I found it interesting to compare the frontispieces, title
pages, and introductions of
Songs of
Innocence and
Songs of Experience.
Looking at the artwork didn't necessarily give me any insight that I couldn't
have gained from reading the work alone, but it did reinforce the difference
between the two books. Several poems are contained in both
Songs of Innocence and
Songs
of Experience but told from different perspectives, the artwork mirrors
this. The frontispiece for
Songs of
Innocence shows a musician or bard at the beginning of a journey looking up
curiously at an angel. The frontispiece for
Songs
of Experience shows a figure walking forward with eyes ahead, grasping an
angel firmly and carrying it. The introduction page for
Songs of Innocence reminds me of a children's book while the
introduction page for
Songs of Experience
shows a figure floating on a cloud in the night sky which gives me a
feeling of loneliness. The title page of
Songs
of Innocence shows children gathered around their mothers lap reading what
I think is a book. The title page of
Songs
of Experience shows two young people mourning a dead woman which I believe
is the same mother and children from the
Songs
of Innocence title page. These images impart to me the same feelings I get
from reading the text but they use no words. The images from
Songs of Innocence are more whimsical,
bright, hopeful, and of course innocent. The images from
Songs of Experience are more focused and somehow darker than their
counterparts. Maybe Blake was telling us that the price of gaining awareness,
intelligence and experience is the loss of some of our innocent optimism. All of this artwork and more is located at the
William Blake Archive.
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