Songs of Experience (Illuminated Manuscript with the Original Illustrations of William Blake) (Annotated)
Enriched Edition. Illuminated Poems of Vision, Society, and RevelationBy William Blake
Length1h 34m
About this audiobook
Songs of Experience presents William Blake's darker counterpoint to Songs of Innocence, a sequence of lyric poems in which childhood, religion, authority, sexuality, poverty, and social discipline are viewed through the lens of disillusionment. In its illuminated form, poem and image are inseparable: Blake's hand-colored designs intensify the symbolic force of poems such as "The Tyger," "London," and "The Chimney Sweeper." Its compressed, prophetic style belongs to Romanticism, yet resists its conventions through visionary allegory and radical critique. Blake, poet, engraver, painter, and religious dissenter, made his books by a process of relief etching that allowed text and image to share a single expressive surface. Living amid the upheavals of late eighteenth-century London, the French Revolution, and industrializing Britain, he developed a fiercely independent mythology and an enduring suspicion of institutions that claimed moral or spiritual authority. This edition is essential for readers who wish to encounter Blake as he intended: not merely as a poet on the page, but as an artist of word, line, color, and revelation.
This enriched edition has been carefully crafted to add value to your reading experience.
- A comprehensive Introduction outlines these selected works' unifying features, themes, or stylistic evolutions.
- The Author Biography highlights personal milestones and literary influences that shape the entire body of writing.
- A Historical Context section situates the works in their broader era—social currents, cultural trends, and key events that underpin their creation.
- A concise Synopsis (Selection) offers an accessible overview of the included texts, helping readers navigate plotlines and main ideas without revealing critical twists.
- A unified Analysis examines recurring motifs and stylistic hallmarks across the collection, tying the stories together while spotlighting the different work's strengths.
- Reflection questions inspire deeper contemplation of the author's overarching message, inviting readers to draw connections among different texts and relate them to modern contexts.
- Lastly, our hand‐picked Memorable Quotes distill pivotal lines and turning points, serving as touchstones for the collection's central themes.
Audiobook details
Rating★★★★ 4.5 (172)
Includes Amazon, Goodreads
GenrePoetry
Length1 hr 34 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateJul 10, 2013
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1Introduction
19My Pretty Rose Tree
2Introduction
20Ah! Sun-flower
3Author Biography
21The Lilly
4Historical Context
22The Garden of Love
5Synopsis (Selection)
23The Little Vagabond
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6Songs of Experience (Illuminated Manuscript with the Original Illustrations of William Blake)
24London
7Introduction
25The Human Abstract
8Earth's Answer
26Infant Sorrow
9The Clod & the Pebble
27A Poison Tree
10Holy Thursday
28A Little Boy Lost
11The Little Girl Lost
29A Little Girl Lost
12The Little Girl Found
30To Tirzah
13The Chimney Sweeper
31The School Boy
14Nurses Song
32The Voice of the Ancient Bard
15The Sick Rose
33Analysis
16The Fly
34Reflection
17The Angel
35Memorable Quotes
18The Tyger
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