...English 12C 12 April 2011 “The Tyger” William Blake had a unique way of writing poems, especially in one of his most famous works, “The Tyger.” His life as a writer, themes, literary techniques, and writing style are all what make “The Tyger” so successful. Born in London on November 28, 1757, William Blake was an English writer, poet, and illustrator during the Romantic period. Blake was the second of five children born to James Blake, a hosier, and Catherine. As a child it was said that Blake would have unusual visions of spirits. Blake began seeing these visions at the age of eight (“Overview”). Blake had no formal education, being home schooled until the age of ten. Blake learned to read and write at home. When Blake was ten, he was sent to Henry Par’s drawing school to study art. Later Blake was apprenticed to an engraver, James Basire. During his apprenticeship, Blake was sent to Westminster Abbey where he drew monuments for Basire (“Overview”). According to, “Overview of William Blake,” “the Gothic atmosphere of the church influenced Blake’s imagination and his artistic style.” Blake then began writing poetry. After leaving his apprenticeship in 1779, Blake enrolled at the Royal Academy just before starting his life as an engraver (“Overview”). On August 18, 1782, Blake married Catherine Boucher. Blake taught her to read, write, and make prints of his engravings. Blake was introduced to Harriet Mathew, who encouraged Blake to have some of his poetry published. Fifty...
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...Salvato/Hogan William Blake: A Poet Engraved In Time William Blake, author of many famous poetic works, was a genius. Blake combined religion, politics and psychology directly into his works, a good example being War Song for Englishmen. Largely unaccredited for his works during his life, today Blake is considered a great European poet whose works are remain admired. Blake greatly influenced poetry in England, his works engraved into time, still admired today. Largely unaccredited for his works during his life, today Blake is considered a great European poet whose works are remain admired. William Blake became interested in poetry during his early life. Born in London, England on November 28, 1757, Blake was the second son of his parents. The majority of his childhood was spent in London, but he lived briefly in Sussex, England. “From his earliest years he saw visions- trees full of angels.”(Encyclopedia.com) Blake never received a proper education, but at age 10 he attended art school, after announcing to his parents that he wanted to be a painter. “His painting career did not develop as he anticipated and four years later, he began a seven year apprenticeship under an engraver, where he was to learn the engraving trade and make a living off of it.”(EuropeanPoets.org) “After he was 21, he studied for a time at the Royal Academy of Arts, where he formed a violent distaste for the academic cannons of excellence in art.”(Encyclopedia.com) In 1783, Blake printed his...
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...Katrina Jabbari Professor Scott-Curtis English 46B 3 Feb. 2015 “The Marriage of Heaven and Hell” by William Blake The poem, “The Marriage of Heaven and Hell” by William Blake, largely expresses Blake’s views and feelings regarding the social and political situation going on at the time the poem was written and engraved in the late eighteenth century. The poem is a satirical work and a bit of a mockery of the bible—a “bible” in which Hell is portrayed as being the place of interest, with the author being the Devil’s disciple. Themes in the poem strongly suggest Blake’s feelings of anti-conformity and anti-institutionalized religion. Blake feels as though institutionalized religion represses people and inhibits creativity and happiness. In the portion of the poem titled “The Proverbs of Hell,” almost all of the proverbs portray ideas of pro-indulgence and giving in to one’s desires. For instance, “The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom…” or, "The tigers of wrath are wiser than the horses of instruction." Blake advocates for the arts and leading an uncensored life led by one’s desires, as opposed to following “instruction” and conforming to religious ideals of what is “good.” Blake is an intellect and believes in the power of art. He states that “Improvement makes straight roads; but the crooked roads without improvement are roads of Genius.” He seems to have believed in the madness of art over the “advances” made with science and “good” which is guided by...
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...Holy Thursday was the first Thursday in May where there was a service every year for the charity schools of London; they may have been attended by as many as 6000 children. In Innocence the poem conveys the innocence of the children but can however be about the irony of the service and the fact that the poverty is present. the reference to ‘lambs’ and repetition of ‘multitudes’ emphasises the number of children and perhaps the extent of the poverty, the lambs could also be interpreted as a sacrificial animal, which shows the children are being used to make the people feel good. The lines in this poem are longer than Blake’s typical poetry and this could also emphasise the volume of magnitude of the poverty, furthermore the ‘flowing river’ also gives imagery of a large volume. The metaphor of ‘flowers’ emphasises the children’s beauty and innocence, but also the positioning of them ‘flowers of London town’ contrasts their beauty to the ugly setting of a city and gives them a certain strength in that they are able to flourish as flowers in a city. Holy Thursday in Experience however gives a different image of selfishness and irony as it conveys the idea that there shouldn’t be poverty and questions why there is in a ‘rich and fruitful land’, this could show that there is money available but it is not being used to reduce the poverty. The rich only do something once a year to make themselves feel good and as if they have helped the children. This can also be seen in Innocence in...
