 As he had on his 1968 debut album Song of Innocence , Axelrod composed musical interpretations of the works of English poet William Blake on Songs of Experience . He used eight poems from Blake 's Songs of Experience ( 1794 ) . The album 's gatefold featured Blake 's poems reprinted for each song and liner notes that stated , " an anthology of awareness after birth ... based on the 18th century poems of William Blake . " Blake 's poems began with the premise of birth and innocence , and explored themes of life experience , rite of passage , and changes of perspective in life . 
