Songs of Innocence

Dover has done the reading world an enormous favor by keeping books like this available in low-cost editions. Poems like "The Little Black Boy," The Chimney Sweeper," and "The Lamb" are among the sweetest, saddest lyrics ever penned by a poet in English. Reading these poems in an edition that provides facsimile color reproductions of the original watercolor plates (painted individually by hand) helps in our perception of them. These poems were meant to be absorbed visually. Branches, vines and leaves weave through the lines as we read. Of course children can appreciate the sentiment and charm of the poems, but older readers will see their sharp social criticism as well, especially when balanced against matching poems in Blake's "Songs of Experience." This book has my favorite pastoral lyics in the language. It is a permanent contribution to the spirit of humankind.