Songs of Innocence and Experience
William Blake
Read by LibriVox Volunteers
William Blake’s volume of poetry entitled Songs of Innocence and Experience is the embodiment of his belief that innocence and experience were “the two contrary states of the human soul,” and that true innocence was impossible without experience. Songs of Innocence contains poems either written from the perspective of children or written about them. Many of the poems appearing in Songs of Innocence have a counterpart in Songs of Experience, with quite a different perspective of the world.
The disastrous end of the French Revolution caused Blake to lose faith in the goodness of mankind, explaining much of the despair found in Songs of Experience. Blake also believed that children lost their innocence through exploitation and from a religious community which put dogma before mercy. He did not, however, believe that children should be kept from becoming experienced entirely. In truth, he believed that children should indeed become experienced but through their own discoveries, which is reflected in a number of these poems.
(Summary adapted from Wikipedia by Annie Coleman) (1 hr 21 min)
Chapters
Introduction (Innocence) | 1:29 | Read by Annie Coleman Rothenberg |
Shepherd, The (Innocence) | 0:59 | Read by Annie Coleman Rothenberg |
Echoing Green, The (Innocence) | 1:34 | Read by Annie Coleman Rothenberg |
Lamb, The (Innocence) | 1:27 | Read by Annie Coleman Rothenberg |
Little Black Boy, The (Innocence) | 2:56 | Read by Denny Sayers (d. 2015) |
Blossom, The (Innocence) | 1:06 | Read by Chip |
Chimney-Sweeper, The (Innocence) | 2:43 | Read by Denny Sayers (d. 2015) |
Little Boy Lost, The (Innocence) | 0:52 | Read by Marian Brown |
Little Boy Found, The (Innocence) | 0:50 | Read by Marian Brown |
Laughing Song (Innocence) | 1:09 | Read by Marian Brown |
Cradle Song, A (Innocence) | 2:18 | Read by Chip |
Divine Image, The (Innocence) | 1:40 | Read by Chip |
Holy Thursday (Innocence) | 2:10 | Read by Denny Sayers (d. 2015) |
Night (Innocence) | 2:52 | Read by Chip |
Spring (Innocence) | 1:22 | Read by Chip |
Nurse’s Song (Innocence) | 1:39 | Read by Denny Sayers (d. 2015) |
Infant Joy (Innocence) | 1:08 | Read by Chip |
Dream, A (Innocence) | 1:37 | Read by Chip |
On Another’s Sorrow (Innocence) | 2:32 | Read by Chip |
Introduction (Experience) | 1:33 | Read by Chip |
Earth’s Answer (Experience) | 1:54 | Read by Denny Sayers (d. 2015) |
Clod and the Pebble, The (Experience) | 1:36 | Read by Denny Sayers (d. 2015) |
Holy Thursday (Experience) | 1:54 | Read by Denny Sayers (d. 2015) |
Little Girl Lost, The (Experience) | 3:06 | Read by Denny Sayers (d. 2015) |
Little Girl Found, The (Experience) | 3:06 | Read by Denny Sayers (d. 2015) |
Chimney-Sweeper, The (Experience) | 1:48 | Read by Denny Sayers (d. 2015) |
Nurse’s Song (Experience) | 1:32 | Read by Denny Sayers (d. 2015) |
Sick Rose, The (Experience) | 0:58 | Read by Chip |
Fly, The (Experience) | 1:30 | Read by Denny Sayers (d. 2015) |
Angel, The (Experience) | 1:38 | Read by Chip |
Tiger, The (Experience) | 2:37 | Read by Gord Mackenzie |
My Pretty Rose Tree (Experience) | 1:02 | Read by Annie Coleman Rothenberg |
Ah, Sunflower (Experience) | 1:18 | Read by Denny Sayers (d. 2015) |
Lily, The (Experience) | 1:11 | Read by Denny Sayers (d. 2015) |
Garden of Love, The (Experience) | 1:44 | Read by Denny Sayers (d. 2015) |
Little Vagabond, The (Experience) | 1:49 | Read by Chip |
London (Experience) | 2:02 | Read by Denny Sayers (d. 2015) |
Human Abstract, The (Experience) | 2:26 | Read by Denny Sayers (d. 2015) |
Infant Sorrow (Experience) | 1:27 | Read by Denny Sayers (d. 2015) |
Poison Tree, A (Experience) | 2:03 | Read by Denny Sayers (d. 2015) |
Little Boy Lost, A (Experience) | 2:03 | Read by Chip |
Little Girl Lost, A (Experience) | 2:14 | Read by Chip |
Divine Image, A (Experience) | 1:00 | Read by Gord Mackenzie |
Cradle Song, A (Experience) | 1:19 | Read by Annie Coleman Rothenberg |
Schoolboy, The (Experience) | 1:59 | Read by Annie Coleman Rothenberg |
To Tirzah (Experience) | 1:26 | Read by Annie Coleman Rothenberg |
Voice of the Ancient Bard, The (Experience) | 1:16 | Read by Annie Coleman Rothenberg |
Reviews
BRILLIANTLY READ!
Mir Aakib
I always love listening annie, I hope she is as beautiful as her voice is. I thank you annie Coleman.
A LibriVox Listener
hindi movie here mere sane songs