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...Poetry Essay COURSE # and TITLE: ENGL 102-D42 LUO: Composition and Literature SEMESTER OF ENROLLMENT: Fall D 3013 Thesis Statement: The Lamb written by William Blake is a beautiful spiritually enriched poem that expresses God’s sovereignity, His love for creation and His gentleness in care and provisions for those that are His . I. Introduction • Author • Little Lamb II. Question of creation • Little Lamb who made you. 1. Provision of Needs a. Provides food b. Life in the meadow c. Provides Clothing III. Answer to Question of Creation • Little Lamb I’ll tell thee. a. Comparison of Names b. Comparion of Charactistics c. Association of Innocence IV. Conclusion English 102 22 Nov 2013 Analysis of “The Lamb” by William Blake The author of the poem “The Lamb” is William Blake. He was born on November 28, 1957 in the Soho district of London. Blake is one of the most read and anthologized of Romantic writers because of the simplicity of the poetic language he uses to convey ideas. [1.] In stanza’s of “The Lamb” we find a beautiful spiritually enriched poem that expresses God and His sovereignity. The love God has for His creation and also His gentleness of care and provisions for those that are His are vividly displayed. The poem consists of two stanzas with rhymed statements. The speaker is thought to be a child who is questioning the existence of the lamb. This poem...
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...“The Tyger” by William Blake is a lyric poem that depicts the nature of the creator and his creations. The poem is more about the creator of the tyger than it is about the tyger. In contemplating the terrible ferocity and awe-inspiring symmetry of the tyger, the speaker is at a loss to explain how the same God who made the meek, innocent lamb could create a horrifying creature such as the tyger. This essay will provide a detailed analysis of William Blake’s “The Tyger” paying particular attention, firstly to the extended metaphor in stanza’s 2, 3 and 4, secondly, to the poetic significance of repetition, in particular to the phrase “fearful symmetry”, thirdly, to the role that the rhythm and metre play in creating an urgent need to address the succession of the questions and lastly, the evocation of the sublime emotion of terror in Blake’s depiction of the Tyger. Firstly, the extended metaphor in stanza’s 2, 3 and 4, is comparing the creator and his creation of the Tyger to a blacksmith and his creations. A blacksmith that makes use of tools, such as the “Hammer,” “chain,” ”furnace,” and “anvil” in creating objects out of hot metal. The blacksmith represents a conventional image of artistic creation; here Blake applies it to the divine creation of the natural world. This is evident in L5:”In what distant deeps or skies”, refers to an otherworldly (“distant”) place, perhaps a kind of hell (“deeps”) or Heaven (“skies”). The “distant deeps or skies” bring to mind the concept...
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...William Blake is a well-recognized English poet and painter of the Romantic Age. Distinguished by his many Romantic nursery rhyme-styled poems and often socially controversial topics, his style is developed extensively through his nonconformist perspective of society. Blake’s abolitionist poem, The Little Black Boy, from his larger work, Songs of Innocence and of Experience, displays his nonconformist perspective of slavery using a very childlike motif, a love of nature, and interdependence from common convictions. At the time he published this poem in 1789, slavery in England was still legal and was not abolished until later in the 19th Century. Many Christians of the time believed black people would not go to heaven. Blake takes a stance...
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...“William Blake was an English poet, engraver, and painter. A boldly imaginative rebel in both his thought and his art, he combined poetic and pictorial genius to explore life,” (http://www.notablebiographies.com/). His artwork and poetry were classified as part of the Romantic era. This historical period made a large advent during the late 18th century and curtailed roughly around late 19th century. The generation was replenished with revolution and war as those who endured though this time felt an extensive concern for the problems of existence, death, and eternity. subsequently in this environment, Romanticism was created. In the midst of his era, he also continued to derive inspiration from others and the events that were involved in the...
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...William Blake: The Chimney Sweeper William Blake has composed two The Chimney Sweeper, both of which reveal the miserable life of the little chimney sweepers in Britain during the Industrial Revolution. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way. --A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens In the comparison between the virtue and the vice of the epoch of Industrial Revolution, Dickens mainly focuses on its dark side. Like Dickens, in the two poems of The Chimney Sweeper, Blake criticizes the cause of unfair and tragic treatment towards the poor children—their greedy parents, the cruel capitalists, the irresponsible government and the unmindful Church. In The Chimney Sweeper (Songs of Innocence), the symbols of death exist everywhere, from the death of the mother to the name of the little boy—Dacre (dark), to the coffin. All signify the life is desperate. How to rescue them? In Tom Dacre’s dream, the angel shows him that being a good boy of the God will bring him all the joy. When the reality is too dark to find the entrance of the misery, all we...
