Discusses how William Blake shows innocence and experience are not defined by a person's age or complexity of thinking in Songs of Innocence and Experience.
Humans experience sorrow as one of the human conditions. We feel sorrow because of "mental suffering caused by loss, disappointment." William Blake plays with the perception of sorrow in both Songs of Innocence as well as in Songs of Experience. Blake illustrates the innocent aspect of sorrow in, "On Another's Sorrow," and also displays the experienced aspect of sorrow in, "Infant Sorrow." When examining these poems, it is first important to realize that both of these poems can stand alone, as extensions of Innocence and Experience. Innocence is portrayed through an individual's observation of sorrow, and experience conveys an infant's perception of sorrow. It is also important to compare the two poems in order to realize Blake's argument that complexity of thinking and years of age are not defining characteristics of innocence and experience.
"On Another's Sorrow," is a complex poem that seems to deal with an innocent individual's perception of sorrow, and the way in which God responds to sorrow. The speaker of the poem asks, "Can I see another's woe, / And not be in sorrow too?" The voice in this poem does not seem desensitized to the sorrow in the world, for the speaker feels that the sight of seeing another's sorrow, is enough to make them, or anyone feel that same sorrow. Our 21st century attitudes may see this as a very naïve or innocent view. There is a lot of sorrow in the world today, such as poverty, famine, and other distresses which people encounter, that most people often turn their back to. We do not always partake in our fellow human's sorrow. The speaker also asks, "And can he who smiles on all / Hear the wren with sorrows small, / Hear the small bird's grief & care / Hear the woes that infants bear." Here the speaker is questioning God's position in the sorrows of humans. The poem refers to the wren, a very small bird. Possibly the bird is representative of very small infants. The speaker seems sure that God hears the cry of these infants, but Songs of Experience suggests otherwise.
"Infant Sorrow," in Songs of Experience, deals with the sorrow of a newborn infant. The poem reads, "Into the dangerous world I leapt: Helpless, naked, piping loud," The infant is thrown into the world as it emerges from its mother. The newborn is naked, screaming with incomprehension of its physical surroundings, yet still able to experience this feeling of sorrow or distress. The poem then continues, "Like a fiend hid in a cloud." When we think of a fiend we do not often think of a newborn baby, but we rather think of something to the extent of the monster created by Victor Frankenstein in Mary Shelly's Frankenstein. Both the monster in Frankenstein and the newborn in "Infant Sorrow" have a rather sublime experience as they enter into the world with no comprehension of anything. "Hid in a cloud," suggests the notion that the baby's mind is clouded by its new perceptions of the world. This is a rather ironic and yet depressing idea that a newborn, who has not lived long enough to really experience anything, could still experience sorrow during its first encounter with the world.
It is important not only to examine "On Another's Sorrow" and "Infant Sorrow" separately, but also in relation to one another in order to understand Blake's argument that experience is not necessarily something that comes with age or complexity of thinking. The person doing the experiencing in Songs of Experience, is the infant in "Infant Sorrow." The language of this poem is simple, and its length is short, conveying the simple mind of the infant. The child is not a complex thinker, but rather feels what it feels and simply experiences. On the contrary, the speaker in, "On Another's Sorrows," seems much older in age. The ideas presented in this poem not only deal with sorrow, but also the issue of God watching out for everyone. Although the speaker is older, and the poem is more complex, the person is still very innocent with respect to sorrow. When comparing these two poems, it becomes evident that Blake illustrates complexity of thinking, and years of age are not ultimate factors in the difference between innocence and experience.
It seems probable to say that William Blake had several goals in writing Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience. While we can look at poems in these books alone, often examining poems and their contraries between the two books, can help us develop a further understanding of Blake's intentions. Both "On Another's Sorrow," and "Infant Sorrow," deal with the human emotion of sorrow. When we compare the two different perspectives presented in these poems, it seems likely that one of Blake's goals was to illustrate the idea that the complexity of a person's thinking and a person's age, do not necessarily define innocence and experience.
