The interesting progression we are able to witness looking
back on Blake’s life shows us that through the creation and evolution of Songs of Innocence and of Experience his
boldness in pouring forth his radical ideals unto the world was like a snowball
effect that wasn’t going to stop. If we take a look at the progression of the
art style he used when creating the accompanying plates for his poetic works,
we can see this evolution through the changing aspects of the different
versions.
Blake wrote Songs of Innocence
hiding his commentaries on the detrimental state of society behind mainstream
ideas. On the other hand, when he wrote Songs
of Experience, he was ready to unveil his unadulterated thoughts to the
world: that of despair and corruption. His plates, moving from light colors to
darker and starkly more dramatic ones, also decidedly become more and more
transparent in intent. I thought the cover art was very interesting in the
minutia. The experienced figure is shielding the innocent one, yet in most versions,
the upper figure is of a darker coloring (cool colors), while the lower is
portrayed as golden, or warm. In the first edition, both heads are down with
face hidden, and the upper character has more shading, though common sense
would tell the viewer it should be the other way. In the later versions of
1826, the colors are decidedly more vibrant, using maroon and blue hues rather
than the sepia and watered-down reds of the former version. Also, the innocent
figure’s face is now shown. The coloring of the two figures is more even,
however I can still discern a different atmosphere surrounding each of them.
Ultimately, I was surprised that it is experience that is shielding innocence,
but since innocence is distraught, perhaps experience isn’t doing the best job.
This could be an ultimate criticism of the times because it is saying, there is
no protection for the innocent is there?
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