Auguries of Innocence (Masterplots II: Poetry, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: William Blake
- First Published: 1863
- Type of Work: Poetic sequence
- Genres: Poetry, Lyric sequence
- Subjects: Children, God, Christianity, Faith, Hell, Prophecy or prophets, Life, philosophy of, Naivete, Animals, Heaven, Omens
The Poem
Except for the first four lines, “Auguries of Innocence” (written in 1803 but unpublished until 1863) consists of a long series of couplets, each of which contains a proverb. Although William Blake may have intended to reorganize the couplets, the poem as he left it in manuscript has no clear order. For this reason, some editors of the poem have rearranged “Auguries of Innocence” by grouping the couplets according to theme.
“Auguries” means omens or divinations, and “Innocence,” according to the subtitle of Blake’s Songs of Innocence and of...
[The entire page is 1538 words long]
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