experience can be read as condemning humanity completely for the ruination of Blake’s ideal human state, but after a more in depth examination into several poems, Blake establishes a theme of sought after redemption. He creates a spiritual essence that is used to guide humanity back to an ideal state and to restore innocence in society.
Redemption serves as an underlying theme throughout this collection of poems. However, redemption cannot happen without a fall. Several of the poems in Songs of Experience embody the supposed fall of society. Throughout the collection, Blake is attempting to illustrate different situations and problems that he thinks lead to the deterioration of society. Popular poems such as, “Holy Thursday” exhibits a dramatization of real life situations, while not as widely studied poems, such as, “The Divine Image” use religion and the concept of divinity as a gateway to the theme of redemption. “The Introduction” at the beginning of Songs of Experiences conveys the idea that this collection of poems serves as a guide to the redemption of society and introduces the concept of realization as an important factor to achieving redemption.
“The Voice of the Ancient Bard” in Songs of Experience is used as a conclusion for the collection of poems. Originally, the poem was published in Songs of Innocence and it has been shuffled around in various positions before Blake finally decided on the right place for it. This particular poem is easily overlooked because of its length and location but its ambiguity makes it a central piece to the collection. It embodies themes of both songs and serves as an encouragement for the redemption of society.
Songs of Experience, “The Voice of the Ancient Bard”
Youth of delight! come hither
And see the opening morn,
Image of Truth new-born.
Doubt is fled, and clouds of reason,
Dark disputes and artful teazing.
Folly is an endless maze;
Tangled roots perplex her ways;
How many have fallen there!
They stumble all night over bones of the dead;
And feel--they know not what but care;
And wish to lead others, when they should be led
The “Bard” in this poem is assumed to be the same as the before mentioned in the “Introduction” in Songs of Experience. The “Bard” is reassuring the “youth of delight” that not everything is lost and he encourages the innocent one who has been through a tangled maze of dark experience to “see the opening morn/image of truth new-born”, in which doubt and restricted reason have disappeared. It almost seems like he is saying that the doubt and darkness of the world has been abolished throughout the progression of the poems. He is essentially warning the youth that “folly is an endless maze”. He personifies folly as a female and uses a metaphor of “tangled roots” to say that she lays traps for the unaware youth. This poem serves as a warning against organized religion and social restrictions, which is what Blake continually criticized throughout his collection. The line “And wish to lead others, when they should be led” is saying that social and religious institutions are wrongly trying to lead others, when in fact; they need to be lead in a different direction. This poem concludes the collection perfectly because I think he is essentially saying that if you delve into your inner human desires and embrace your innocent imagination, and then his ideal human state will be reached.
Redemption serves as an underlying theme throughout this collection of poems. However, redemption cannot happen without a fall. Several of the poems in Songs of Experience embody the supposed fall of society. Throughout the collection, Blake is attempting to illustrate different situations and problems that he thinks lead to the deterioration of society. Popular poems such as, “Holy Thursday” exhibits a dramatization of real life situations, while not as widely studied poems, such as, “The Divine Image” use religion and the concept of divinity as a gateway to the theme of redemption. “The Introduction” at the beginning of Songs of Experiences conveys the idea that this collection of poems serves as a guide to the redemption of society and introduces the concept of realization as an important factor to achieving redemption.
“The Voice of the Ancient Bard” in Songs of Experience is used as a conclusion for the collection of poems. Originally, the poem was published in Songs of Innocence and it has been shuffled around in various positions before Blake finally decided on the right place for it. This particular poem is easily overlooked because of its length and location but its ambiguity makes it a central piece to the collection. It embodies themes of both songs and serves as an encouragement for the redemption of society.
Songs of Experience, “The Voice of the Ancient Bard”
Youth of delight! come hither
And see the opening morn,
Image of Truth new-born.
Doubt is fled, and clouds of reason,
Dark disputes and artful teazing.
Folly is an endless maze;
Tangled roots perplex her ways;
How many have fallen there!
They stumble all night over bones of the dead;
And feel--they know not what but care;
And wish to lead others, when they should be led
The “Bard” in this poem is assumed to be the same as the before mentioned in the “Introduction” in Songs of Experience. The “Bard” is reassuring the “youth of delight” that not everything is lost and he encourages the innocent one who has been through a tangled maze of dark experience to “see the opening morn/image of truth new-born”, in which doubt and restricted reason have disappeared. It almost seems like he is saying that the doubt and darkness of the world has been abolished throughout the progression of the poems. He is essentially warning the youth that “folly is an endless maze”. He personifies folly as a female and uses a metaphor of “tangled roots” to say that she lays traps for the unaware youth. This poem serves as a warning against organized religion and social restrictions, which is what Blake continually criticized throughout his collection. The line “And wish to lead others, when they should be led” is saying that social and religious institutions are wrongly trying to lead others, when in fact; they need to be lead in a different direction. This poem concludes the collection perfectly because I think he is essentially saying that if you delve into your inner human desires and embrace your innocent imagination, and then his ideal human state will be reached.