Satire and Expression in Blake's Songs Kate Fox

Blake was undoubtedly a fierce critic of many aspects of 18th century society, and through his poetry, called on people to free themselves from the 'mind-forged manacles' which religious dominance and social conventions had placed upon them. His strong feelings of outrage at the complacency of the individual, as well as his railing against the authority of institutions like the monarchy and the church, make for some of Blake's most interesting and compelling poetry. However, whilst satire forms a large element of many of Blake's poems, it is by no means the full measure of his comment on society and human nature - whilst he uses irony where appropriate, the Songs are not primarily a satire but an expression of 'two contrary states of the human soul'.

In Songs of Innocence especially, Blake's use of satire is subtle - he states in his Introduction that he has written his 'happy songs, Every child may joy to hear' and in this context, a blatantly satirical approach would have been inappropriate. Nevertheless, Blake attempts to tackle the racial injustices in the 18th century in 'The Little Black Boy' through satire. At the time of its writing, slavery had another 20 years before it would...