Student: Dasclu Claudia Cristina

Seminar Professor: Ioana Zirra

Faculty of Foreign Languages, Bucharest
3rd Yar, Group 1

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint Exupry and Song of

Innocence and Experience by William Blake
The Theme of Innocence, as opposed to Experience
All grown-ups were once children...
but only few of them remember it.
(Antoine de Saint- Exupry)

The Little Prince, first published in 1943, is Antoine de Saint-Exuprys most

famous and appreciated work, a masterpiece of the universal literature which is designed for
both adult and children readership. Written amidst the terror and confusion of the Second
World War, this tale reflects the authors belief in true values, such as the importance of
imagination and altruism.

The novel includes a number of drawings by Saint-Exupry

himself, which are reproduced in most versions. It is a book that can be read at two different
levels, a surface level, mainly dedicated to kids, and a deep level, which comprises ideas and
notions denoting abstract concepts related to life, friendship, love, loss and mutual
understanding. Each and every character in this story brings a universal message, a message
which carries hidden meanings and a profound symbolism. Neil Clark claims that this book
provides a bird's eye view of humanity [and] contains some of the most profound
observations on the human condition ever written", and that the work doesn't merely
express his contempt for selfishness and materialism [but] shows how life should be lived.
A very important theme of this parable is that of innocence; the relation which
gradually establishes between naivet, adulthood and experience is another important aspect
that has to be taken into consideration. Because of the existence of these traits, The Little
Prince can be compared with William Blakes romantic poem, Songs of Innocence and

Experience (1794) that is because both literary works deal with the clash between the
pastoral world of childhood and the repressive, corrupted world of the adults.
Built up through the means of fantasy, the book evokes the story of a child, the
little prince, who wonders the universe, visiting different planets. Engaged in a fabulous
journey, he becomes a hero of the quest who, by travelling in various spaces, goes through an
initiatic itinerary which corresponds to a profound experience of knowledge. It is not hard to
notice that the same idea is depicted by William Blake in his Song of Innocence, a poem
that illustrates the naive hopes and fears which characterize the life of children, tracing it as
they reach adulthood. For Antoine de Saint-Exupry and for William Blake, there exists a
powerful opposition between the pure world of childhood and the distorted idea of maturity
which is seen as a destructive force. Both writers plead for the simplicity and purity of a
childs imagination, soul and thoughts in detriment of the responsibilities and duties that
define the adult life.
The story of the little prince starts with the narrator who explains that when he
was a child, he once drew a boa constrictor ingesting an elephant. When showing his sketch to
the adults around him, they all misunderstood it and took it as a hat. In my opinion, this is the
first clue that points to the main idea of the book. The narrator is at that time disappointed and
certain that the mature people are not able to reach the profound sense of things: But since
the grown-ups were not able to understand it, I made another drawing. [...] They always need
to have things explained.1 As an adult, the narrator becomes a pilot but on an unlucky day,
his plane crashes in the Sahara desert. Here he meets the little prince, a most extraordinary
small person with whom he becomes friends. His name suggests spontaneity, curiosity and
game but it can be also understood as denoting the princely condition of the human being.
On each planet, the prince meets a different type of adult and reveals that characters
frivolities and weaknesses. Once on Earth, however, the little prince becomes a student as
well as a teacher who teaches the narrator the definition of responsibility and it is vital for a
person to know how to take care of what he had tamed.
The protagonist, the little prince has the most proeminent traits of innocence; he is
intelligent but also thoughtful, perfectly embodying the immaculate and ingenuous world of
childhood which can become immortal. Making a connection with William Blakes poetic
1 The Little Prince

vision, I think that there exists symmetry between the two authors works. William Blake
seems to mourn the passing and loss of childhood, but, in the mean time he asserts that having
passed through the sufferings of experience, one can possibly achieve a final state that regains
innocence again, this time tempered by wisdom. When he recollects childhood, his feelings
express joy, blissfulness and ecstasy:
Piping down the valleys wild,
Piping songs of pleasant glee,
On a cloud I saw a child,
And he laughing said to me:
Pipe a song about a lamb!
So I piped with merry cheer.
Piper, pipe that song again.
So I piped: he wept to hear.2

A parallel can be made between these stanzas and the apparently simple demand of
the little prince: Thus you can imagine my amazement, at sunrise, when I was awakened by
an odd little voice. It said: "If you please - draw me a sheep!" "What!" "Draw me a sheep!

