Auguries of Innocence by Patti Smith



Auguries of Innocence is a poetry collection by Patti Smith, published in 2005. This collection of poetry includes twenty-six recent poems penned by the active, contemporary poet. Drawing on some of her many influences such as William Blake and Arthur Rimbaud, Smith's collection here demonstrates over and over again her knack for detail. Obviously William Blake is a dominant influence on the poet herself, since the title of this collection, Auguries of Innocence, is similar to one of William Blake's most celebrated and recognized collection of poems, Songs of Innocence. Upon reviewing both collections it is clearly obvious that both collections share more commonalities than just similar titles. One commonality between this collection and that by Blake's, in regards to the content, is that the poems collected here exhibit subtle nods to the late, great Blake. For example, in one of her poems, The Long Road, by the end of the very first verse the reader has already been exposed to such suggestive visuals as the speaker of the poem sleeping in chimneys and chewing on bulbs, as well as the speaker "sweeping time". Such visuals of Smith's conjure up recollections in the seasoned and experienced reader's mind of Blake's The Chimney Sweeper and The Blossom. While the majority of the twenty-six collected poems have some type of stanza-like arrangement the poet also incorporates several free-verse style poems into the collection, such as Mummer Love, Eve of All Saints, Our Jargon Muffles The Drum, and Written By A Lake.