A Review: Songs of Innocence and Experience

Title of Work: Songs of Innocence and Experience
Author: William Blake
Dates Read: September 10th, 2024
Format: Paperback

Posted: Goodreads, September 10th, 2024
Rating: 4/5
Review:

The beautiful and strange illustrations in the 1977 “full colour” edition from Oxford University Press are captivating, haunting even. I’ve wanted to understand for a long time now why so many creatives cite Blake as a profound influence. He constantly comes up in the works, notes, and interviews of others as I’m reading and his name, “William Blake”, said aloud seems undeniably literary. Like he’s baked into the Western canon pie. Yum.

Blake seems resolutely anti-authoritarian to me. He had a deep and complex spirituality but preferred to develop his own philosophy in direct and intimate conversation with his personal experience of the Divine rather than obediently bow down to the dogma of institutions. Of course, he drew thematically and symbolically from existing philosophies, particularly Christianity, but he deviated wildly from the orthodox and his works often drew on more mystical and Gnostic ideas.

His poems, “illuminated” prints etched in copper plates, are imbued with symbolism both romantic and subversive and it seems he had enduring hope for a humanity which he saw as radiating unlimited joy and creativity by nature, especially in the uncorrupted innocence of childhood. I think he wanted to inspire individuals he saw as being stifled by the codes and constructs imposed by the prevailing power structures to shrug off the boot and reclaim their radiance.

See also:

Secret of Kells, The (2009, dir. Tomm Moore) **** Love love LOVE this movie (cool animation).
Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson
Later works of Philip K. Dick
Fall, The (2006, dir. Tarsem Singh)
Little Princess, A (1995, dir. Alfonso Cuarón)
Phantom Tollbooth, The by Norton Juster **** One of my all-time fave illustrated books.
Matilda by Roald Dahl