A couple weeks ago in my British Literature class we were assigned to read the poems of Romanticism poet, William Blake, and then to create our own poetry based off of his work. My teacher allowed me to borrow a copy of Blake's Songs of Innocence and of Experience, and after reading every poem found within its pages I was inspired to create the pieces I've included below.
William Blake's poetry from this collection I would describe as before and after shots. One poem would depict a sensation of innocence, or an absence of knowledge, while the second poem would show a revelation of sorts. In Blake's poem Infant Joy he starts by writing as a baby who only two days old, and is completely new to the world and is excited to be alive. However, in Blake's follow up poem Infant Sorrow a realization has occurred that life isn't always joyful.
I tried to capture this innocence to realization in the poems I wrote titled Night Terror and Awake, which starts by depicting an individual being chased only later to have a realization that it was all only a dream:
Night Terror
I'm running through darkness.
Where did he go?
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| William Blake, poet of the Romantic Age. |
I can't catch my breath.
Where did he go?
I hide behind a tree.
I can hear him chasing me.
I hold my breath.
I hear him stop.
The silence grows loud.
Where did he go?
I go out to look, but he's gone.
Where did he go?
I turn around, but I'm alone.
Where did he go?
I turn back and I scream.
Awake
My body jolts.
Where did he go?
I'm in my bed.
Where did he go?
He was just in front of me,
smiling like a devil...
We were in the woods.
Impossible – it wasn't real.
I'm in my bed.
Where did he go?
He isn't real.
Where did he go?
He was just in my head.
Where did he go?
It was just a dream.
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