Songs of Experience
IntroductionEarth’s AnswerThe Clod and the PebbleHoly ThursdayThe Little Girl LostThe Little Girl FoundThe Chimney-SweeperNurse’s SongThe Sick RoseThe FlyThe AngelThe TigerMy Pretty Rose-TreeAh, SunflowerThe LilyThe Garden of LoveThe Little VagabondLondonThe Human AbstractInfant SorrowA Poison TreeA Little Boy LostA Little Girl LostA Divine ImageA Cradle SongTo TirzahThe SchoolboyThe Voice of the Ancient Bard
Words in this poem
- clod n.
- A lump or mass, especially of earth, turf, or clay. [OE. clodde, latter form of clot. See Clot.]
- schoolboy n.
- A boy belonging to, or attending, a school.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Songs of Experience is in the public domain. This text is taken from Songs of Innocence and of Experience, Project Gutenberg ebook #1934; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: William Blake, Songs of Experience, in Songs of Innocence and of Experience (1789–1794), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1934, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/blake-songs/songs-of-experience.html, id L02868.
Form and metre
Songs of Experience is 28 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic dimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 4.1 syllables. 12 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 100% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic dimeter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ----A--B-C--C-------CAA-B--- introduction · answer · pebble · thursday · lostA · found · sweeper · songB · rose · flyC · angel · tiger · treeC · sunflower · lily · love · vagabond · london · abstract · sorrow · treeC · lostA · lostA · image · songB · tirzah · schoolboy · bard
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic dimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Introduction | 4 | ·˘/˘ |
| Earth’s Answer | 3 | ·/˘ |
| The Clod and the Pebble | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Holy Thursday | 4 | /˘/· |
| The Little Girl Lost | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| The Little Girl Found | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| The Chimney-Sweeper | 5 | ·/˘/˘ |
| Nurse’s Song | 3 | /˘· |
| The Sick Rose | 3 | ··· |
| The Fly | 2 | ·· |
| The Angel | 3 | ·/˘ |
| The Tiger | 3 | ·/˘ |
| My Pretty Rose-Tree | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| Ah, Sunflower | 4 | ·/·˘ |
| The Lily | 3 | ·/˘ |
| The Garden of Love | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| The Little Vagabond | 6 | ·/˘/˘˘ |
| London | 2 | /˘ |
| The Human Abstract | 5 | ·/˘˘/ |
| Infant Sorrow | 4 | /˘/˘ |
| A Poison Tree | 4 | ·/˘· |
| A Little Boy Lost | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| A Little Girl Lost | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| A Divine Image | 5 | ·˘//˘ |
| A Cradle Song | 4 | ·/˘· |
| To Tirzah | 3 | ··· |
| The Schoolboy | 3 | ·/· |
| The Voice of the Ancient Bard | 7 | ····/˘· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.