William Blake. To what extent are Blakes songs a critique of religion and 18th Century Society?

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To what extent are Blake’s songs a critique of religion and 18th Centenary Society?

William Blake was London born poet in 1757. He was called a romantic poet as under Romanticism, poetry became one of the most important modes of creative expression. He wrote a book of poems entitled Songs of Innocence and Experience. Many poems included in William Blake's Songs of Experience express Blake's critical view of the Christian Church and society and are shown in his poems.

The poem Infant Joy consists of two stanzas. There is a repetition of the words ‘sweet joy’ which enhances the joy. There is a lack of concrete nouns; however there are a lot of abstract nouns, such as joy. A majority of the words in the poem are monosyllabic which gives it a child-like simplicity. There is simplicity in this poem, in terms of format and rhyme which really reinforce the idea of child innocence.

Enjambment in the poem shows there is not much constrain and could imply that the baby is free which is what Blake wanted in the society. The baby has been named which is a process of constraint as they cannot choose their own name and have to live with the something that someone else has chosen for them. Infant Joy radiates happiness and love. It is an expression of the elation and wonder felt at the birth of a tiny baby. The scene is one of tranquillity – a mother gently cradling her child at her breast. The poem could possibly be narrated by the mother in which case she addresses her tiny infant, only thoughts of tenderness and love consuming her and is delighted in the joy of her motherhood. The infant is embracing its new life and surroundings, proclaiming to the world his arrival of only two days before. The tone is of happiness and optimism that the infant will always be happy.

In the closed form poem Infant Sorrow from Songs of Innocence and Experience there are two stanzas- similar to infant Joy. In contrast to Infant Joy there is a set rhyme scheme, using an iambic tetrameter and it also includes rhyming couplets at the end of every line. There is sibilance in it which is repetitions of the‘s’ sound, a type of alliteration, which takes effect in the second stanza ‘struggling, striving and swaddling’. The poem shows that the child is venerable as it comes ‘into the dangerous world’. This shows that living is not all easy and at the period of time it was literally a dangerous place for a child. Also in Blake’s time it was an industrialized place which Blake disliked so he could be saying that being born into it is dangerous.

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‘Striving against my swaddling bands’ shows that this child is very constrained, as its so tightly wrapped up, it doesn’t feel safe but confined. This can show that children are always refrained from doing things and it’s the parents who do not allow them freedom. The poem suggests that childbirth is not always joyful and happy but can bring sorrow and pain. The response of the child itself may be different from that of the child in "Infant Joy" because of the behaviour of the parents. In this poem the parents seem depressed by this unwanted birth and they seem ...

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