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WILLIAM BLAKE A poet and an engraver A medieval artist An illustrator of his own poems His philosophy
WILLIAM BLAKEA poet and an engraverA medieval artistAn illustrator of his own poems
His philosophy
A POET AND AN ENGRAVER
Trained as an engraver• Illuminated his own poems• Made drawings for texts from other
poets (Milton, Dante, contemporaries)
A MEDIEVAL ARTIST
A complete artistLines more important than coloursInfluence of Michelangelo
AN ILLUSTRATOR OF HIS OWN POEMS Words as part of the image
Illustrations complete the
meaning Focus on mankind
BLAKE’S PHILOSOPHY
Duality Imagination Mysticism Revolutionary spirit
IMAGINATION
refusal of “REASON”a quality of the state
of INNOCENCEA VISIONARY faculty
BLAKE’S MYSTICAL SYSTEMHe believed to be in contact with the world of the spiritsHe developed his own mythological systemHe embodied his theories in his Prophetic Books
BLAKE’S POSITION IN THE HISTORY OF LITERATURE An eighteenth century man in
• His influence from neoclassical linear design
• His insistence on the importance of man
A Romantic in• His rejection of science and fact• His emphasis on the imagination and
the spiritual
A Vision of the Last Judgment
designs by Michelangelo for THE LAST JUDGMENTLondon, British Museum
The Lamb
A little black thing among the snow…
The Chimney Sweeper
Without contraries there
is no Progression
THE TYGER
Tyger Tyger, burning bright,In the forests of the night;What immortal hand or eye,Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
When the stars threw down their spears
And water'd heaven with their tears:
Did he smile his work to see?Did he who made the Lamb make
thee?
Tyger Tyger, burning bright,In the forests of the night;What immortal hand or eye,Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?
NEWTONNature, and Nature's laws lay hid in night,God said, Let Newton be! and all was light.
He who sees the Infinite in all things sees God. He who sees the Ratio only sees himself only.
LONDON
What words does Blake use to refer to the poet?What do these words suggest?
LondonI wander thro' each charter'd street,Near where the charter'd Thames does flow,And mark in every face I meetMarks of weakness, marks of woe.In every cry of every Man,In every Infant's cry of fear,In every voice, in every ban,The mind-forg'd manacles I hear.How the Chimney-sweeper's cryEvery blackning Church appalls,And the hapless Soldier's sighRuns in blood down Palace walls.But most thro' midnight streets I hearHow the youthful Harlot's curseBlasts the new-born Infant's tear,And blights with plagues the Marriage hearse.
The creation of man What image comes to your mind
?
What do you expect God to look like in the act of creating Adam?
What do you expect Adam to look like?
ELOHIM CREATING ADAM
