The following
paper discusses the role of the poet in reference to William Blake's famous set of 54 poems. The author feels
that the function of the poet is the feelings he is able to invoke, the tensions between forces/themes that he is able to create and the message that he is able to portray. From the paper: "By the time we tumble into the second cycle of songs, those of
experience, we are almost eager to do so. The poet no longer hears the voice of the child "piping"; he announces: "Hear the voice of the Bard!/Who Present, Past & Future sees." This poet sees "in evey face I meet/Marks of weaknes, marks of woe." (London). Many of the
poems are paired with poems of the first cycle. For Blake, man is torn between the forces of experience and innocence, two states of the soul. Now, in experience, we see "In a rich and fruitful land,/Babes reduced to misery" (Holy Thursday)".