Songs of Innocence: Laughing Song

William Blake’s Songs of Innocence: Laughing Song is a celebrated plate from his illuminated collection of poems, often bound together with the companion volume, Songs of Experience. Created over the extended period between 1789 and 1825, this work exemplifies Blake’s unique method of combining literature and art through illuminated printing. The initial layer of the print was executed using relief etching, a laborious technique where Blake etched both the text and the visual imagery onto copper plates, allowing both elements to be printed simultaneously in a distinct orange-brown ink.

Blake often finished the basic prints with meticulous hand-coloring, applying rich watercolor washes and selective touches of shimmering shell gold to enhance the visual experience. The scene visually interprets the accompanying poetry, depicting groups of joyous figures-men and women-gathered together under an archway of verdant nature, embodying the theme of pastoral innocence and shared laughter.

Blake's combination of image and verse established him as a singular figure in the history of British Romanticism, pioneering a method that ensured his literary and artistic vision remained indivisible. This specific impression is part of the extensive collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, preserving a crucial example of Blake’s prints for posterity. Due to the age and the revolutionary nature of the technique, the original copies, such as this one, remain cornerstones of the era, and many of Blake's visionary works are now widely available for scholarly study and public domain access.