Blake And Wordsworth: The Importance Of Childhood

7 Pages 1872 Words

e world and the bliss of innocence. Orgniz’d innocence is the goal Blake believes we must obtain by adding a layer of maturity to innocence that darkens its hopeful vision while compensating for some of its blindness.
Much of his writings cover this idea even compiling a book of poems called Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience. The Songs of Experience work via parallels to the Songs of Innocence and contrasts to lament the ways in which the harsh experiences of adult life destroy what is good in innocence, while also articulating the weaknesses of the innocent perspective. "The Tyger", a poem from the Songs of Experience , attempts to account for real, negative forces in the universe, which innocence fails to confront. One parallel is "The Lamb" (Innocence) represents a meek virtue, poems like "The Tyger" (Experience) exhibit opposing, darker forces. Another parallel is the "Chimney Sweeper." The small chimney sweep in this poem shows Blake’s idea of Rationalized Innocence.
The "Chimney Sweep" begins with the pain that can still be felt in the world of innocence while the young boy tells of how his mother is dead, and his father sold him when he was so yo...