Discuss the Songs of Innocence and of Experience as "Contrary states of the human soul."

Well, the simplest answer to this question is that the two
states of innocence and experience are captured in the two groups of poems, and the
difference between these two states is emphasised by the relationship between the
parallel poems. Innocence seems to be a condition that is very similar to being a child.
As poems like "The Lamb" and "The Chimney Sweeper" illustrate, this childlike state is
one in which the natural and human world is regarded without fear and where we are
secure and have a home. We can also equate the state of innocence in Blake's work to
that of being happy with our sexuality and with our bodies. The state of innocence in
this way deviates significantly from any biblical parallels with the Garden of
Eden.

The collection of poems, however, point towards the
way that innocence as a state is not eternal, although we can do our best to cling on to
it through beauty, poetry and love. As we move into adulthood with its accompanying
responsibilities, duties and cares, the state of experience supersedes the state of
innocence. However, Blake appears to make it clear that this progression is inexorable,
we as humans exacerbate this transition through all kinds of harshness and lack of
forgiveness politically, religiously and personally. Hence the famous phrase of the
"mind-forg'd manacles" that dominates "London." Blake thus points towards the way that
we enchain ourselves through our customs and traditions and through our own personal
outlook on life. Through this phrase Blake points towards the forces of violence at work
in society at large, but he also indicates that this is a process of internalisation as
we accept these forces without question and as facts of life.