Literature and Other Arts

Blake uses traditional symbols of angels and devils, animal imagery, and especially images of fire and flame to: 1) set up a dual world, a confrontation of opposites or "contraries" which illustrate how the rules of Reason and Religion repress and pervert the basic creative energy of humanity, 2) argues for apocalyptic transformation of the self "through the radical regeneration of each person's own power to imagine" (Johnson/Grant, xxiv), and 3) reconstructs Man in a new image, a fully realized Man who is both rational and imaginative, partaking of his divinity through creativity. The form of the poem consists of "The Argument," expositions on his concepts of the "contraries" and of "expanded perception" which are both interspersed with "Memorable Fancies" that explicate and enlarge on his expositions, and concludes with "A Song of Liberty," a prophecy of a future heaven on earth.

Let’s take an innovating step towards the author’s point of view. Now one difference between “The Lamb” and “The Tyger” is that in “The Lamb” the author starts off admiring the beauty of this animal and how it resembles comfort unlike the fearful tiger as it is stated in lines 5-7”

William Blake, a Romantic poet of the late 1700s and early 1800s, often wrote poems inspired by nature and his unique religious perspective. Blake’s book Songs of Innocence, containing the poem “The Lamb,” and his book Songs of Experience, incorporating the poem “The Tyger,” are no exception. In “The Lamb,” one reads of a speaker with a trusting and childlike perspective examining the surrounding creation. The evolved speaker of “The Tyger,” however, views nature with a disenchanted perspective. When looking at “The Lamb” and “The Tyger” side by side, one sees different perspectives about the creation of nature through the usage of diction, rhetorical questions, characterization, imagery, allusions, and syntax in the poems.

The paper will consider the similarities and differences among the literary forms of drama, poetry, and the short story. Certainly, an obvious similarity is that they are all forms of literature and as such have the great potential to affect people's hearts, minds, and experiences. Literature, when executive well, has the potential to change a person's perspective, inspire, or otherwise change who that person is and how that person thinks. This is a similarity that each one of these literary forms has in common off the bat.

“Without contraries, there is no progression.” These words of William Blake encompass his philosophy as a writer. In his work Songs of Experience, William Blake depicts human nature as fallen. Specifically, in “London” he explores the dangerous conditions of England at a time when industrialization, prostitution, poverty and child labor were prevalent. Over the course of “London,” Blake’s diction evolves from ambiguous to symbolic, ultimately illuminating the theme that the mindset of man is what oppresses him, not the social institutions in place, and in order to free himself man must break his bond with death.

William Blake’s illuminated manuscripts were published in multiple editions; all of the editions were etched differently than its predecessor. In these illustrations, one finds meaning and value; an inextricable link between these artistic expressions and the text that Blake wrote exists. These works should not be viewed separately, but rather viewed together, as one single entity. While the text, at times, proves itself to be unstable and potentially confusing for readers, the etchings serve as a way to view the intention of Blake’s words, as well as expressing the underlying feeling attached to the text in a visual way. Understanding both pieces of art is crucial to the apprehension of the implied meaning of the works. Without having to read the words, the viewer already grasps the tone and perhaps even the content or context of the piece. The etchings force reader interaction with the poems, relying on the non-passivity of the audience. Blake intended for the illustrations and the texts to be viewed in correlation with one another, as it allows for a deeper understanding of the intended meaning.

William Blake was deeply aware of the great political and social issues during his time focusing his writing on the injustices going on in the world around him. He juxtaposed the state of human existence through his works Songs of Innocence (1789) and Songs of Experience (1794), showing differentiating sides of humanity. The contrast between Songs of

It was known that Blake had a pleasant and peaceful childhood. His poems relate to his background because it was said that Blake was once considered mad for his, “idiosyncratic views.” This means that when he was young, he had many visions of extraordinary images. It was rumored that at such a young age Blake would, “see a tree filled with angels, bright angelic wings bespangling every bough like stars.” His parents were not amused of such story and then other people began to realize he wasn’t kidding about his visions and they also realized that Blake had a special talent within

Over time, many have regarded William Blake as an extraordinary figure in the Romantic Movement, particularly with his artistry and poetry (“William Blake”). He was highly influenced by society, the Bible, classical artists, literature, and mythology (Vultee, 2012). Each idea impacted his writing, with all of his poems being about those specific topics. Since he had an accomplished career as an artist, many of his poems were accompanied by his own drawings to enhance responses toward his work (“William Blake”). His creativity, knowledge, and complexity have made him a noteworthy person in artistry and poetry. To this day, he has influenced the artistry of more contemporary people, such as Allen Ginsberg, William Butler Yeats, and Salman Rashdie (“The Legacy of William Blake in Contemporary Culture,” p. 14). William Blake was and will always be an important member of the Romantic

Born in 1757, poet William Blake grew up through the height of the Enlightenment period, where individuals begin to focus on themselves and discover their emotions, instead of living to achieve approval from a greater God. It is evident in Blake’s poems The Poison Tree and The Garden of Love that he is greatly influenced by these revolutionary ideas that are being discovered throughout his early life. Blake seems to have significantly removed himself from the Church and their teachings, due to the recent revelations of the importance of focusing on humans and their emotions. These ideals coincide with the movement during the eighteenth century where people began to realize that there is no sin in indulging in personal pleasure, regardless of what the Christian church has preached for hundreds of years. In The Garden of Love and The Poison Tree it is evident that William Blake is influenced by the Enlightenment ideals of individualism; therefore, he grapples

Thesis Statement: William Blake is that of a literary artist that enlightens the overlooked parts of the world by fabricating poetry from the envisions found within the innocence of the mind’s own imagination.

William Blake, now one of the most famous Romantic poets of the era, was given nearly no recognition for his influential works during his lifetime. He strove to break free from the pattern of thoughts that defined common experience, and this was ever present in his works of literature. Perhaps his most renowned pieces were his two collections of poems titled Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience, which illustrated the progression of man from childhood to adulthood, and demonstrated how the unpleasantries of life brings about the maturation from childhood to adulthood, and greatly affect how people view the world. In Songs of Innocence, the series that Blake wrote when he was young, he suggests that by recapturing the wonderment of childhood,

William Blake is one of England’s most famous literary figures. He is remembered and admired for his skill as a painter, engraver, and poet. He was born on Nov. 28, 1757 to a poor Hosier’s family living in or around London. Being of a poor family, Blake received little in the way of comfort or education while growing up. Amazingly, he did not attend school for very long and dropped out shortly after learning to read and write so that he could work in his father’s shop. The life of a hosier however was not the right path for Blake as he exhibited early on a skill for reading and drawing. Blake’s skill for reading can be seen in his understanding for and use of works such as the Bible and Greek classic literature.

Though looked down upon by many schools, Arts and Humanities play quintessential educational role in developing moral imagination. The Arts and Humanities allow individual to grow and mature into their own person and not society ideal easily manipulated tool. Arts and Humanities gifts its students with the ability to think critically and build a sense of moral imagination. Which despite the misconception, does support the cause of democratic education.

Some of William Blake’s poetry is categorized into collections called Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience. Blake explores almost opposite opinions about creation in his poems “The Lamb” and “The Tiger.” While the overarching concept is the same in both, he uses different subjects to portray different sides of creation; however, in the Innocence and Experience versions of “The Chimney Sweeper,” Blake uses some of the same words, rhyme schemes, and characters to talk about a single subject in opposite tones.