Analysis Of William Blake's Song Of Innocence And Songs Of Experience

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William Blake wrote, ‘The Chimney Sweeper,’ as his cry against society. After being a witness to the appalling conditions the climbing boys experienced in London society during the French revolution. Blake was able to expose the tragedies of the young lives that lived during that time period; ‘The Chimney Sweeper,’ received public attention resulting in slight improvement of the 1788 Chimney Sweepers’ Act (Mellown 2). Blake’s poem both of Song of Innocence and Songs of Experience conflict the different states of the human soul through articulate literature techniques such as rhyme scheme, the voice of the speaker, and many other effective devices. Blake was able to unite the central themes of the Romantic period: childhood and the impact
The rhyme scheme resembles that of a nursey rhyme. Songs of Innocence contains couplet rhyme while Songs of Experience has an alternate rhyme. Songs of Experience has a child-like speaker but with the alternating rhyme the child is giving the impression that he has an attitude. There’s an ironic usage on the “child-like anapestic rhythm,” exposing a simple stupid sermon (Norton). ‘The Chimney Sweeper,” has a five metrical foot with varying stress patterns: two unstressed syllables followed by one long stress syllable. Blake bends the poetry rules by using both anapestic and iambic tetrameter. The iambic tetrameter is practiced in stanza two and four. Both of which stanzas share an angelic innocence. Blake used precision in his word choice, he included a pun in the first stanza of each set. The children cry out in, “weeps,” and in the next line the speaker states that it is the chimney he, “sweeps.” In Songs of Innocence, Blake exposes the reader to the darkness. Toying with the reader’s emotions by establishing the death of his mother and that his own father sold him but contrasting that with the light the dream represents. The reality is depressing but the end of the poem flows with inspiring

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