Songs Of Innocence And Of Experience

Shewing the Two Contrary States of the Human Soul (first published in 1794), an expansion of Blake's first illuminated book Songs of Innocence. The poems and artwork were reproduced by copperplate engraving and colored with washes by hand. Blake republished Songs of Innocence and Experience several times, often changing the number and order of the plates. The spellings, punctuation and capitalizations are those of the original Blake manuscripts. William Blake (1757 – 1827) was a British poet, painter, visionary mystic, and engraver, who illustrated and printed his own books. Blake proclaimed the supremacy of the imagination over the rationalism and materialism of the 18th-century. Largely unrecognised during his lifetime, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of both the poetry and visual arts of the Romantic Age.

Blake's original color plates are faithfully reproduced in this illuminated edition of his early poems

In his illuminated books,William Blake combined his handwritten text with his exuberant imagery on pages the like of which had not been seen since the great decorated books of the Middle Ages. To read such books as Jerusalem, America and Songs of Innocence and of Experience in cold letterpress bears no comparison to seeing and reading them as Blake conceived them, infused with his sublime and exhilarating colours. At times tiny figures and forms dance among the lines of the text, flames appear to burn up the page, and dense passages of Biblical-sounding text are brought to a jarring halt by startling images of death, destruction and liberation. This edition, produced together with The William Blake Trust, contains all the pages of Blakes twenty or so illuminated books reproduced in true size, an appendix with all Blakes text set in type and an introduction by the noted Blake scholar, David Bindman. They can at last become part of the lives of all lovers of art and poetry.

This hardcover gift edition comprises the complete contents of Songs of Innocence, in addition to nine poems from Songs of Experience. Seven color and numerous black-and-white line illustrations grace the text.

A collection of poems describing the curious menagerie of guests and residents, human and animal, at William Blake's inn.

Good and evil, right and wrong, innocence and sinfulness, redeemed and fallen. 'Songs of Innocence and of Experience' is a classic book of two halves - encapsulated by the extended original title that included 'Shewing the Two Contrary States of the Human Soul'. Accompanied throughout by William Blake's edgily beautiful illustrations, the book is broken into 19 poems of 'Innocence' and 26 of 'Experience'. 'Songs of Innocence' are lyrical and evocative verses depicting life in pastoral harmony and youthful naivety - but with a brooding undercurrent of what is to come. That undercurrent flows rapidly throughout 'Songs of Experience', as the innocence gives way to darkness, threat and worldliness. These mind-bending poems and illustrations are ideal for fans of the poetry of John Milton and Dante Alighieri. William Blake (1757-1827) was an English poet, painter and printmaker whose writings and artwork often explored Heaven and Hell, and the state of the human heart. His best-known work includes 'Songs of Innocence and of Experience', 'The Marriage of Heaven and Hell' and 'Jerusalem'. Blake's work was largely ignored during his lifetime, but he is now considered to be among the greatest and most influential poets and visual artists of the Romantic Age. Blake's work continues to inspire authors, artists and filmmakers today. Bestselling author, Philip Pullman, has described William Blake as one of three major literary influences on 'His Dark Materials' and references to his artwork is found in films like The Wachowskis' 'V for Vendetta' (2006).

Preface by David Bindman, General Editor. Foreword. List of Abbreviations. Introduction. The Plates with a transcription of the text. Plates From Other Copies. Commentary on the text and the plates. Appendix. Works Cited.

Here is a book as joyous and painful, as mysterious and memorable, as childhood itself. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings captures the longing of lonely children, the brute insult of bigotry, and the wonder of words that can make the world right. Maya Angelou’s debut memoir is a modern American classic beloved worldwide. Sent by their mother to live with their devout, self-sufficient grandmother in a small Southern town, Maya and her brother, Bailey, endure the ache of abandonment and the prejudice of the local “powhitetrash.” At eight years old and back at her mother’s side in St. Louis, Maya is attacked by a man many times her age—and has to live with the consequences for a lifetime. Years later, in San Francisco, Maya learns that love for herself, the kindness of others, her own strong spirit, and the ideas of great authors (“I met and fell in love with William Shakespeare”) will allow her to be free instead of imprisoned. Poetic and powerful, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings will touch hearts and change minds for as long as people read. “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings liberates the reader into life simply because Maya Angelou confronts her own life with such a moving wonder, such a luminous dignity.”—James Baldwin From the Paperback edition.