Question

Two Cradle Songs: Innocence and Experience

William Blake

from Songs of Innocence

Sweet dreams, form a shade
O’er my lovely infant’s head!
Sweet dreams of pleasant streams
By happy, silent, moony beams!

Sweet Sleep, with soft down
Weave thy brows an infant crown!
Sweet Sleep, angel mild,
Hover o’er my happy child!

Sweet smiles, in the night
Hover over my delight!
Sweet smiles, mother’s smiles,
All the livelong night beguiles.

Sweet moans, dovelike sighs,
Chase not slumber from thy eyes!
Sweet moans, sweeter smiles,
All the dovelike moans beguiles.

Sleep, sleep, happy child!
All creation slept and smiled.
Sleep, sleep, happy sleep,
While o’er thee thy mother weep.

Sweet babe, in thy face
Holy image I can trace;
Sweet babe, once like thee
Thy Maker lay, and wept for me:

Wept for me, for thee, for all,
When He was an infant small.
Thou His image ever see,
Heavenly face that smiles on thee!

Smiles on thee, on me, on all,
Who became an infant small;
Infant smiles are His own smiles;
Heaven and earth to peace beguiles.

from Songs of Experience

Sleep, sleep, beauty bright,
Dreaming in the joys of night;
Sleep, sleep; in thy sleep
Little sorrows sit and weep.

Sweet babe, in thy face
Soft desires I can trace,
Secret joys and secret smiles,
Little pretty infant wiles.

As thy softest limbs I feel,
Smiles as of the morning steal
O’er thy cheek, and o’er thy breast
Where thy little heart doth rest.

O the cunning wiles that creep
In thy little heart asleep!
When thy little heart doth wake,
Then the dreadful light shall break.
Question

How do the themes of purity and corruption intersect in these two poems?
Responses

A In both poems, the child starts out pure but turns corrupt.

B In the first poem, the child is corrupt; in the second he is pure.

C In the first poem, the child is pure; in the second he is corrupt.

D In the first poem, the child is corrupt but becomes pure; in the second poem is pure but turns corrupt.

Answer 1

[AI-generated answer — Bot GPT 3.5]

C In the first poem, the child is pure; in the second, he is corrupt.

In the Songs of Innocence, the child is depicted as pure and innocent, surrounded by sweet dreams, smiles, and angelic imagery. In contrast, the Songs of Experience portray the child as experiencing sorrow, secret desires, and the inevitability of growing up and facing the harsh realities of the world. The intersection of purity and corruption in these two poems shows the progression from innocence to experience, highlighting the loss of purity and innocence as one grows older.