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The artist and poet William Blake published Songs of Innocence in 1789, the year of the French Revolution. Five years later, he added Songs of Experience, and from that point, produced them together in the volume we know today, along with the subtitle “Shewing the two contrary states of the human soul”.
The Songs entertain themes such as childhood, education, free will, free love, and the role of established religion – all in lines of apparent simplicity – and are among the best-loved poems of the English language. In Blake’s own lifetime, however, his poems remained largely unknown, partly because he made only fifty copies: each coloured painstakingly by hand and circulated by friends like Coleridge and Wordsworth. At his death in 1827, Blake was known for his art, not for his poetry.
In this seminar, we are going to take a closer look not only at the Songs of Innocence and of Experience, but also consider its various influences: Blake’s religious and political attitudes, his own education (or lack thereof), his professional background as an artisan, music, and more.
Requirements:
All students are required to buy and read before the first session: William Blake, Songs of Innocence and of Experience. With an Introduction and Commentary by Sir Geoffrey Keynes. (repr. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1977), ISBN: 978-0-19-281089-2.
Additional text will be made available online. |
