English Literature

Week 20

Please read:

Historical background, pp. 423-427.

William Blake:

• “Introduction” (Songs of Innocence), p. 429.
• “Introduction” (Songs of Experience), p. 429.
• “The Lamb” (Songs of Innocence), p. 430.
• “The Tyger” (Songs of Experience), p. 430.
• “Holy Thursday” (Songs of Innocence), p. 431.
• “Holy Thursday” (Songs of Experience), p. 431.
• “The Divine Image” (Songs of Innocence), p. 433.
• “The Human Abstract” (Songs of Experience), p. 433.
• “Proverbs of Hell” (The Marriage of Heaven and Hell), p. 434.
• “A New Jerusalem” (Milton), p. 435-6.

A fascinating collection of both Blake’s poetry and his remarkable graphical art is available at The William Blake Archive; it is definitely worth taking a look.

Robert Burns:

• “To a Mouse”, pp. 439-440.
• “John Anderson, My Jo”, p. 440.
• “A Red, Red Rose”, p. 441.
• “Auld Lang Syne”, p. 441.

You can find a selection of Burns’ other poems here at the Poetry Archive site; there is also a broad collection of texts and other information at the Burns Country site.

Mary Wollstonecraft, from A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, pp. 444-446.

If you are interested, you can find the whole text of the Vindication here at Project Gutenberg.

Please take the background quiz for Unit V.