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Title
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Title Page: Songs of Innocence and of Experience (2016)
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Student Commentary:
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On the combined title pages for Songs of Innocence and Experience (2016 facsimile), two human figures, nude save for branches that act as loincloths, are both positioned horizontally in despairing postures with their faces obstructed from view. The figure on the ground appears to be female, and hovering inches above her is a male figure. Blake scholars theorize that these figures are intended to be Adam and Eve fleeing from the Garden of Eden. They cling to the verdant field beneath them as the sky is streaked with flames. The flames transform into smoke that forms the word “Songs” at the top of the image. Several birds fly throughout the words of the title.
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. The obvious difference with this copy, for example, is that it is not colored. Instead, Michael Phillips was testing the printing process by using one color at a time, which later would have been filled in with watercolors. Comparing it to the 1955 version of this image, for example, allows us to analyze almost a “negative” version and different effect of Blake’s work. Not available at the William Blake Archive; consult the book in Schaffer Library for a detailed view of the image.
