WILLIAM BLAKE

(1757 1827)
LIFE: born in London from a humble family. when he was ten he was sent to a drawing school he became apprentice to a famous engraver and began to draw the monuments in the old churches of London he studied at the Royal Academy of Arts he developed his own printing method called illuminated printing he married an illiterate woman Catherine oucher who helped him in his wor! he spent his life in poverty and obscurity he died in London in "#$%

FEATURES: poet& artist& radical and visionary he is one of the most comple' and astonishing personalities of his age and in the history of literature. (o understand him we have to consider his comple'ity and his interrelated aspects. THE MAN )e was deeply aware of the great political and social issues of his age. )e re*ected all the products of the +nlightenment. )e was anti-,ndustriali-ation as he saw in this the ruin of man. )e was also anti-Reason and anti-.cience as he considered that they imprisoned man/s emotions and restricted his capacities for intuition& fantasy and imagination the only real instruments for comprehending the world and the cosmos. )e was anti-Civili-ation& as society imposed conventions and rules that restricted not only man/s potential but also his freedom& both political and personal. A political freethin!er& he supported the 0rench revolution and remain a radical throughout his life. ,n his attitude of revolt he anticipates the themes of Romanticism. THE ARTIST 1or!ing as an engraver he discovered the beauty of allegorical and flowery decorations becoming imbued with the religious symbolism of the 2othic style. )e "

identified it with an ideal of spiritual and living art in contrast with the mechanical art of the materialistic classical world. )e bro!e with the conventions of perspective and proportions and created a new !ind of art which emphasised the power of the imagination. 3any of his paintings dealt with religious subjects. Also drew illustrations for the Bible and a cycle of drawings inspired by Dantes Divine Comedy. About "%## he developed his particular process of printing called ILLUMINATED PRINTING. ,t/s a printing process using copperplate. (e'ts and drawings are to be considered together& one giving meaning to the other. 4rawings were imaginative interpretations of the te'ts. THE POET )e re*ected the neoclassical literary style and themes. )e believed that ideal forms should be created not from observations of nature but from inner visions. )e produced two types of wor!s: o long& obscure& comple'& with an arcane and allegorical meaning5 written in blan! verse& called PROPHETIC BOOK (The Marriage of Heaven and Hell; The Vision of the Daughters of Albion; The Book of Urizen; ) o short& usually ballad stan-as& simple language& symbols and images: O!" O# I!!OCE!CE $!D O!" O# E%PERIE!CE 6"%#7 8 "%79:

THE PROPHET )e created a comple' personal mythology and invented his own symbolic characters to reflect his social interests and denounce authority. )is message was that man!ind must throw off the shac!les of reason and social restrictions in order to be saved. ;nly insight and imagination can help him to understand the ultimate truth. )e elaborated his own philosophical system based especially on the contrast of opposites &com'lementary o''osites: and on symbolism.
!ithout "ontraries there is no #rogression$ Attra%tion and re#ulsion& 'eason and (nerg)& *ove and Hate are ne%essar) to Hu+an e,isten%e$6from (he 3arriage of )eaven and )ell:

(he 'oet is capable of a vision unifying man and universe. )e is a 'ro'(et whose tas! is to awa!en his generation and to help them rediscovering the power the ,magination. $rt is considered a creative vision. )e considered the poet endowed of a special power of understanding that put him in direct contact either with 2od and with the truth of things. (his power was called ,3A2,<A(,;<.

B) IMAGINATION Blake +eant a su#ra.sensorial #er%e#tion /hi%h& den)ing the truth of sensorial e,#erien%e& #uts the #oet or #ro#het in dire%t %onta%t /ith the truth and the Divine Being$

SONGS OF INNOCENCE (1789) an SONGS OF E!PERIENCE (179")

1ritten in a na=ve language rich in monosyllabic words. (hey should first be en*oyed for their musicality more than for their possible symbolic meaning. (hey describe two states of man/s life. ,nnocence and +'perience. ,nnocence corresponds to childhood where childhood represents a state of the soul and not a particular age. Children symboli-e the ideal condition of man who still feels close to his divine origin and parta!es the eternal truth. 6cfr. Rousseau: ,n order to grow up man must be tested also by e'perience that represents adulthood where man has lost this original contact with his divine origin because of the negative influence of social conventions. la!e/s poems present a very simple structure and a highly individual use of symbols. )e employed a central group of symbols to form a conte't for all the minor symbols in the songs: these are the child& the father& and Christ& representing the states of innocence& e'perience and a higher innocence. +'perience is the contrary of innocence and not its negation. Contraries are phases of the duality of all e'istence in the mind of man5 they reflect the unalterable condition of the human struggle.

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