Songs of Innocence (1789) is a collection of poems by William Blake, written, illustrated, engraved and coloured by the poet himself. Simple songs of children, lambs and shepherds, they were later paired with the darker Songs of Experience (1794).
Illuminated printing
Blake etched text and pictures together on copper plates with a method he called relief etching, then printed and coloured each copy by hand with his wife Catherine.
As a result, every surviving copy is different, and only a few dozen were made in his lifetime.
Innocence
The poems speak with the voices of children, mothers and shepherds, in a world of joy and protection. The Lamb, The Divine Image and The Chimney Sweeper are among the best known.
Beneath the simplicity, some poems, like The Chimney Sweeper, show the suffering of poor children in London.
Innocence and Experience
In 1794 Blake joined them with Songs of Experience, under the title Songs of Innocence and of Experience, Shewing the Two Contrary States of the Human Soul.
Several poems have counterparts: The Lamb answers The Tyger, and each Chimney Sweeper reflects the other.
Anecdotes
A method revealed in a dream
Blake said that the method of relief etching was revealed to him in a vision by his dead brother Robert, whom he had nursed until his death in 1787.
A rare book
Only a few dozen copies of the Songs printed by Blake himself survive, each one unique, and they are among the most precious books in English.
Frequently asked questions
Who illustrated Songs of Innocence?
Blake himself, who also engraved and hand-coloured each copy.
What is its companion collection?
Songs of Experience, published in 1794.
Which famous poem answers The Lamb?
The Tyger, in Songs of Experience.