This is what I eventually ended up doing my individual oral presentation on as it explores a wide variety of rather universal themes such as freedom and repression, nature and artificiality, organized religion and spirituality first from the viewpoint of youth typically characterised by naivete, optimism, faith, idealism and veneration towards the natural state of being and then through the viewpoint of experience, which is characterised by a degree of cynisism, pessimism and conservative rigidity often associated with older age of people who have gone through traumatic experiences.

The poems of Songs of Innocence and of Experience are memorably well written and unique in the sense that they form sorts of story collections amongst themselves, especially noticeable in how there is often two versions of the same poem from the abovementioned perspectives. This really binds the entire collection together as a single piece of work worthy of reading as such. Most of the poems are easy to understand on the surface with language significantly simpler than that of Shakespeare, though still not easy, but provide a lot of depth let alone stylistic devices upon closer inspection.

It then naturally follows that I recommend this to all English language students in need of works to analyze or compare. It is one of the fastest classics to read and so worth it for everyone so inclined. The poems are relatively accessible with social criticism relevant still during the modern day and so great for any young liberal trying to best distill their thoughts with or without interest towards poems. My personal favorites include: The Human Abstract, A Poison Tree and The Schoolboy. In Summary, it’s so quick to read for a classic that you might as well read it. There will be one or two poems that might really resonate with you.