William Blake’s attitude toward nature

A very commanding figure of the romantic period, Blake was born in London, England, on 28th
November 1757. He was an early nineteenth-century poet, printmaker, and painter, widely considered
the poet of nature. One of his famous works is' songs of experience and innocence.' His major
contribution was 'The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, The Four Zoas, Jerusalem, Milton, "And did those
feet in ancient times."

He was a romantic poet as well as, a spiritual writer throughout his life, Blake's target was to show
religious corruption and refocus modern worship on its pure origins. The main contribution of Blake was
his extensive use of vers libre (free verse). He first time introduced this unique style within the 'Marriage
of Heaven and Hell' a book written in imitation of biblical prophecy. It’s generally believed that the Bible
was his source of inspiration throughout his life. William became an apprentice at a young age, which is
deemed as an inspirational source for several of his poems. It’s very interesting that his work was
neglected during his lifetime, but he's now considered one of the leading lights of English poetry, and his
work has only grown in popularity.

It is a brief but comprehensive introduction of Blake, as we mentioned earlier that he was the poet of
nature. Let’s come to the main point.

Nature wasn't the central focus of Blake's poems, but it had been a topic that did occur in many of his
works, such as "The Lamb", "Earth's Answer", "The Garden of Love", "To Spring" and "To the Evening
Star". But Blake was critical of worshippers of nature. In "Mock On, Mock On", he mentions both
Voltaire and Rousseau and chides them for being worshippers of nature and not of "human faith and
imagination." Humanism and conservationism aren't so incompatible, as our second English Romantic
poet illustrates.

In William Blake's poetry, we see different manifestations of nature, from the 'Nurse's Song' to 'Song of
innocence.' Children are playing outside, enjoying nature and having the time of their lives.

Piping down the valleys wild

Piping songs of pleasant glee

On a cloud, I saw a child.

And he laughing said to me.

William's main target was children and he believed that children are philosophers. "In ‘My Heart Leaps
up’ he quoted that 'The Child is the father of the man.’ William's attitude toward nature is vivid and clear
that he loved nature. He depicted nature through many of his works, for instance, 'The Tyger, SIck Rose,
and Nurse's Song.'

‘The Tyger’ in this poem is a symbol of creation and the presence of both good and evil in this world.
‘The Tyger’ is written in Quatrains (4 line stanzas) and follows an AABB rhyme scheme.
‘The Tyger’ is usually considered as highly symbolic based on Blake's own philosophy as well as his
personal experience. The new theories of the 20th century, Formalism as well as new criticism both
interpret it and suggest that there's tons of elements that represent nature, for instance, the strength of
the lion and depiction of her features as well as body posture.

Tyger Tyger, burning bright,

In the forests of the night;

What immortal hand or eye,

Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

The ‘Tyger’ is a symbolic tiger which represents the fierce force in the human soul. It’s created in the fire
of imagination by the god who has a supreme imagination, spirituality, and ideals.

Comparing the creator to a blacksmith, he ponders about the anvil and therefore the furnace that the
project would have required and the smith who could have wielded them. And when the work was
done, the speaker wonders, how would the creator have felt? “Did he smile his work to see?” Could this
possibly be the same being that made the lamb?

What the hammer? What the chain,

In what furnace was thy brain?

What anvil? What dread grasp,

Dare its deadly terrors' clasp!

William Blake wasn't a conservationist instead of a moralist. In 'The Lamb' he opted didactic way of
preaching but depicted nature within the sort of a lamb. Christ is so pure as a child and meek and mild
like a lamb.

He is called by thy name,

For he calls himself a Lamb:

He is meek & he is mild,

He became a little child:

I a child & thou a lamb,

We a In 'The Sick Rose' the speaker of the poem addresses Rose and informs her that she is sick. The
cause of her sickness is a worm that's invisible and it howls in the storm at night. The invisible worm
infects her together with his dark secret love and destroys her life. The rose stands for purity, innocence,
beauty, ignorance, and so on. The innocent rose is ruined by an experienced worm.
O Rose thou art sick.

The invisible worm,

That flies in the night

In the howling storm:

Has found out thy bed

Of crimson joy:

And his dark secret love

Does thy life destroy?

All the discussions can be summed up in these lines,

"To see a world in a grain of sand

And a heaven in a wildflower,

Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,

And eternity in an hour. "Recalled by his name.