William Blake, Songs of Innocence and Experience

Video Description

William Blake's Songs of Innocence and Experience appeared in 1789, the year of the French Revolution. His songs are marked by political radicalism, but also bear the hallmarks of the Romantic movement in poetry. For Blake, innocence and experience are two contrary states of the human soul and, like all the Romantic poets, he sees the imagination as a productive, unifying faculty rather than one of understanding. The poet's role is essential to avoid the 'mind-forg'd manacles' of the legalists who insist on the dead letter. Blake marks what in Romanticism becomes a conversion of thought away from Christian theology towards a humanistic understanding of everything, including and especially spiritual matters. ❤️ If you find my channel helpful, become a channel member: www.youtube.com/c/DrScottMasson