At its most fundamental level, adulthood is simply the end of childhood, and the two stages are, by all accounts, drastically different. In the major poetic works of William Blake and William Wordsworth, the dynamic between these two phases of life is analyzed and articulated. In both Blake's Songs of Innocence and of Experience and many of Wordsworth's works, childhood is described as a higher state of mental capacity and freedom. The two poets echo each other in stating that the individual's progress towards adulthood diminishes this infantile voice. In essence, both poets demonstrate an adoration for the vision possessed by a child and an aversion to the mental state of adulthood. Although both Blake and Wordsworth show childhood as a state of greater innocence and spiritual vision, their view of its relationship to adulthood is different: Blake believes that childhood is crushed by adulthood, while Wordsworth sees the childhood living in adulthood. of Innocence and Experience, the vision of children and adults are placed in opposition to each other. Blake portrays childhood as a time of optimism and positivity, of greater connection with the natural world, and where joy is the overpowering emotion. This joyful nature is shown in Infant Joy, where the speaker, an infant, states "'I am happy, / Joy is my name.'" (Lines 4-5) The speaker in this poem is described as immediately joyful, which represents Blake's broader vision of childhood as a state of joy that is untouched by humanity and undimmed by real-world experience. In contrast, Blake's portrayal of adulthood is characterized by negativity and pessimism. Blake's son saw the happier aspects of the natural world... center of the card... lake and Wordsworth sees the relationship between childhood and adulthood as one of difference in vision and state of mind . The two poets mirror each other in this statement, but differ elsewhere. While Blake sees this dichotomy as a matter of conflict, Wordsworth believes that the two mentalities are capable of co-existing within the individual. The relationship between children and adults is not at all new in human life. The two eras of human existence are drastically different in their mentality and worldview. In the poetry of William Blake and William Wordsworth this difference between children and adults and their respective states of mind is articulated and developed. As a person ages, they undeniably move from childhood to adulthood, and their mindset moves with them. On the shoulders of Blake and Wordsworth, the reader is taken on this journey.