-
Title
-
Infant Joy (1927)
-
Student Commentary:
-
Two flowers bloom from a patch of grass in the bottom right corner of this plate from Songs of Innocence (1927 facsimile). One flower is still drooping and not fully formed. The other is a magnificent fuchsia and has opened its petals. Between the petals sits a young woman wearing a long yellow gown and holding a newborn child. A female figure with wings wearing a white gown stands across from the woman with arms extended, as if she is waiting to hold the child. The words “Infant Joy” are in light cursive writing at the top of the plate, with the rest of the poem nestled in between the stems of the flowers. The image reflects the “sweet joy” of the poem.
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. Like other images in the 1927 facsimile, for example, this copy of Infant Joy is colored in much darker, richer tones than in the 1954 facsimile. Its flowers and stems are accented with the deepest shades of color, which might normally imply that they are towards the end of their life span. According to the poem, however, this is an occasion of “infant joy.”
