“Introduction (Songs of Innocence)” Summary

“Introduction (Songs of Innocence)” Themes

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  Creative Inspiration

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  The Nature of Innocence

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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Introduction (Songs of Innocence)”

• Lines 1-4

  Piping down the valleys wild
  Piping songs of pleasant glee
  On a cloud I saw a child.
  And he laughing said to me.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 5-8

  Pipe a song about a Lamb;
  So I piped with merry chear,
  Piper pipe that song again—
  So I piped, he wept to hear.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 9-12

  Drop thy pipe thy happy pipe
  Sing thy songs of happy chear,
  So I sung the same again
  While he wept with joy to hear

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 13-16

  Piper sit thee down and write
  In a book that all may read—
  So he vanish'd from my sight.
  And I pluck'd a hollow reed.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 17-20

  And I made a rural pen,
  And I stain'd the water clear,
  And I wrote my happy songs
  Every child may joy to hear

  

  

  

  

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“Introduction (Songs of Innocence)” Symbols

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  The Child

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  The Lamb

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“Introduction (Songs of Innocence)” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• Repetition

  

  

  

  

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• Parallelism

  

  

  

  

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• Imagery

  

  

  

  

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• Allusion

  

  

  

  

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“Introduction (Songs of Innocence)” Vocabulary

Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

• Glee
• Chear
• Thy, Thee
• Rural

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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Introduction (Songs of Innocence)”

• Form

• Meter

• Rhyme Scheme

“Introduction (Songs of Innocence)” Speaker

“Introduction (Songs of Innocence)” Setting

Literary and Historical Context of “Introduction (Songs of Innocence)”

More “Introduction (Songs of Innocence)” Resources

• External Resources

  • The Poem Illuminated — Compare and contrast some of Blake's hand-painted editions of Songs of Innocence. Blake published many of his books as illuminated manuscripts, in which pictures interweave with poems; consider how word and image interact here (especially in the illustrations to this "Introduction").

  • Portraits of Blake — Take a look at some portraits of Blake that capture his character: equal parts visionary and pugnacious. While he sat for the painted portrait at the top of the page, he described his friendship with the Archangel Gabriel to the artist.

  • A Brief Biography — Learn more about Blake's life and work via the British Library.

  • Songs of Innocence and of Experience — Learn more about the groundbreaking collections in which Blake printed this poem.

  • Blake's Legacy — Read a piece by the contemporary novelist Philip Pullman on what William Blake means to him.

• LitCharts on Other Poems by William Blake

  • A Dream

  • Ah! Sun-flower

  • A Poison Tree

  • Earth's Answer

  • Holy Thursday (Songs of Experience)

  • Holy Thursday (Songs of Innocence)

  • Infant Joy

  • Infant Sorrow

  • London

  • Nurse's Song (Songs of Experience)

  • Nurse's Song (Songs of Innocence)

  • The Chimney Sweeper (Songs of Experience)

  • The Chimney Sweeper (Songs of Innocence)

  • The Clod and the Pebble

  • The Divine Image

  • The Ecchoing Green

  • The Fly

  • The Garden of Love

  • The Human Abstract

  • The Lamb

  • The Little Black Boy

  • The Little Vagabond

  • The School Boy

  • The Sick Rose

  • The Tyger

  • To Autumn

  • To the Evening Star