| Songs of Experience ("The Tiger"): A bitter incident in his own life led to an intense awareness of the evils arbitrarily created by man-made laws and institutions. He speaks out against the hypocrisy and cruelty that he experienced in the world. In Experience, he sees free and joyous love crushed by selfishness and by the prohibitions of a tradition-ridden church. In Experience, the children's laughter is silenced by interfering adults, and the children's frail bodies are exploited by society. These songs reverberate the intensity of his feeling in denunciatory phrases, tight rhythms, and searing imagery. |
