William Blake’s Revolution - 3088 Words

Blake’s Songs of Experience was published in 1794 against the backdrop of Robespierre’s Reign of Terror and England’s war with France. Blake, an English Jacobin who, as his biographer Gilchrist writes, â€Å"courageously donned the famous symbol of liberty and equality—thebonnet-rouge—in open day; and philosophically walked the streets with the same on his head† (93), was by this date becoming increasingly disenchanted in his hopes for sweeping political reform in England. One does not often speak of Romantic poets as political activists. (1) The image of the Romantic poet most common is the one put forth by Stanley Applebaum, who writes, â€Å"Even today the word poet conjures up the Romantic notion: an individualistic, inspired seer revealing†¦show more content†¦This realization leads the speaker to the conclusion that a person has some creative part to play even in the most banal perceptions. Wordsworth writes, [. . .]Therefore am I still / A lover of the meadows and the woods, / And mountains; and of all that we behold / From this green earth; of all the mighty world / Of eye, and ear,—both what they half create, / And what perceive; [. . . .] (27-8) In Wordsworth’s estimation, every individual ‘half creates’ every impression she perceives through her senses five. The individual nature of the creative process seems to be a common link which might tie all the Romantic poets together. Coleridge’s poem, â€Å"The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,† reinforces this conclusion through the fate of the mariner. The mariner tells the wedding guest, Since then, at an uncertain hour, / That agony returns: / And till my ghastly tale is told, / This heart within me burns. (80) The focus is upon the mariner. Not only is his journey largely solitary, but the recitation of his tale is not for the edification of others, but for the relief of his own agony. Yes, his tale has a moral. For , the narrator writes of the wedding guest, â€Å"A sadder and a wiser man, / He rose the morrow morn† (81). But making his fellow men wiser, though sadder, is not his business. His is a self-interested, individualistic endeavor. One is curious as to the roots of the Romantic poet’s emphasis upon the individual, a shift from the eighteenth century’s literaryShow MoreRelatedSociological Criticism of William Blake’s Poetry Essay1506 Words   |  7 Pagespolitical and economic ideas of communism and social inequality. William Blake, a Romantic poet, frequently wrote on the topic of class oppression and his opposition to the exploitation of the proletariat by the capitalists. Blake’s ideology and preference towards an equalitarian society quite closely mirror the theories of Karl Marx. Analyzing Blake’s poetry from a Marxist perspective paints a clearer picture of the motives behind Blake’s anger towards social inequality. Poems such as â€Å"The Chimney Sweeper†Read MoreWilliam Blake s The Tyger1132 Words   |  5 PagesWilliam Blake’s â€Å"The Tyger† and Tragedies William Blake wrote a set of poems in his collection Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience. Some of the poems in each collection were meant to be read together to show the difference between innocence and experience. Many people question why Blake wrote a two part series to his poems and what they could actually mean. Two specific poems, â€Å"The Lamb† and â€Å"The Tyger,† were meant to be read together. â€Å"The Lamb† is a part of Blake’s Songs of Innocence andRead MoreEssay on Biography of William Blake1631 Words   |  7 Pagesyourself with influence and inspire your work and success. William Blake was a famous artist, engraver and poet. However, it was not until 1863 that he became famous when Alexander Gilchrist published his biography(Blake, William, and Geoffrey Keynes).Blake and his poetry have been compared to Shakespeare (Kathleen Raine). As an artist Blake was equated to Michelangelo. Being born during the time of both the American a nd French Revolution, William Blake was against both the Church and the State. BlakeRead More Essay of Comparison between The Tiger and The Lamb, poems by William Blake1506 Words   |  7 PagesEssay of Comparison between The Tiger and The Lamb, poems by William Blake The Tiger and The Lamb were poems by William Blake, a poet who lived in the 18th century. In this essay I am going to compare the two poems and examine links between them relating to rhymes, patterns and words used. Blakes background relates on the poems he wrote, and many of his works reflected his early home life. Blake in his childhood was an outcast, a loner, and didnt have many friends. His family believed Read MoreWilliam Blake Had A Strict Standard On How His Poems Should1431 Words   |  6 Pages William Blake had a strict standard on how his poems should appear. In his poems, he was not very concerned with grammar or spelling, even though he was writing in a time much after the official English language had been created. Much of his spellings are very old-fashioned to us and at times can sound very awkward. Even his readers in his time found that the wording and spelling of phrases and words was quaint. William Blake also used forms of punctuation that were not considered to be standardRead MoreWilliam Blake s Poetry Of Innocence And Happiness1417 Words   |  6 PagesWilliam Blake was a poet, painter, and engraver, who was born in Soho, London on November 28th 1757. Blake lived in London at a time of great political and social change. The Industrial Revolution took place in 1760, the American Revolution began in 1775, and the French Revolution began in 1789, and all of these revolutions greatly influenced William Blake’s writing. Blake wrote his world famous Son gs of Innocence in 1789 and later combined it with additional poems titled Songs of Innocence and ofRead MoreWilliam Blakes Influence Of Literature1303 Words   |  6 PagesWilliam Blake William Blake’s poetry was heavily influenced by the Christian Bible, which is quite uncommon for the English Romantic poets. In fact, he is even known as the final religious poet of Britain. This tendency toward using the Bible in his literature derived from his avid reading of this holy book during his childhood. There is little information about any other schooling he might have had outside of reading this book. However, his writing was unique from other Christian writings as heRead MoreComparison and contrast between Blake and Wordsworths views on London with poems London and London, 1802 respectively.1454 Words   |  6 PagesPoetry was an outsider to the cold, efficient, emotionless environment of the Industrial Revolution. Romantics of all arts criticized the changing ways of life and idealized the pre-industrial revolution era. London was the haven to this revolution, and the hell to all poetry. William Wordsworth and William Blake both denounced Londons new environme nt with their poems London, 1802 and London respectively. Both authors were against this transformation of the city because it destroyed all beautyRead More William Wordworths London and William Blakes Upon Westminster Bridge1041 Words   |  5 Pagesanalysis of the texts and using background research. Refer to styles, techniques and effects of the poetry. Give your own responses. Both William Wordworths London and William Blakes Upon Westminster Bridge were written at the turn of the 19th century in Georgian times to illustrate the authors views of London. During this period the industrial revolution was in full swing and the population was growing at alarming rates. The population increase was due to advancements in medicine, whichRead MoreRomanticism in The Marriage of Heaven and Hell by William Blake1393 Words   |  6 PagesRomanticism in William Blakes Poem William Blake was a poet, painter, and a printmaker all during the period in literature known as the Romantic time period. The Romantic time period, also known in Literature as Romanticism began in Europe, mainly France and Britain around the 1800s (Barker) and it was first defined as a tool to in literature and literary criticisms (Galitz). The Romantic period did not just focus on literature, but also on the subjects of art and knowledge which was fueled