States of the Human Soul

In William Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Experience and the Visions of the Daughters
of Albion, Blake wished to show the contrast between the state of innocence and that of
experience. Innocence meaning childhood, idealism, and youthful joy. Experience
meaning injustice, evil, and suffering. Blake states that the songs “show two contrary
states of the human soul”(37). This could elude to innocence and then the eventual loss of
it through experience. The innocence poems serve as a sort of backdrop to the experience
poems, showing a glimpse into the life of children while they are still too young to realize
what lies ahead of them. The innocence poems are lighthearted and convey a carefree,
contented approach toward life, while the other examines the much less innocent image.
“The Lamb” and the “The Tiger” show the “two contrary states of the human
soul”(37) with respect to creation. It has been said that Blake believed that without
contraries, t...