"Innocence" and "Experience" are definitions of consciousness that rethink Milton's existential-mythic states of "Paradise" and "Fall". Blake categorizes our modes of perception that became standard in Romanticism: childhood is a state of innocence rather than original sin, but not immune to the fallen world (experience). The first part of this volume mainly shows happy, innocent perception in pastoral harmony, whereas the second part also deals with darker themes. ( Foon)
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Chapters
- Chapter 1
Songs of Innocence: Introduction - The Shepherd - The Echoing Green - The Lamb - The Little Black Boy - The Blossom - The Chimney-Sweeper
08:39 - Chapter 2
The Little Boy Lost - The Little Boy Found - Laughing Song - A Cradle Song - The Divine Image - Holy Thursday
06:18 - Chapter 3
Night - Spring - Nurse's Song - Infant Joy - A Dream - On Another's Sorrow
08:11 - Chapter 4
Songs of Experience: Introduction - Earth's Answer - The Clod and the Pebble - Holy Thursday - The Little Girl Lost - The Little Girl Found - The Chimney-Sweeper
09:18 - Chapter 5
Nurse's Song - The Sick Rose - The Fly - The Angel - The Tiger - My Pretty Rose-Tree - Ah, Sunflower
05:14 - Chapter 6
The Lily - The Garden of Love - The Little Vagabond - London - The Human Abstract - Infant Sorrow - A Poison Tree
06:07 - Chapter 7
A Little Boy Lost - A Little Girl Lost - A Divine Image - A Cradle Song - The Schoolboy - To Tirzah - The Voice of the Ancient Bard
07:49