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...William Blake wrote two poems with different versions of the Chimney Sweeper. They both describe the lives of two children who clean chimneys and live a harsh life. Blake uses poetic devices such as imagery, tone, symbolism and allusions throughout the poems. In both versions of the poems images of death are demonstrated using the color black. In the version of 1789, Blake says, “were all lock’d up in coffins of black.”, a in the version of 1794, Blake says, “little black thing among the snow”. This demonstrates the soot of the children walking in the snow, maybe going from home to home cleaning chimneys. Moreover, in the 1789 version he illustrates the chimneys ass black like coffins maybe because they are both claustrophobic and very dark. Since the chimneys are very small and pitch dark due to the soot....
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...William Blake: The Romantic Most poets have their own writing style. They have been shaped, formed, carved, and given to us through their colored lenses based on the atmosphere they live in. In William Blake’s poetry, there are many instances of repetition of motifs that compare and contrast, transforming his style of poetry from a naive to a more conscious subject and further enhancing his work by his slightly detached nature. Blake is known as one of the greatest poets in history, and was a man of integrity, and soul. He wrote from experience, as well as from the heart. Blake wrote of love, and the peacefulness you come across after the war, whether it be in battle or in life. The majority of Blake’s work was written in the Romanticism...
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...William Blake proved himself as one of the most influential artists to spring from the Romantic Era without a doubt. What made Blake so popular may have been his ability to portray his time period in works of art that were beautifully crafted. Blake’s poetry was not appreciated during his lifetime because people were living the lives his works vicariously told, but once his time period ended, a historical book was left behind. The theme of a struggle is most prominently showcased in Blake’s poetry. Whether it be Blake depicting women and their power struggle throughout the 18th or 19th century, or depicting the lives of the children put into the labor force at a very early age. These children were put in a tunnel (almost literally when they worked in the chimneys), where there was no light at the end, this path had one and only one destination: death. The symbolism in Blake’s poetry accurately reflects the cruel conditions of child labor and the environment of hostility in which these children lived and breathed every day, what the church meant in society in the 18th century, and the family dynamics. Clearly marking its importance by publishing multiple items on the subject, William Blake composed two poems about children working in the chimney sweeps both titled “The Chimney Sweeper”. The transition of emotions from the first “The Chimney Sweeper” to the second demonstrates an evolution from purity to exposure (Mayhew 1), which correlates directly to the title...
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...Friday 9th October 2015 What do you think the introduction is about? What techniques does Blake use? The introduction to the songs of innocence by William Blake is not just an introduction to the book; it’s an introduction to the world of Blake and his technique. In the first stanza Blake introduces the child, who plays an important role in the rest of the poem. “On a cloud I saw a child”, it is odd how Blake refers to the child sitting on the cloud, because this unusual you would never normally see a child on a cloud. However as clouds are in the sky Blake may actually be referring to heaven. This would then suggest that this isn’t any ordinary child, it is a angel. An angel represents innocence and peace. Then when we read on to the second stanza there is another reference to innocence which seems to be reoccurring throughout the poem. “Pipe a song about a lamb”. The lamb is known as an innocent animal, and would suggest new life/birth. Here Blake has used pastoral imagery. In the first part of the quotation the child is instructing him to make a song. The theme of positivity and happiness has begun to show within the stanzas. Blake uses words such as; “pleasant”,” laughing”, ”merry cheer”, “happy cheer”, “joy”, and “happy”. Now all of these words are positive which is why we begin to feel as though this poem is happy. However I feel as though Blake uses these words to mask some hidden feelings or emotions deep within the poem. The fourth stanza is where...
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...Illustrations of power and authority, the dream of the individual to take control despite the existential context of life and death. Blake expresses his concern of social repression and believes instead in the individual’s freedom. His optimism seeps through the violent nature of his imagery to suggest hope in states of anxiety. The composition of Blake’s work has a strong figure to ground ratio. They are usually centrally positioned to highlight the subject matter whilst the surrounding elements refer to the conditions of the event. In his early works as an engraver, his interest in communicating subject matter in conflict can be seen in the smaller details. In ‘A negro hung alive by the ribs to the gallows’ (1972), Blake exaggerates the muscular...
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...No bird soars too high if he soars with his own wings” -William Blake, this quote reflects exactly who he was. Mr. William Blake was a man of many trades, this included writing, painting, printmaking, and poetry. During the romantic period he and many other poets not only thrived with their writing, but made a huge impact on the romantic movement as well. As for Blake, he was successful through many of his works including; The Tyger, Songs of Innocence and Experience, and The Lamb. A majority of his books were inspired by his brother whom had passed away but came to him in a dream and told him to write his poetry based on his religious views in a deceptively simple form. That motivated Blake to create such wonderful works of art and writing....
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