William Blake: Songs of Innocence and ExperienceWilliam Blake was born in the year 1757 in the city of London. Although he had no recognized education, he was taught to read and read a wide range of literature. In his later works one can see the influences of some writers and poets. Blake studied drawing at a local school. He also studied temporarily at the Royal Academy School, in the early 1770s. This introduction to the art formed Blakeas' career as a printmaker. Blake opened a printing press, which was not very successful. He found himself out of business. For the rest of his life Blake earned his living as an engraver and illustrator. Blake was a strict Christian and had very strong opinions about society. Blake was also a radical, compassionate towards the American and French Revolutions. During his lifetime more and more factories were opened and more and more children were enslaved to labor. Blake hated child labor and anything that incarcerates the human spirit. Therefore he was against the king, the church institution and the priest. Blake believed that the church suppressed the human spirit and forced people to work. He hated the laws of the church, according to which people were put into classes based on their wealth. There was no way for the poor to move up to a higher class since they could not marry into a richer class. Blake wrote poetry as a means of conveying his ideas to the wealthy. Although during Blake's lifetime very few of his poems were read and appreciated. . Blake wrote two collections of poetry, Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience. As evident from the titles of the collections, these states appear to contradict each other. Innocence is reminiscent of carefree and innocent children. Innocence can mean blamelessness and purity or it can also mean inexperience or simplicity. From this we see that states of innocence can be for or against a person. Innocence as purity can be good