Questions and Answers
What are the two states of the soul described by William Blake?
Innocence and experience
What does innocence require as described by Blake?
Experience is seen as a vision of reality, according to Blake.
True
What does Blake view as the primary power that matters in human life?
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Which of the following feelings does Blake associate with the creed of brotherhood?
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Blake describes the four ‘virtues of delight’ as ___, Pity, Peace, and Love.
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What are the two contrasting views of love presented in 'The Clod and the Pebble'?
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Match the elements associated with Blake's description of cruelty:
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What does Blake criticize about city life?
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In 'The Chimney Sweeper', why did the speaker's mother die?
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Study Notes
Songs of Innocence and Experience
- Represents ‘two contrary states of the soul’: Innocence and Experience.
- Two sections in a single design illustrating contrasting elements.
Concept of Innocence
- Defined by freshness of vision, joy, and celebration.
- Vulnerable and weak, requiring protection.
- Seen as ‘totally good’ in stark contrast to Experience, viewed as ‘totally bad’.
Concept of Experience
- Vision of reality depicting the fall of humankind into separate selfhood.
- Devours and corrupts innocence.
- Considered evil not merely due to its separation from innocence, but as a sole reality.
Blake's Romantic Beliefs
- Rejects intellectualism and philosophy, mocks philosophers like Voltaire and Rousseau.
- Advocates for imagination as a spiritual power enabling human creativity.
- Creative imagination is the primary reality, reflecting truth and providing a transcendent order.
The Clod and the Pebble
- Contrasts perceptions of love:
- Clod of Clay views love as selfless and nurturing.
- Pebble sees love as selfish and binding, causing suffering for personal delight.
Virtues of Delight
- Fundamental feelings: Mercy, Pity, Peace, and Love.
- Constitute God and Man, promote security and completeness in the state of innocence.
- Inexperience, these virtues can be exploited by hypocrites, leading to human suffering.
Human Abstract
- Explores the interdependence of emotions; Pity and Mercy arise from human suffering.
- Revels in the duality of human nature: peace from fear versus selfish love leading to cruelty.
- Crafting a metaphor of a tree nourished by human misery, underscores internal mental struggles.
Cruelty and Deceit
- Cruelty metaphorically plants a tree that thrives on fear, with roots in humility and branches of mystery.
- Symbolizes the corrupt growth of deceit in human society, leading to suffering.
Critique of City Life
- Blake is disillusioned by urban environments, viewing them as oppressive, marked by social injustice.
- Social injustice is tied to the pervasive fear felt by individuals in London, suffering from moral corruption.
The Chimney Sweeper
- Narration of child exploitation; the speaker lost his mother and was sold by his father.
- Portrayal of bleak childhood experiences, symbolized by soot and sorrow.
- The spiritual vision of childhood innocence revealed through a dream of liberation by an Angel for the child sweepers trapped in their grim realities.
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Description
Explore the contrasting states of the soul as described by William Blake in 'Songs of Innocence and Experience'. This quiz delves into the essence of innocence and experience, examining their characteristics and relationship. Discover how these themes reflect on joy, vulnerability, and the human condition.
