Songs of Innocence: Night
Original title: Songs of Innocence: Night
kurzbeschreibung
Unlike most plates in the Songs of Innocence, which are purely pictorial, William Blake's "Songs of Innocence: Night" (1789, printed around 1825) puts the poem itself into the picture. This relief etching, printed in orange-brown ink and hand-colored, joins ornamental lettering to a nocturnal landscape of trees and deer.
Description
The word "Night" crowns the page in stylized script; below it the block of verse spreads out, framed by a tree with slender branches and small leaves. Blues fill the ground and set the nighttime mood. Along the lower edge two deer lie in hilly terrain among trees. Blue and green dominate, broken by orange and brown accents in branches and foliage. Watercolor and applied gold give the print a lively, richly detailed surface; the page number 20 stands at the upper right.
Context
This leaf belongs to Blake's illustrated collection Songs of Innocence, first published in 1789; the present version was made around 1825, when Blake reprinted his works to order. For relief etching he devised a method that unites text and image on a single printing plate. The collection falls in a period of political and social upheaval in England, shaped by the French Revolution.
Impact
Delicate linework and luminous watercolor combine into a dreamlike, idyllic mood. The nocturnal setting feels calm and harmonious, carried by soft blues and greens. Because word and image form one whole, the viewer steps straight into Blake's poetic world.
Technique
In relief etching the printing areas are left standing while the surrounding field is etched away. The sheet was printed in orange-brown ink on paper, then hand-colored with watercolor and shell gold, so that every copy takes on its own bright appearance.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)