Songs of Innocence and Experience generally supports the idea that there are two states of the human soul: the pastoral, pure, natural world of lambs and flowers on the one hand, and the world of Experience characterized by exploitation, cruelty, conflict and hypocritical humility on the other (Fonge, 2009). In this essay I will carefully examine William Blake's poems and engravings of Introduction (Innocence), Introduction (Experience), and Earth's Answer (found in Experience) and critically discuss the extent to which Blake succeeds in showing the duality of the human soul. and condition. As a starting point, it is worth noting that Blake was critical of the church, however this did not mean he was not a Christian. He believed in the Bible, Heaven and Hell. As a result of his Christian beliefs there is a strong religious theme which influences and informs his works, both poems and engravings. Blake was also a radical and was critical of the state and its social structures, which is also reflected in his works. Blake presents in Songs of Innocence and Experience that the human soul has a dual nature, essentially consisting of phases and stages of both good and evil. The songs of innocence not only represent the innocence of the human soul in its initial stage of life (childhood), but also describe the spiritual connection of the soul to its creator while; the songs of Experience represent the intrinsic evil side of the soul (Fonge, 2009). I will now go into a detailed discussion of each poem and illustrate how Blake manages to establish the contrary states of the human soul. In the poem Introduction (Songs of Innocence) we immediately encounter the distinct use of the diction "happy". 'pleasant', 'joy'... middle of paper... if all the innocence is gone. The etching of the poem has quite obvious natural illustrations in terms of leaves and fruit, yet everything seems very impoverished and exhausted, as if it were the last glimmer of hope, growth and innocence. It seems the experience took its toll; the serpent at the bottom of the etching may represent Satan (as depicted in the book of Genesis and the Garden of Eden), evil, and experience. This engraving is fitting as it supports the thesis that experience has imprisoned and exhausted innocence, light and hope. It can be concluded that Blake has succeeded in showing the two opposite states of the human soul in these three poems and their related engravings through diction. , theme, images and content. He uses his religious and political background as a springboard to establish and show the different states and create the dualism of the human soul.