Innocence vs. Experience

Innocence and Experience are always battling each other. One day you are innocent, and the next you know too much and can no longer be considered innocent. But what makes one innocent?? Are you innocent just because you do not know?? For instance, if I don't know about psychology per say, does that mean I am innocent in that matter?? Or, is innocence just a universal idea that is all there at once and goes away at the snap of a finger??? When we talked about William Blake's Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience, I did not expect them to be reciprocals of each other. I did not think one was about an innocent baby, and then on the other side, there was one about an experienced baby. For instance, in "Infant Joy," the baby and the mother are having a conversation and the mother's voice seems to dominate their conversation. The mom over powers the baby because the baby is a newborn and still has "no name" and is "two days old." The mom is so happy to have the baby and sings to the baby. The baby is just now learning what the world is about. Heck, the baby is brand new! It knows nothing! The baby has no idea what is going on other than that it has things to look at now and is just in a whole new setting! This is why Blake put "Infant Joy" in the Songs of Innocence. The innocent newborn baby is overpowered by the mother who has experience in life. However, when the coin is flipped, the baby explains how the mother and father are both upset. But what are they upset about??? OHH!!! The baby has learned and no longer has innocence!! "Infant Sorrow" does not seem to me like the baby is sad. It seems more to me that the baby is happy while the mom and dad are extremely sad. I mean the dad is crying. How often do men actually cry....?? And how often do women cry....?? Exactly. Women cry a lot more. The word that sticks out to me the most is the "swaddling." It makes me think of how the mom and dad are trying to trap the baby in its innocence and keep it there. When a baby is swaddled, it's kind of stuck--arms to its side and legs bound straight. There's not much you can do after that. The baby even says that it jumps into the "dangerous world." The baby knows life isn't fun and games. The baby knows that it needs to be careful with what it does. That is what I see in both of these songs as the change in innocence and experience. You cannot take away the baby's knowing of the world. However, I liked "Infant Joy" better because it was happy and I did not have to think about the "dangerous world" that Blake talks about.