Songs of Innocence (Title Page)

Songs of Innocence Title Page was William Blake's dramatic way of introducing his collection of illustrated poems. Blake completed and issued his poem book in 1789. The book is meant for children and has progressive views on the power of childhood.

The art carries the same message on the title of the page. Blake shows two children standing at the knee of their mother, who is reading from a book. They are outdoors in a garden, enjoying the cool of the countryside. A young vine entwines around a large tree trunk. This vine extends beyond the tree and provides them with shade. Besides, some birds are rising through the letters of the title. A distance from them is a piper who leans on the letter I. He wears a broad-brimmed hat.

As the viewer moves towards the top of the page, children play with letters O and G of the word SONGS. Besides, an angel leans against the letter N. He seems focused on the bookbeing read at the bottom of the page. Blake has used a mix of golden colours with green and blue hues to show leaves, greenery and the countryside. His depiction of the seated mother and two children shows the dressing common in the era. The calligraphy adds to its beautiful presentation. Blake uses symbolism to show what the readers will find when they open the book. First, the book takes the position of the seated mother reading stories. Blake wrote the poems in simple language to communicate with the young readers.

The piper who wears the broad-brimmed hat shows the fun side of children and the literature. At that time in history, pipers were the primary source of entertainment. The golden vine that grows from the bottom of the tree represents childhood. Children grow from the support of the society (which is the tree and eventually become of benefit to everyone around them. With good morality (as watched by the angel), the children then assist the whole community (as shown by the vine providing shade).

Style of Art

Blake uses the Romanticism style of art to present his message. Romanticism was a new type of art that started a few years before he drew this piece - Turner and Constable would become particularly famous for their contributions to this movement. The art emphasized imagination and nature in images. Artists were fighting neoclassic thinking, which defined how ideascould be presented in art. Blake uses the landscape and imagines how a vine can grow around a tree. He also adds the supernatural with the inclusion of an angel. The result is a masterpiece that looks good and presents the message, as he wants it.