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Summary William Blake's Songs of Innocence and Experience - Title page image analysis
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William Blake's Songs of Innocence and Experience - Title page image analysis
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Songs of Innocence and Experience was published in 1794 and was written by William Blake, apoet, painter, engraver and visionary. The title page to the anthology announces that the poems
present “the two Contrary States of the Human Soul.” Although it portrays that the “States” are
opposite in nature, many of the poems throughout the anthology merge the innocence and
experience of both the Bard and the Piper. These two antithetical perspectives seem to not be
able to view the world at the same time. Blake presents the “Human Soul” as either being full of
wonder or wisdom, naivety or cynicism; neither state existing at once. The experienced part of
the human soul has gained its understanding from living in a perhaps fallen world where we
learn from our mistakes. This then means that the soul becomes split from one that was once
full of innocence to one that has gained experience from its misunderstandings. Innocence
doesn’t directly correspond to a child figure/reader as Blake portrays everyone as having an
innocence inside them, almost a child-like wonder perhaps because no single human being can
experience everything.
In a Biblical sense, the contrary states Blake examines could correspond with the innocence of
Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden before the Fall. Arguably, after the Fall, death was
introduced to this ideal paradise of freedom where every living organism lived in harmony.
Therefore, Blake could be suggesting that the soul becomes experienced when it becomes
aware of death and naturally human beings avoid situations where they could come to harm.
Innocence could be portrayed as having a more naive outlook and therefore may come to harm
before they have experienced the situation. After the Fall, humans began to live in a world of
experience, which includes a knowledge of evil. Every human born after the Fall, where Eve ate
from the tree of Good and Evil after the devil tempted her, is therefore destined to be tempted
from the innocent to the experienced. Consequently, perhaps Blake is saying that experience
comes from giving into the temptation, even if it is a bad outcome, and learning from that
mistake. Before the Fall, the first man and woman were obedient to God and after, they were
banished for being disobedient. This idea could mean that humans may be born experienced as
God has banished humankind from the Garden of Eden, the place of pure innocence.
The title page to the anthology depicts a man and a woman cowering under flames that diminish
into the sky. The woman seems to be lying along the ground whilst the man stands over her to
stop the flames. Both figures look up into the sky almost in shock, perhaps suggesting their awe
during their transition from innocence to experience. Many images depicting Adam and Eve
show them as not wearing any clothes, similar to those in the picture. This perhaps suggests
that these figures could be Adam and Eve after they were banished from the Garden of Eden
and then are experiencing what the world is truly like. The reds and yellows of the flames are
the complete antithesis of the light blue of the sky, making them seem menacing. The flames
also intertwine between the lettering of the title, perhaps presenting experience as creeping in
on the innocent. The source of the flames seems to focus around the male and female which
could be Blake suggesting that humans create their experience themselves and perhaps that
humans could stay in a state of innocence if they chose to. This idea could be shown through
the bird on the right of the print which seems to be unharmed by the flames, portraying the
innocence of nature and that humans could have a choice of whether to experience or stay
innocent. Arguably, experiencing the world is inevitable as humans age and therefore, there are
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