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Cover of Songs of Innocence and of Experience

Songs of Innocence and of Experience

by William Blake (1757–1827)

  • Free to read
  • 20 min read
  • 45 chapters
  • Reading level: 6th grade

"Songs of Innocence and of Experience" by William Blake is a collection of illustrated poems combined in 1794. Blake hand-engraved, printed, and colored unique artwork to accompany each poem, exploring childhood innocence and experience as contrary states of the human soul. Originally published as separate volumes, the combined work shows pastoral harmony alongside subtle dangers of naiveté. Each page features distinctive illustrations that intensify the poems' meanings, making Blake's vision inseparable from both visual art and verse. The collection became a hallmark of Romanticism and has inspired countless musical adaptations.

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  • Pastoral poetry
  • English poetry · 18th century

Read the opening

Songs of Innocence

LONDON: R. BRIMLEY JOHNSON.
GUILDFORD: A. C. CURTIS.

Introduction
The Shepherd
The Echoing Green
The Lamb
The Little Black Boy
The Blossom
The Chimney-Sweeper
The Little Boy Lost
The Little Boy Found
Laughing Song
A Cradle Song
The Divine Image
Holy Thursday
Night
Spring
Nurse’s Song
Infant Joy
A Dream
On Another’s Sorrow

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Contents

Show all 45 chapters
  1. Songs of Innocence
  2. Songs of Experience
  3. Songs of Innocence
  4. The Shepherd
  5. The Echoing Green
  6. The Lamb
  7. The Little Black Boy
  8. The Blossom
  9. The Chimney-Sweeper
  10. The Little Boy Lost
  11. The Little Boy Found
  12. Laughing Song
  13. A Cradle Song
  14. The Divine Image
  15. Holy Thursday
  16. Night
  17. Spring
  18. Nurse’s Song
  19. A Dream
  20. On Another’s Sorrow
  21. Introduction
  22. Earth’s Answer
  23. The Clod and the Pebble
  24. Holy Thursday
  25. The Little Girl Lost
  26. The Little Girl Found
  27. The Chimney-Sweeper
  28. Nurse’s Song
  29. The Fly
  30. The Angel
  31. The Tiger
  32. My Pretty Rose Tree
  33. Ah, Sunflower
  34. The Garden of Love
  35. The Little Vagabond
  36. London
  37. The Human Abstract
  38. Infant Sorrow
  39. A Poison Tree
  40. A Little Boy Lost
  41. A Little Girl Lost
  42. A Cradle Song
  43. To Tirzah
  44. The Schoolboy
  45. The Voice of the Ancient Bard

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About this edition

This free edition of Songs of Innocence and of Experience by William Blake comes from Project Gutenberg eBook #1934, released 1999-10-01. It is in the public domain in the United States, so you can read it here in full at no cost, on any phone, tablet or computer. Genre: Poetry, Classics of Literature, British Literature.

Summary provided by Project Gutenberg (automatically generated).

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