William Blake Annotation

Blake appears convinced in his poem London that all in the title city are affected negatively, controlled by industrialisation. Writing of the Thames being filled with waste makes the audience realise that Blake’s city was grim with the stench of industrialised homes and factories. He writes that he, as he walks along the forlorn river, “mark[s] in every face [he] meets, Marks of weakness; marks of woe”, faces of those lost to the Hell of the city, the disdain of living in a town controlled by industry and Christianity. Shackled by “mind forg’d manacles”, London is apparently a society void of intellectual and physical

From London, England, William Blake was born the 28th of November in 1757. Blake was born to a middle-class family and as a child he was a trouble-maker in school, he constantly did not attend school, therefore his parents attempted to educate him at home. He, “lived and worked in the teeming metropolis of London at a time of great social and political change,” that deeply influenced his writing. He believed that his writings were important and that they could be understood by a majority of men.

The 18th and 19th century saw the beginnings of a shift in the position towards gender, as roles for women in public and professional life broadened. However, at the same time, prostitution, illegitimacy and same-sex relationships were increasingly characterized. Ideas about gender difference were consequential from classical thought, Christian ideology, and contemporary science. Men and women were thought to dwell bodies with different physical make-ups and to retain profoundly different qualities and advantages. Men, as the stronger sex, were thought to be intelligent, bold, and strong-minded. Women, on the other hand, were more overseen by their emotions, and their qualities were expected to be continence, unpretentiousness, compassion,

William Blake, a 19th century writer and artist who, to this day, is respected as an admirable character of the Romantic Age. Blake’s writings have altered endless writers and artists throughout generations, and he has been suspected to represent both a dominant poet and an authentic thinker.

Blake says another line,”The mind-forged manacles I hear/How the chimney-sweeper’s cry” The first line was broad and didn’t go into much detail. In the other lines he tells us some problems that are faced. In this line he talks about how the people have chained their feelings and thoughts thus having no views and just following the society or the majority of the people.

During the midst of the French Revolution, many people began writing and several became famous. Some of these authors wrote about experiences, and others just formed an imagination with the help of their surroundings. William Blake was influenced by both of the strategies and excelled in the art of poetry. He was also influenced by many of the other poetry authors of the day. Among his greatest works was his collection of poems known as Songs of Innocence and Experience. Although this is not all of his poems in a collection, it is one of the most famous collections of poems in history. Blake uses a great amount of complicated symbols in his poetry which are difficult to decipher, and he also

William Blake’s poetry contains many themes of religion. Examining Blake’s works, The Chimney Sweeper and The Little Black Boy shows an example of this. In The Chimney Sweeper Tom dreams an angel comes to him and tells him “If he’d be a good boy, he’d have God for his father & never want joy” (122). Upon waking the next day, despite the cold temperatures, Tom feels warm even though he had to work hard in a potentially deadly job that he was forced into. Could this be because he had a great dream? An angel came to him and essentially told him he would be okay and as long as he works hard, God will love him. Could this be a coping mechanism for Tom? He suffers while being exploited but maybe the way he deals with this is by feeling that he won’t

William Blake was born in London, England on November 28, 1757. Blake left school at a young age, only staying to learn how to read and write. The Bible was a primary source of inspiration for him, he claimed to have received visions from God at a young age. Blake was multi-talented in the arts, not only was he a poet, but he was also a painter and an engraver. He also taught his illiterate wife to read and write. Blake’s work was considered a very influential figure of the Romantic Age. He worked hard on projects up until his death on August 12, 1827, some were left unfinished. Though his work went unrecognized during his lifetime, Blake’s creations have remained a heavy influence for modern-day writers and

William Blake's 'The Clod and the Pebble' personifies two types of love in two different characters: The Clod and the Pebble. The Clod represents a soft, optimistic kind of love, since a clod of clay itself is malleable. On the flip side, the Pebble portrays a hardened and pessimistic love, its softness worn away by the brook, which can represent life. Fundamentally, the poem presents the 'contrary states of the human soul,' that is to say, the two choices in life and love that we can make.

At the very beginning of the poem, [we see] Blake castigates (the aristocrats of London who capitalize on the suffering of the poor/ impoverished workers,,,. So the poem starts with a criticism of laws relating to control and ownership)c4 as clearly expressed in the lines below:

William Blake, born in London, England on November 28, 1775, was known for his poetry. Even though he lacked formal education, he became one of the best english poets. In the poem “Chimney Sweeper” by William Blake, there are many uses of biblical allusions. For example, in stanza 4 it states, “And by came an angel who had a bright key.” What this biblical allusion means is that an angel would take them away from their miserable lives which were worse than death, and bring them up to heaven. It is a biblical allusion because it talks about angels and death, and the key being the key to heaven. Another biblical allusion is in stanza 2, “There’s little Tom Dacre, who cried when his head, that curl’d like a lamb's back was shav’d.” This biblical

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 was born in 1757, the third son of a London hosier. Blake lived in or near to London, a city which dominates much of his work, whether as the nightmare 'London' of the Songs of Experience, or the London which Blake saw as the 'New Jerusalem', the kingdom of God on earth.

Blake is a poet that when you read his work you must really dissect the words to fully understand his writings. He lived in a time that no longer exists. One that was of English Antinomianism which simply means a time and place where one rejects a socially established morality like religion or royalty. To understand Blake you must “rediscover the tradition in which he wrote. By rediscovering this tradition, and seeing him in relation to it, we do not remove the difficulties, but we do begin to equip ourselves to grapple with them” (Morton, p. 64). “Blake who could compress more meaning into a couple of lines than any other poet” was often saying much more than a reader can take in without reflection of the words just read (Morton, p. 30). I find when I read his poetry; I have to unpack each sentence. “Yet nothing will be gained by pretending that Blake is not in many ways a difficult poet. He uses words with extraordinary power, delicacy and precision to express ideas which, to him, were clear enough. But he uses these words often in senses which are quite different from the sense now usual” (Morton, p. 10). I find when I read a line of his work, I have to stop and ask myself, what is it he really saying here and why did he intentionally use those specific words. He uses his words to paint his

Blake uses rhetorical questions asked by the narrator while Shelley has Victor expect immediate answers to his questions. Blake has the narrator utilize rhetorical questions to prove that the godlike figure does not require concrete answers, but prefers to live in awe and wonderment. On the contrary, Victor’s desire for knowledge and need for answers exemplifies that of a god, eventually leading him and his creation to lead a miserable life due to Victor attempting to assume a godlike position, and therefore, defying Romanticism. Throughout his poem, the narrator asks thirteen questions. The topic of the questions do not center around the narrator himself, but about the Tyger and the creator. With “Did he smile his work to see?” (Blake l. 19) and “Did he who made the Lamb make thee?” (Blake l. 20), the speaker shows genuine curiosity and respect for the creator. Similarly, the speaker also inquires about the Tyger by stating “What the hand, dare seize the fire?” (Blake l. 8), “Could twist the sinews of thy heart?” (Blake l. 6), and “What dread hand? & what dread feet?” (Blake l. 12). Consistent with this curiosity, questioning also appears in the last line at the beginning and ending stanza. Having the similar questions “Could frame thy fearful symmetry?” (Blake l. 4) and “Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?” (Blake l. 24) introduce and conclude the poem, the narrator is portrayed as invested in others than himself. Thus, the narrator is portrayed as a godlike figure due to