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How does Blake present his ideal world in Songs of Innocence and Experience?

Blake presents his ideal world through the poems in Songs of Innocence and Experience. However sometimes he presents a world of corruption and criticises it. Therefore Blake shows his ideal world by glorifying what he sees as potentially good for the world and condemns what he believes to be bad for society.

‘The Schoolboy’ is a poem that embodies what Blake sees as good and bad about the education system. He sees freedom as good as the schoolboy “loves to rise on a summer morn”. He also paints a picture of an idyllic scene in the first stanza with the singing birds and skylark. The skylark has Romantic connotations to freedom. However as the poem progresses the message becomes one of criticism against the education system. This negative attitude towards restrictions in school appears to have been heavily influenced by Bohme, who believed that free will was very important. Blake shows the constraints on children as the “cruel eye outworn” looks on. This “cruel eye” is used to represent the restricting powers of teachers. Therefore Blake appears to condemn these restrictions, thus illustrating that his ideal world is one where children are free to roam.

This pastoral image is shown in ‘The Echoing Green’. Blake uses the dawning of a new day (“the sun does arise”) to reflect the innocence of children. It also perhaps has connections to the birth of a new born baby, thus reiterating this innocence. “Old John” looks on nostalgically as the children play, this presents Blake’s ideal world where children and adults lives happily together.

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These notes are aimed at A Level English Literature students at A2 level.

Originally written by Bennyboy65 on TSR Forums.