the underground realm of the dead. In the deceptively simple and lyrical "Songs of Innocence" and its counterpoint "Songs of Experience", Blake further explores this dichotomy, juxtaposing poems such as "The Lamb" and "The Tyger", and "The Blossom" and "The Sick Rose". William Blake (1757-1827) was an English poet, painter and printmaker, largely unrecognized in his own lifetime, but now widely acclaimed as a major figure in the history of the poetry and art of the Romantic Age. His major works include "Songs of Innocence", "Songs of Experience", "The Book of Thel", and "Milton: A Poem"