Songs of Innocence and of Experience

For a complete Table of Contents of the included poems, see the 'Questions' section below.
This book appeared in two phases. A few first copies were printed and illuminated by William Blake himself in 1789; five years later he bound these poems with a set of new poems in a volume titled
.
The work compiles two contrasting but directly related books of poetry by William Blake.
honors and praises the natural world, the natural innocence of children and their close relationship to God.
contains much darker, disillusioned poems, which deal with serious, often political themes. It is believed that the disastrous end to the French Revolution produced this disillusionment in Blake. He does, however, maintain that true innocence is achieved only through experience.