The Chimney Sweeper

“Holy Thursday” from Songs of Innocence by William Blake (1789)

This poem describes orphaned children at a church service. They are clean and orderly, singing in praise of God, under the watchful gaze of their guardians. The last line consists of a neatly packaged moral lesson about the importance of pity. However, there is a strong sense that this is an image for public consumption, hiding a more complicated and troubling reality, like “The Chimney Sweeper.”

“Holy Thursday” from Songs of Experience by William Blake (1794)

Just like “The Chimney Sweeper” in Songs of Experience, this poem reveals the true situation behind the veil of moralizing words and public spectacles: Children suffer because of the cynicism and greed of those who exploit them. Knowing the truth may not be uplifting but it is a prerequisite for any change to happen.

"The Lamb" by William Blake (1789)

This is one of the best-known poems from Songs of Innocence. It celebrates the meekness and mildness of the lamb, comparing it to an innocent small child. It also invokes the Biblical figure of Agnus Dei, Jesus Christ as the Lamb of God.

"The Tyger" by William Blake (1794)

Maybe the most famous of all Blake’s poems, this poem from Songs of Experience complements “The Lamb” from Songs of Innocence. Unlike the lamb, the tiger is strong, predatory, and dangerous. If the lamb represents the beauty of innocence, the tiger symbolizes the power of experience. Still, both the lamb and the tiger are God’s creatures. Both innocence and experience are necessary, if imperfect, states of the human soul.

"The Garden of Love" by William Blake (1794)

This poem from Songs of Experience does not have a specific counterpart in Songs of Innocence, but it conveys the same contrast between these states. The speaker once happily played in the Garden of Love, but now it is covered with graves and priests who suppress joys and desires. The poem expresses Blake’s animosity toward institutionalized Christianity focused on prohibitions and austerity.