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Title
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Title Page: Songs of Innocence (1927)
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Student Commentary:
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On the title page of Songs of Innocence (1927 facsimile), a mother, clad in a long pink gown and a white bonnet, sits upright in a chair while children kneel by her feet. In her lap is a large book in which the children appear to be engrossed. Behind the scene of the mother and children reading together is a deep blue colored lake. In the foreground of the illustration is a tree trunk that appears old and rotten, but has a large fertile branch extending from it. The branch splits into several parts that form the title, Songs of Innocence. Small human figures and birds perch on the various letters that make up the word Songs.
The coloring and impact of this image should be compared to that of other reproductions in the library’s collections, made by different hands or from different original copies. A particularly strong comparison can be made to the 1926 facsimile title page, even though both were generally based on the same copy by Blake. The 1926 reproduction is bright and soft, whereas the 1927 title page is much richer and also darker. The dark blue sky almost makes it feel like a storm is coming, and the dark brown tree feels more eerie. It makes a stronger impression of the Songs of Experience to come.
