Songs of Innocence: The Little Black Boy (second plate)

Songs of Innocence: The Little Black Boy (second plate) by William Blake is a profound example of the artist's illuminated printing technique, combining text and imagery to explore complex themes of innocence, spirituality, and race. Created between 1789 and 1825, this specific impression was produced via relief etching printed in a warm orange-brown ink, subsequently finished by hand with delicate watercolor washes and detailed accents of shell gold. This combination of printmaking and painting renders each impression unique, characteristic of Blake's intensely personal publishing method.

The image illustrates the second half of Blake's influential poem concerning a young Black boy contemplating his eventual liberation from his "cloudy tent" of mortality and oppression. The illustration depicts the protagonist and a white boy standing together under a sheltering tree, suggesting the possibility of mutual empathy and unity. The print emphasizes the connection between the boys, framed by leafy foliage and pastoral simplicity, reinforcing the idealized concept of childhood inherent in the Songs of Innocence collection.

As a significant example of British Romantic printmaking and poetry, the piece resides in the esteemed collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Blake, a highly original figure of his era, used this medium to circulate radical spiritual and social commentary. The representation of the figures, particularly the contemplative young boys, offers insight into 18th and early 19th-century notions of salvation and equality, filtered through the artist's distinct mythological lens.