Introduction, Songs of Experience - Crossref-it.info...Resource B – copy of the poem Resource C -...

Intertextuality and the context of reception: Introduction, Songs of Experience

by William Blake

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Lesson plan

Resources Resource A – quotation cards

Resource B – copy of the poem

Resource C - film clip of

Introduction

Resource D – close analysis task

sheets

Learning objectives To consider Blake and his mission

To discover the poem’s biblical

messages

To analyse closely the poem

Starter activity – Blake as narrator Recap prior knowledge about Blake

(e.g. artist and poet, religious non-

conformist, critical of society and

the established church, saw himself

as prophet, etc.). In his poem

Introduction, Blake presents himself

as ‘bard’ (poet) and sets out his

mission or purpose for his Songs of

Experience

Allocate quotation cards

[Resource A] to students, who

identify key words in the

quotation and infer something

about the bard and his mission

Feedback to create mind map on

the board – ‘Who is Blake the

bard?’

Use this information to make

predictions about the content of

the poem.

Introduction – reading the poem Read the poem [Resource B] and

hear the initial responses from

students as to what they think the

poem is about.

Label the stanzas as follows:

1) Introducing the Bard

2) The Bard’s mission

3) The Bard’s instructions to

earth

4) The Bard’s appeal to earth

Main activity 1 –

understanding the poem’s religious significance Blake is known for his use of religious

imagery and biblical allusion

What aspects of the poem do the

students recognize as being

religious?

Give students thinking time in

pairs, then they feedback ideas

and annotate the poem. (They

are likely to pick up at least

things like ‘Holy Word’ and

‘soul’ and some might get the

more abstract ideas of ‘trees’

and ‘fallen’ and some echoes of

biblical language)

Watch the film clip [Resource C]

and discuss the significance of the

Genesis story (i.e. man’s

disobedience in eating from the

tree leads to the ‘fall’ and a

breakdown in man’s relationship

with God, who is described as

walking in the garden)

What links can the students make

between the Genesis story and the

poem? For example:

a. Who is the ‘Holy Word’ who

walks in the garden in line

4?

i. Who is Blake claiming

he hears from?

b. What might be the

significance of the ‘trees’ in

line 5?

c. Why might souls be

described as ‘lapsed’ in line

6?

d. Why is ‘fallen’ repeated in

line 10?

e. Why might the Earth be

called to ‘return’ in line 11?

i. Where/what do people

need to return to? (God

/ the garden)

f. What might the images of

renewal (‘morn’, ‘break of

day’) suggest?


by William Blake

Dr


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Main activity 2 – group close

analysis of the poem and jigsaw peer-teaching Divide students into three even

groups and allocate task sheets

[Resource D]. More able students

could be given responsibility for

leading a group.

Once completed, jig-saw the

groups into new groups of three

so students can peer-teach the

topic they have been discussing.

Plenary – reflections What have we learnt this lesson

about:

Blake and his mission?

Blake’s view of the earth’s

condition?

Blake’s use of biblical imagery?

The meaning of the poem?

Homework Write an essay closely analysing the

poem.

Inte

rtex

tual

ity

and

the

cont

ext

of r

ecep

tion

: In

tro

du

cti

on

, S

ong

s o

f E

xp

eri

enc

e


by William Blake

Dr


of 5

Resources

Resource A – quotation cards

Hear the voice of the Bard

the Bard…present, past, and future, sees

[the Bard’s] ears have heard / The Holy Word

[the Bard is] Calling the lapsed soul

[the Bard is] weeping in the evening dew

[the Bard calls] ‘O Earth, O Earth, return!’

[the Bard calls] ‘O Earth… / Arise from out the dewy grass!’

[the Bard calls] ‘Turn away no more; / Why wilt thou turn

away?’

Inte

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by William Blake

Dr


of 5

Resource B

Introduction

Hear the voice of the Bard,

Who present, past, and future, sees;

Whose ears have heard

The Holy Word

That walked among the ancient trees;

Calling the lapsed soul,

And weeping in the evening dew;

That might control

The starry pole,

And fallen, fallen light renew!

‘O Earth, O Earth, return!

Arise from out the dewy grass!

Night is worn,

And the morn

Rises from the slumbrous mass.

‘Turn away no more;

Why wilt thou turn away?

The starry floor,

The watery shore,

Is given thee till the break of day.’

Resource C – http://www.crossref-it.info/articles/474/Songs-of-Experience-~-

Introduction

Inte

rtex

tual

ity

and

the

cont

ext

of r

ecep

tion

: In

tro

du

cti

on

, S

ong

s o

f E

xp

eri

enc

e

http://www.crossref-it.info/articles/474/Songs-of-Experience-~-Introduction

http://www.crossref-it.info/articles/474/Songs-of-Experience-~-Introduction


by William Blake

Dr


of 5

Resource D – close analysis task sheets

Closely consider the structure of the poem.

Find and label examples of the following, and then consider and make notes on the

effects created:

Rhyme

Different line-lengths

Enjambement (a run-on line)

Repetition

Contrast

List

Closely consider the language and imagery of the poem.


effects created:

Pastoral (natural / countryside) imagery

Water imagery

Light and dark imagery

Time words

Rising and falling imagery

Closely consider the voice and characters of the poem.


effects created:

Proper nouns (names)

Imperatives (instructions)

Exclamations

Questions

Promises/reassurances

Inte

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and

the

cont

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of r

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: In

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Introduction, Songs of Experience - Crossref-it.info...Resource B – copy of the poem Resource C -...

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