Songs of Innocence, and Songs of Experience

This is a collection of illustrated poems by William Blake. The collection consists of 483 conceptual poems engraved with artwork and the volume's "Contrary States" are sometimes signalled by patently repeated or contrasted titles. The poems present Blake's acute sensibility to the realities of poverty and exploitation that accompanied the "Dark Satanic Mills" of the Industrial Revolution. The book also includes both Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience, showcasing happy, innocent perception in pastoral harmony, and subtly showing the dangers of this naive and vulnerable state.