William Blake
Songs of Innocence and Experience – The 2 Contrary States of the Human Soul
Qualities of Innocence
Qualities of Experience
They should list the overall qualities of Innocence
here. Taken directly from the PowerPoint.
They should list the overall qualities of Experience
here. Taken directly from the PowerPoint.
“The Tyger” (packet, pg. 6)
1. What questions does the speaker ask the tiger?
The speaker asks the tiger who created it implying that the creator is daring and powerful---Is the creator
more dangerous than the tiger itself?
2. What do you think is meant by the tiger’s “fearful symmetry”?
The tiger’s stripes and markings. The graceful movement or the balance of the physical movement
with the appearance.
3. What imagery tells the reader that the speaker suspects that the tiger is a demonic creation?
A demonic creator is implied. A possible blacksmith in the fourth stanza. Images of deeps and skies,
burning images, deadly terror
4. What imagery tells the reader that the speaker suspects the tiger is a human creation?
God as a creator in lines 19-20.
“The Lamb” (packet, pg. 6)
1. What did its creator do for the lamb in the 1st stanza?
Gave the lamb life, food, and clothing. A gentle voice
2. How does the 2nd stanza respond to the question posed in the 1st stanza?
The speaker answers the questions presented in the first stanza
3. How is the lamb both a literal object and a symbol in this poem?
It’s a lamb in the literal sense. A symbol of the lamb of God -- meekness, purity, and innocence
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William Blake
For “The Tyger” and “The Lamb”:
Qualities of Innocence
They should refer to the general list of qualities of
innocence and identify which ones apply to this
poem.
Qualities of Experience
They should refer to the general list of qualities of
experience and identify which ones apply to this
poem.
The child, the Lamb of God
Children or the innocent have limited views
A strong revolutionary energy that can enlighten and
transform society
Gentle questioning
Genuine love and naïve trust towards all humankind
All life is perceived as one and holy
Fear and wonder
Profound disillusionment with nature and/or society
Questioning what is good and evil
“The Chimney Sweeper” /Innocence (packet, pg. 7)
1. What do we learn about the speaker in the 1st stanza?
The speaker’s mother died when he was young. His father sold him off as a chimney sweeper.
2. In the 2nd stanza, how does the speaker try to reassure Tom Dacre?
The speaker tries to comfort him by saying that Tom will be spared the discomfort and ugliness of sooty
blonde hair.
3. Describe Tom’s dream. How does the angel reassure him?
The angel promises Tom that if he is good he will have God as his father and will always be happy
4. What moral lesson does this speaker draw from his dream?
That Heaven will be waiting and he will be happy
5. How does Tom’s dream of heaven contrast with the actual condition of his daily life?
In the dream, Tom is clean and carefree. In reality, he lives in filthy, depressing and difficult conditions
6. How does the final line of the poem affect you?
Opinion based
“The Chimney Sweeper: /Experience (packet, pg. 7)
1. How does the speaker of the 1st 3 lines describe the young chimney sweeper?
A dirty, sad little boy standing alone
2. What does the child say his parents did to him and why?
They sold him off to be a chimney sweeper (clothed me clothes of death and woe)
They then praise God bc they have no idea about his misery
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William Blake
3. What do you think was Blake’s purpose in writing this poem?
His purpose is to expose the terrible conditions for innocent children in the practice of chimney sweeping.
For “The Chimney Sweeper”s:
“TCS” - Innocence
“TCS” - Experience
Acceptance of oppression and poverty
It gains him a reward in Heaven.
Bitter and angry at oppression and poverty
Recognizes that his parents who pray for him are
the same ones who sold him into a life of hard
labor.
State of genuine love and naïve trust
All life is perceived as one and holy
Fear and wonder
Cruelty and hypocrisy
Good and evil
“A Poison Tree”: (packet, pg. 8)
1. What 2 ways of handling anger are mentioned in the poem? What actually happens to the speaker’s
foe in the last stanza?
You can hold in your anger and let it grow inside and torment you or you can let it go in forgiveness
(exposing it or suppressing it)
In the last stanza, the foe died
2. What is the “poison tree”?
The speaker’s anger and emotion (the fruits of anger)
3. Who are the victims in the poem?
The foe is the victim, but the speaker could also be a victim as he allowed his anger to fester and control
him
4. How is the speaker both good and evil?
The speaker is good as he suppressed his anger to the friend but evil in allowing the anger for the foe
to grow
5. What is the theme of the poem?
That unexpressed anger builds up and destructively releases itself
6. What do you make of Blake’s allusion to forbidden fruit in the 3rd stanza?
The Garden of Eden
For “A Poison Tree”: It is a Song of Experience
Qualities of Innocence
Qualities of Experience
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William Blake
NONE
Anger is nurtured by our own deceit. We allow it to
grow and fester.
Questioning what is good and evil
Reality
Cruelty and hypocrisy
For “The Ecchoing Green” and “The Fly”: (both poems -- packet, pg. 8)
1. Explain why “The Ecchoing Green” can be seen as innocent, and why “The Fly” is experience.
References and images of childhood. Those on the green are observing the childhood experiences and
reliving them again in their mind.
“The Fly”
Introspection and reflection of life’s experiences. The speaker is comparing himself to the fly. They are
both brushed away at one point or another.
2. Apostrophe is when an author speaks to something non-living or non-human as if it can understand.
In what other poems (besides “The Fly”) does Blake employ apostrophe?
“The Lamb” and “The Tyger”
3. Where can you see a few instances of experience within “Ecchoing Green” (although, overall, the poem
is still “innocent)?
Opinion based – Answers will vary
Identify (and underline) the examples of innocence in “The Ecchoing Green” and experience in “The Fly”. List
the examples below as well. They may do this in the chart just as they have on the other poems
“The Ecchoing Green” - Innocence
Childhood
Happy songs
State of genuine love and naïve trust towards all
humankind
imagination
“The Fly” - Experience
Adulthood
Fear and wonder
Cruelty and hypocrisy
reality
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