Songs of Innocence and Experience

Blake wanted to show ‚two different states of the soul‘ in his songs. He sees in the child a sign of uncorrupted potential, in which evil does not yet exist. Evil is only created by the suppression of the human spirit. Thus, in these poems there is also repeated criticism of social conditions and of established, institutionalized Christianity. Blake sees the task of the prophetic artist precisely in providing this criticism with clear-sightedness. Gröls Classics – English Edition