Songs of Innocence and of Experience by William Blake

Songs of Innocence and of Experience.  William Blake (1789). Oxford University Press (1970).  156 pages.  Genre:  Poetry, Classic.

William Blake was as much an artist as a poet.  This book contains full color copies of the illuminated plates created by Blake on which he etched both a design and a poem.  

"He knew that poetry and design are the same thing in different forms, and he possessed the originality and craftsmanship needed for the practice of both, separately or simultaneously.  He was not content, therefore, to see his poems only in a written form or in ordinary print as they were in his earlier Poetical Sketches."

This was my first introduction to William Blake's poetry.  Overall, I think I liked more of the poetry in Songs of Innocence.  The illuminated plates are beautiful and do add to the poetry.  I was thankful they included the text of the poem on a separate page because it is sometimes hard to read it on the plate.

Here's one of my favorites from Songs of Innocence:

Spring

Sound the Flute!

Now it's mute.

Birds delight.

Day and Night.

Nightingale.

In the dale

Lark in Sky

Merrily

Merrily Merrily to welcome in the Year

Little Boy

Full of joy.

Little Girl

Sweet and small.

Cock does crow

So do you.

Merry voice

Infant noise

Merrily Merrily to welcome in the Year

Little Lamb

Here I am, 

Come and lick

My white neck. 

Let me pull

Your soft Wool.

Let me kiss

Your soft face.

Merrily Merrily we welcome in the Year

I read this book to fulfill the "Complete volume of poetry by a single author" category in The Literary Life Podcast 20 for 2020 Reading Challenge.