Very Short Summary
The collection opened with Songs of Innocence, where a young piper encountered a child on a cloud who asked him to pipe songs about a lamb.
The poems that followed celebrated innocence through various themes: the shepherd's peaceful life with his flock, children playing on the echoing green, the divine presence in human form, and the protection of angels watching over sleeping creatures. However, darker elements appeared even in these seemingly innocent poems, such as the chimney sweeper's harsh life and the little black boy's struggle with racial prejudice.
The Songs of Experience began with a different narrator calling to the Earth to awaken from darkness.
These poems revealed the corruption of innocence by society and experience. The most famous poem questioned the creation of the fearsome tiger in contrast to the gentle lamb.
Tiger, tiger, burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
...
Did He smile His work to see?
Did He who made the lamb make thee?
The collection concluded with poems addressing themes of social injustice, lost love, and the corruption of the human spirit, creating a stark contrast with the innocence of the first section.
Detailed Summary by Songs
Thematic groupings within Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience are editorial.
Songs of Innocence
Pastoral Innocence: The Natural World and Childhood
The collection opened with the Piper encountering a child on a cloud who requested songs about a lamb. The Piper's music brought both joy and tears to the divine child, who then instructed him to write down his songs for all children to read. This introduction established the pastoral and innocent tone that characterized the first half of Blake's work. The subsequent poems celebrated the natural world and its connection to childhood innocence, exemplified in 'The Lamb' where a child discovered the parallel between themselves, the gentle lamb, and the divine figure of Christ.
Social Commentary Through Innocent Eyes
Even within the seemingly innocent poems, Blake addressed serious social issues. In 'The Little Black Boy,' a child grappled with racial identity and divine love, learning from his mother that their dark skin was but a cloud that would vanish when their souls learned to bear the heat of God's love. The poem revealed both the period's racial prejudices and a vision of spiritual equality.
When my mother died I was very young,
And my father sold me while yet my tongue
Could scarcely cry 'Weep! weep! weep! weep!'
So your chimneys I sweep, and in soot I sleep.
The poem 'The Chimney Sweeper' introduced Tom Dacre, whose story exemplified the exploitation of child labor. Despite his harsh circumstances, Tom's dreams of liberation by an angel represented the children's resilience and hope. Through these young voices, Blake critiqued the societal structures that permitted such abuse while maintaining an air of innocence in the narrative perspective.
Divine Protection and Spiritual Joy
The collection's spiritual themes emerged through poems celebrating divine protection and joy. In 'The Nurse's Song,' the caretaker delighted in children's play, allowing them to continue their games until nightfall. This represented the nurturing aspect of authority figures and the harmony between adult supervision and childish freedom. The divine presence appeared most explicitly in 'Night,' where angels protected sleeping creatures and promised a peaceful future where even the lion would lie down with the lamb.
Songs of Experience
Nature Corrupted: The Fall from Innocence
The Songs of Experience began with the Bard's prophetic voice calling to the Earth to awaken from darkness. This second collection presented a darker view of the world, where innocence had been corrupted by experience. The natural world itself reflected this fall: in 'The Sick Rose,' an invisible worm destroyed a flower's life, symbolizing how hidden corruption could destroy beauty and innocence.
Social Institutions and Their Victims
And because I am happy and dance and sing,
They think they have done me no injury,
And are gone to praise God and His priest and king,
Who made up a heaven of our misery.
I wander through each chartered street,
Near where the chartered Thames does flow,
A mark in every face I meet,
Marks of weakness, marks of woe.
In every cry of every man,
In every infant's cry of fear
Blake's critique of social institutions became more explicit in the Experience section. The Chimney Sweeper of Experience was bitterly aware of how religious and political authorities justified child labor. In 'London,' the poet depicted a city where every face bore marks of woe, and every voice carried the weight of social oppression. The repeated use of 'chartered' emphasized how commerce and law had restricted natural rights and freedoms.
Love, Loss and Human Relationships
I was angry with my friend:
I told my wrath, my wrath did end.
I was angry with my foe:
I told it not, my wrath did grow.
And I watered it in fears
Night and morning with my tears
The Experience section explored the complexities and pains of human relationships. In 'A Poison Tree,' Blake illustrated how suppressed anger could grow into deadly hatred. The collection included several poems about love's disappointments and restrictions, such as 'The Garden of Love,' where the speaker found their former place of play converted into a chapel with 'Thou shalt not' written over the door.
I went to the Garden of Love,
And saw what I never had seen;
A Chapel was built in the midst,
Where I used to play on the green.
And the gates of this Chapel were shut,
And 'Thou shalt not' writ over the door
Spiritual Disillusionment and Religious Criticism
How can the bird that is born for joy
Sit in a cage and sing?
How can a child, when fears annoy,
But droop his tender wing,
And forget his youthful spring!
The final section of Experience contained some of Blake's most pointed criticism of religious institutions and education. In 'The Schoolboy,' the natural joy of youth was stifled by formal education, comparing a child in school to a caged bird. The collection concluded with 'The Voice of the Ancient Bard,' which warned youth about the dangers of being led astray by false guides and emphasized the importance of finding one's own path to truth.