The lamb (or the sheep) connects religion with the natural world. Traditionally, it stands for
innocence. In the Christian Gospels Jesus Christ is compared to a lamb because he willingly
sacrifices himself for humanity. Moreover, the lamb (seen as baby sheep) is associated with
the idea of childhood, so we can observe how much the two literary works merge one into
each other.

In addition to this, I want to mention another connection between the two works that
I find debatable. It is about the fragment in which the rose tells the little prince something
about her thorns: One day, for instance, when she was speaking of her four thorns, she said

2 Songs of Innocence- Introduction

3 The Little Prince

to the little prince: Let the tigers come with their claws! 4. I think that it is very possible for
Exupry to have here alluded to the tiger in Blakes Songs of Experience. Through his
poem The Tyger, Blake tries to create a state of detachment and indifference that is
characteristic to adults: Tiger, tiger, burning bright/ In the forests of the night, / What
immortal hand or eye/ Could frame thy fearful symmetry? 5 The tiger is seen as a malefic
figure ,whose symmetric nature becomes terryfing. Maybe this means that the tiger embodies
the evil in the world, which, for Blake is represented by the period of maturity. In Antoine de
Saint-Exuprys vision, this evil can be counteracted: I am not at all afraid of tigers, the
rose continued.6 Moreover, the open awe of The Tyger contrasts with the easy confidence,
in The Lamb of a childs innocent faith in a benevolent universe: By the stream & oer the
mead/ Gave the clothing of delight/ Softest clothing wooly bright;/ Gave thee such a tender
voice. Making all the vales rejoice!7 To my mind, the tiger in William Blakes poem
corresponds to the snake in Antoine de Saint-Exuprys story. Nevertheless, the snake
demands less interpretation because of its biblical allusion. Its poisonous bite stands for a fatal
and imminent end, just like the nature of the tiger itself.
Moving forward, I find very interesting the little princes visit on the sixth planet and
the meeting with the geographer, represented by the author through dialogue. Step by step, the
dialogue becomes an allegory and the two roles actually designate two ages: the child and the
adult. The geographer proves to be a shallow man who, in fact, does not know too much about
his profession. He is obsessed with the so-called facts, over real truths and when the little
prince starts to describe him his planet, his candor does not strikes him as impressive "I have
also a flower."/"We do not record flowers," said the geographer. /"Why is that? The flower is
the most beautiful thing on my planet!"/"We do not record them," said the geographer,
"because they are ephemeral."8 The little prince does not understand the world ephemeral
and that he will lose his flower one day because it would not last forever; he does not
4 The Little Prince
5 Songs of Experience- The Tyger
6 The Little Prince
7 Songs of Innocence- The Lamb
8 The Little Prince

understand the notion of death, all these because he is so pure. His heart is not filled with
greed for money or material things and so he manages to preserve one of the most important
values of mankind. That is what William Blake also states in his poem: For Mercy, Pity,
Peace and Love/ Is God our Father dear/ And Mercy, Pity, Peace and Love/ Is man, His child,
and care.9 It seems that experience and all that implies this is the only factor that adds a
layer of darkness and opacity to the hopeful and joyful vision of childhood: They clothed me
in the clothes of death. / And taught me to sing the notes of woe.10
In conclusion, The Little Prince is an allegorical work that paves a way towards
knowledge, understanding and frankness. It brings a hypothetical solution to the problem of
the self and its retrieval. The basic concepts that Antoine de Saint-Exupry encapsulates in his
work are developed in a unique manner. The fact that the little prince and William Blakes
Song of Innocence and Experience have so much in common, reflects the same preoccupation
for beauty, good and purity of two writers that have lived at two centuries distance one from
another. In my opinion, this is what makes us human, the ability that enables us to search even
in the most intimate corners of our soul and to create, according to our own emotions and
feelings: And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one
can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye. (Antoine de Saint-Exupry)

9 Songs of Innocence- The Divine Image

10 Songs of Experience- The Chimney Sweeper

Bibliography
1. Clark, Neil. "Imagination Takes Flight: The Life and Mind of Antoine de SaintExupery", The American Conservative, October 2009.
2. De Saint-Exupery, Antoine; The little prince
3. Blake, William; Songs of Innocence and Experience
Websites
1. http://www.sparknotes.com/poetry/blake/analysis.html