Redemption: ‘To Tirzah’

Abstract

All but one of the poems finally included in Songs of Innocence and Experience had been engraved by the end of 1795, and the book gave every appearance of being complete. It reflected, more comprehensively than any other engraved book of 1788–95, the range of Blake’s interests over those eight years; and as a two-part sequence of dramatic lyrics it also fulfilled the promise of its title page by ‘shewing the Two Contrary States of the Human Soul’. The variety of its artistic techniques was harmonised by a consistent approach to colouring in each copy; and a particular interpretation of its diverse perspectives was suggested by the selection of ‘The Clod and the Pebble’ as the final plate. Having brought Songs of Innocence and Experience to this degree of perfection, Blake turned from the production of engraved books to ambitious projects in other visual and literary modes.