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Thread: Sexual imagery in "the Blossom"?

  1. #1
    aspiring Arthurianist Wilde woman's Avatar
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    Sexual imagery in "the Blossom"?

    I was lucky enough to find an illustrated version of Songs of Innocence and Experience, but I was shocked at what the editor had to say about the illustration to "the Blossom". Basically, he claims that the illustrated "blossom" represents the penis, in both its aroused and unaroused states. Here is his claim;pardon his stilted language...apparently, you can't talk too properly about the sex act ():

    [Blake's illustration] illustrates the organ of generation both flaccid and erect, with the generative principle breaking from its crest in the form of tiny winged and happy figures. One has found its goal in the maiden's bosom; she sits contentedly among the flying joys, distinguished by her green dress and large angel's wings, since she, with her prospective motherhood, is an ideal figure to the male during the act of generation.
    Here is the picture in question.

    Do you agree? And, if so, why put such a poem in Innocence instead of Experience?

  2. #2
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    Innocence

    I would not have seen that without someone suggesting it. Perhaps it is because I am just beginning my study of Blake. It is somewhat overwhelming to try and understand these works. I'm finishing a degree after a 25 year absence and struggle to see these (to me) hidden meanings. I thought it was just a robin???

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