Midterm

William Blake's Songs of Innocence and Experience are a series of poems that the poet uses to show opposing views on various life situations and about the world in general. The Songs of Innocence depict life situations in a more positive and idealistic way due to a lack of experience. The Songs of Experience show a differing view due to the knowledge that comes with experience. Innocence is comprised of naivety and a sense of the unknown. This allows for a more positive outlook to life because there is no knowledge of the bad in life. Experience takes away the sense of the unknown and we gain knowledge which can be both positive and negative depending on how we want to interpret it.
"Infant Joy" from Songs of Innocence and "Infant Sorrow" from Songs of Experience depict two contrasting views of new life. My primary view of "Infant Joy" is that the poem depicts a newborn baby and the joy that is and surrounds that baby. The mother is singing while the baby is smiling. The mood of the poem is happy and light. The tone of the speaker is simplistic as joy is repeated a few times.The secondary view of the poem is that bringing new life into the world is a joyous occasion and babies are symbols of happiness. This is shown in lines 3 and 5 where Blake says "What should I call thee?/ "I happy am,/ Joy is my name.". When the mother asks the newborn baby what name she should give him and the child says that he is happy so joy should be his name. Babies are depicted as being joyous because nothing is more innocent than a newborn. The poem shows creating new life in a positive light and that the most inherently innocent can be extremely happy.
"Infant Sorrow" is in total contrast to "Infant Joy" because it focuses on the sorrow surrounding bringing new life into the world rather than the joy. On a primary level, the poem is about a baby being born into the harsh realities of the world. Lines 2 and 3 state "Into the dangerous world I lept:/ Helpless, naked and piping loud:". This shows that even though babies are the most innocent beings, they are also the most vulnerable due to being so innocent. Their innocence makes the world even more dangerous for them. On a secondary level, the poem shows that with new life comes new difficulties and hardships. Lines 4 to 8 state:

Struggling in my father's arms
Striving against my swadling bands
Bound and weary I thought best
To sulk upon my mother's breast.

These four lines not only depict a child who is tired after being born but also a child who has gone through life experiences that have tired him out. Struggling, striving, feeling bound and weary are experiences that everyone goes through in life. They are the realities of life that are felt by the baby immediately after he is born and thrown into the real world. They are things we constantly face through life as we grow. The mood of the poem is not joyous but rather dreary. The mother is in pain, the father is crying and the baby is yelling and tired. A baby's innocence fades a bit once he comes into the world and due to experience will continue to fade.
According to Richard Clarke, the Songs of Innocence and Experience represent, "the two contrary states of the human soul" and often develop opposing points of view on the same subject matter. Clarke also says,"Blake uses dialectical fusion or synthesis of the opposing qualities symbolized by innocence and experience, respectively, in order to adequately grasp the full complexity of human existence". Harold Bloom found in his studies that in Songs of Innocence, "it is the nature of human existence to be in a world seemingly pulled simultaneously in two opposing directions. Humans are caught on the cusp between innocence and experience, good and evil, etc., torn in both directions. They key things is to ‘see through’ or beyond this apparent contradiction and to realize that to understand the human condition involves assimilating or synthesizing these two contrasting poles of human experience. In short, Blake’s theme is the possibility of salvation which he locates in the Imagination."
Two opposing views or contrary states is what Blake showed in "Infant Joy" and "Infant Sorrow". Joy and sorrow are contrasting emotions which fits the romantic idea of life being composed of opposites. "Infant Joy" depicted the happiness of new life while "Infant Sorrow" showed that with new life comes harsh reality. Blake wants us to see both sides of an issue and hopefully find a happy medium in between. Neither one is completely right or wrong but it depends on how innocent or how experienced a person is to decide how they interpret these issues. Babies are probably the most innocent beings in this world which is why it is easy to associate them with happiness but we must also remember that as soon as they are born, they start to deal with the realities of life which is what Blake was trying to show in these poems.
Blake's idealistic view is that babies are basically the human embodiment of happiness and that they should be surrounded with happiness as well. Even though it is not possible to always have happiness present, Blake wants the reader to take from "Infant Joy" that babies should have a sense of happiness present as they are growing. "Infant Sorrow" is Blake's way of showing even with the happiness of new life, there is acknowledgement of the difficulties that baby will go through in life from the moment they are born. By understanding these two opposing views that are shown in the poems, the readers gain the knowledge that Blake was trying to instill.