This section showcases a selection of the Songs of Innocence and of Experience in their original illustrated form, but with pop-up notes and audio-features added.

First run your mouse over the title-pages below to get an idea of how the two books differ, then go on to enjoy eight of the poems.

The Songs of Innocence were published by Blake in 1789, and he produced a combined version of Songs of Innocence and of Experience in 1794. The Songs are now often studied for their literary merit alone, but they were originally produced as illuminated books, engraved, hand-printed, and coloured by Blake himself. The text of the poem and the accompanying illustration formed an integrated whole, each adding meaning to the other. Here you can examine three of the Songs of Innocence and five of the Songs of Experience in their original illustrated form.