Songs of Innocence and Experience

Genre(s): Poetry

Narrators: Annie Coleman Rothenberg, Denny Sayers (d. 2015), Chip, Marian Brown, Gord Mackenzie

Number of Chapters: 47

Length: 1 hour and 21 minutes

Language: English

William Blake’s volume of poetry entitled Songs of Innocence and Experience is the embodiment of his belief that innocence and experience were “the two contrary states of the human soul,” and that true innocence was impossible without experience. Songs of Innocence contains poems either written from the perspective of children or written about them. Many of the poems appearing in Songs of Innocence have a counterpart in Songs of Experience, with quite a different perspective of the world.

The disastrous end of the French Revolution caused Blake to lose faith in the goodness of mankind, explaining much of the despair found in Songs of Experience. Blake also believed that children lost their innocence through exploitation and from a religious community which put dogma before mercy. He did not, however, believe that children should be kept from becoming experienced entirely. In truth, he believed that children should indeed become experienced but through their own discoveries, which is reflected in a number of these poems.
(Summary adapted from Wikipedia by Annie Coleman)

Introduction (Innocence) (Annie Coleman Rothenberg)

Shepherd, The (Innocence) (Annie Coleman Rothenberg)

Echoing Green, The (Innocence) (Annie Coleman Rothenberg)

Lamb, The (Innocence) (Annie Coleman Rothenberg)

Little Black Boy, The (Innocence) (Denny Sayers (d. 2015))

Blossom, The (Innocence) (Chip)

Chimney-Sweeper, The (Innocence) (Denny Sayers (d. 2015))

Little Boy Lost, The (Innocence) (Marian Brown)

Little Boy Found, The (Innocence) (Marian Brown)

Laughing Song (Innocence) (Marian Brown)

Cradle Song, A (Innocence) (Chip)

Divine Image, The (Innocence) (Chip)

Holy Thursday (Innocence) (Denny Sayers (d. 2015))

Night (Innocence) (Chip)

Spring (Innocence) (Chip)

Nurse’s Song (Innocence) (Denny Sayers (d. 2015))

Infant Joy (Innocence) (Chip)

Dream, A (Innocence) (Chip)

On Another’s Sorrow (Innocence) (Chip)

Introduction (Experience) (Chip)

Earth’s Answer (Experience) (Denny Sayers (d. 2015))

Clod and the Pebble, The (Experience) (Denny Sayers (d. 2015))

Holy Thursday (Experience) (Denny Sayers (d. 2015))

Little Girl Lost, The (Experience) (Denny Sayers (d. 2015))

Little Girl Found, The (Experience) (Denny Sayers (d. 2015))

Chimney-Sweeper, The (Experience) (Denny Sayers (d. 2015))

Nurse’s Song (Experience) (Denny Sayers (d. 2015))

Sick Rose, The (Experience) (Chip)

Fly, The (Experience) (Denny Sayers (d. 2015))

Angel, The (Experience) (Chip)

Tiger, The (Experience) (Gord Mackenzie)

My Pretty Rose Tree (Experience) (Annie Coleman Rothenberg)

Ah, Sunflower (Experience) (Denny Sayers (d. 2015))

Lily, The (Experience) (Denny Sayers (d. 2015))

Garden of Love, The (Experience) (Denny Sayers (d. 2015))

Little Vagabond, The (Experience) (Chip)

London (Experience) (Denny Sayers (d. 2015))

Human Abstract, The (Experience) (Denny Sayers (d. 2015))

Infant Sorrow (Experience) (Denny Sayers (d. 2015))

Poison Tree, A (Experience) (Denny Sayers (d. 2015))

Little Boy Lost, A (Experience) (Chip)

Little Girl Lost, A (Experience) (Chip)

Divine Image, A (Experience) (Gord Mackenzie)

Cradle Song, A (Experience) (Annie Coleman Rothenberg)

Schoolboy, The (Experience) (Annie Coleman Rothenberg)

To Tirzah (Experience) (Annie Coleman Rothenberg)

Voice of the Ancient Bard, The (Experience) (Annie Coleman Rothenberg)

The audiobook Songs of Innocence and Experience falls under the genres of Poetry. It is written by William Blake.

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Songs of Innocence and Experience