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Title
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London (1983)
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Student Commentary:
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In this image from the “experience” section of Songs of Innocence and of Experience (1983 facsimile), an old man with a long beard and robe walks through the streets of, presumably, London. He is using a crutch, as well as getting assistance from a small boy. The streets are dim and dirty. A beam of light shines down upon the old man and the boy. In the bottom sector of the plate, a man clothed in green warms his hands by a raging fire. The smoke billows up into the top half of the plate.
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. Compared to the 1955 reproduction, for example, this “London” utilizes more of the open space. The text is wrapped with a border instead of filled in with color. The scene at the top is also less colorful than the 1955 version; there is also less emphasis on the beam of light. These differences reflect differences in the original copies by Blake that were used as models for each of the two facsimiles.
