Preview

What Are the Salient Features of Blake’s Poetry?

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
843 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
What Are the Salient Features of Blake’s Poetry?
What are the salient features of Blake’s poetry?

Of all the romantic poets of the eighteenth century, William Blake (1757-1827) is the most independent and the most original. In his earliest work, written when he was scarcely more than a child, he seems to go back to the Elizabethan song writers for his models; but for the greater part of his life he was the poet of inspiration alone, following no man’s lead, and obeying no voice but that which he heard in his own mystic soul. Though the most extraordinary literary genius of his age, he had practically no influence upon it. Indeed, we hardly yet understand this poet of pure fancy, this mystic this transcendental madman, who remained to the end of his busy life and incomprehensible child.

Blake’s poems can be summerised as ‘pouring in profusion ’ of ‘unpremeditated art’ in ‘full-throated ease’. Undisputed as it is, he is no founder of any particular school of thought like Wordsworth or Donne; yet his poems are outstanding, and matchless in its variety. He gave no ‘preface’ to his poems such as Wordsworth had given nor did he profess any theory of ‘simple diction’ or rural subject matter and ‘annals of the poor’. For Blake it was his visions that mattered more than anything else. Blake is a solitary figure, the greatest practitioner of symbolism in the entire horizon of English literature and the beauty of his works is par (গড়ে) excellent. He is second to none, not even to he celebrated French symbolists.

Blake’s originality kept him apart from the general public and from official recognition. Only a small section of aestheticians felt his ingenuity and greatness. Blake had less of alien influence; instead, most of his contributions depend on his own intuitive visions of spiritual presences. The very core of Blake’s philosophy is derived from these visions of his own mind. As James Thomson puts it Blake was always poor in worldly wealth, always rich in spiritual wealth. Blake was chiefly and

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    This painting by William Blake which was made in 1786 tells a very important story that you wouldn’t know that by just looking at it. The painting was created in England; Blake spent more than just a little time on the drawing, it had taken up to 2-3 years. The portrait is represented from contemporary art, to Ancient Greek, Roman and Egyptian Art.…

    • 762 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    On November 28, 1757, one of the most eminent poets from the Romantic period was born. William Blake, the son of a successful London hosier, only briefly attended school since most of the education he received was from his mother. He was a very religious man and almost all of his poems enclose some reference to God. “Night” by William Blake is part of a larger compilation of poems called Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience. This collection of poems, published in 1789, depicts innocence and experience. “Night” dramatizes the conflict between heaven and earth.…

    • 472 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The audience perceives a hint of sexuality in Blake's poem. This is shown in his references to male genitalia, the ‘worm’ and also female genitalia, her ‘bed of crimson joy’ which I think refers to the hymen. The effect of this image of passion created is the support of the notion that love is the driving force behind everything which was a popular belief during romanticism which was the period in which Blake lived. This brought in the perspective of love as a…

    • 2129 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Throughout William Blake’s life he came into view as not only a poet but an artist (Editors). His poetry was considered popular in the romantic period. Blake did not accept the eighteenth century literary style (Editors). He pushed the limits and came up with a new view on understanding poetry. Through William Blake’s beliefs and parents supporting his artistic abilities, his poetry was shaped into his own style; Blake’s childhood life as well as his later adult life affected the themes and styles of his poems.…

    • 86 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    William Blake is one of the most popular English romantic artists. He was a painter, a sculptor and a poet. I find him most interesting as his poetry touches problems which are timeless and I may say that a latter-day person asks himself the same questions concerning religious matters…

    • 880 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The use of diction is an almost inevitable commonality between Blake and Byron, as many poets of varying movements use it as a means to further develop the emotional appeal and imaginative images present in the piece, particularly those classified as Romantics. The presence of strong, descriptive…

    • 990 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Blake viewed the natural world as an energising force for good, linking it often with children through the value of play, natural instincts and life forces along with the idea that ‘energy is eternal delight.’ Nurse’s Song [I] and [E], ‘The Ecchoing Green’ and ‘The Garden of Love’ exemplify Blake’s love for childhood intertwining with nature. In these poems Blake shows how authority intrudes with this Arcadian tone as the Utopia is corrupted with the influence of the church and other powers. Blake, under the reign of George III, saw oppression at authority as there were more than “200 offences that were punishable by death” Blake opted to take the voice from the hegemony and support the weak and marginalised victims of society.…

    • 1299 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    "William Blake." DISCovering Authors. Online Edition. Gale, 2003. Student Resource Center. Thomson Gale. .22 November 2005.…

    • 1953 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Blake's writings and illustrations, Burke's essay, and the general sentiments and rationale behind revolutionary ideals all contributed to an era of immense change and intellectual dick measuring. By looking more closely at Blake's life and two of his poems, America, A Prophecy and Europe, A Prophecy, I hope to better understand how Blake felt about the revolutionary ideals, as well as how his views on revolution differed from those of Edmund Burke's. In Great English Poets: William Blake, editor Peter Porter summarizes the finer points of Blake's poetry as such: "Put simply, William Blake's poetry offers the reader a way through the daunting thickets of religious dogma and establishment orthodoxy to the idea of personal revelation, to an intense experience of life perceived by our senses and our understanding" (Porter 10-11). Indeed, to the layman or common reader, much of Blake's poetry is simply an exploration of the intersections of the divine, the senses, and human comprehension. Blake, however, started from much simpler means. "…

    • 2102 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    With his individual visions William Blake created new symbols and myths in the British literature. The purpose of his poetry was to wake up our imagination and to present the reality between a heavenly place and a dark hell. In his Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience he manages to do this with simplicity. These two types of poetry were written in two different stages of his life, consequently there could be seen a move from his innocence towards experience.…

    • 2064 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    William Blake was born in London on November 28, 1757, Blake passed away on 12 August 1827. James hes father, a hosier, and Catherine Blake hes mother. Two of his six siblings died in infancy. From early childhood, Blake spoke of having visions at four he saw God "put his head to the window"; around age nine, while walking through the countryside, he saw a tree filled with angels. Although his parents tried to discourage him from "lying," they did observe that he was different from his peers and did not force him to attend conventional school. He learned to read and write at home. At age ten, Blake expressed a wish to become a painter, so his parents sent him to drawing school. Two years…

    • 993 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The two poems that I will analyse in depth, "The Lamb", and "The Tyger" has many comparisons and contrasts between the two, although the same writer, William Blake, wrote them. He was born in London on 28, 1757 a period of time when enormous and rapid changes occurred in Europe, like the "Industrial", "Agricultural" and the "French" revolutions. These "changes" in his life reflects his background and also had an effect on his style of writing. I will be looking at the subjects and themes of the poem and also focus at how Blake uses imagery, structure and form to create effects.…

    • 1223 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Beowulf Comparison Essay

    • 865 Words
    • 4 Pages

    . Romantic poetics. Blake: "Annotations to Sir Joshua Reynolds". William Wordsworth: Preface to Lyrical Ballads. Coleridge: Biographia Literaria (Chap. 13). .…

    • 865 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    William Blake was a first generation Romantic poet, along with Samuel Coleridge and Charles Woodsworth. Each poet had an archetype which meant they had some form of Byronic hero within them and wanted to find a way to escape their bodies. Blake focused on the social rebel. He believed governments and institutions were corrupt and all the people had a right to fight against them. He was more than just a poet, he was also an illustrator. He wanted to combine pictures and words together. Through some of Blake’s work he wanted to show what despair was really about.…

    • 938 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Garden of Love

    • 937 Words
    • 4 Pages

    about his childhood compared to his adulthood in the poem “The Garden of Love”. The…

    • 937 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays