We know that Lewis was familiar enough to name one of his best books, The Great Divorce, in response to Blake's Marriage of Heaven and Hell. But I wonder if he had read the major poems.
"'When Aslan said you could never go back to Narnia,' he meant the Narnia you were thinking of. But that was not the real Narnia. That had a beginning and an end. It was only a shadow or a copy of the real Narnia which has always been there and always will be there: just as our own world, England and all, is only a shadow or copy of something in Aslan's real world. You need not mourn over Narnia, Lucy. All of the old Narnia that mattered, all the dear creatures, have been drawn into the real Narnia through the Door. And of course it is different; as different as a real thing is from a shadow or as waking life is from a dream.'" (from The Last Battle, 1956)"
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Blake and the Bible
I've written a detailed explanation of Blake's basic use of the Bible and of the meaning it had for him. Go to Finally the Bible.
Monday, August 13, 2007
Jesus said Love
Early on in his career Blake realized that the church had it all wrong. Since the days of Constantine the church has been the bastion of society, the very same (sort of) society that Jesus deplored. He didn't suck up to the organizations; he named them for what they were. They were Rome and the Temple Worship; they were and are about power. But power is not Jesus's program; he preferred Love.
They cast him out; and Blake also doesn't go well in church.
They cast him out; and Blake also doesn't go well in church.
Perception of the Infinite
Ezekiel once acted out a bizarre symptom of the prospects of the Israelites, lying for 3 months on his right side, then 3 months on his left. Mr.Blake once had a conversatiion with him and asked him why he had done it and the answer came clearly: "the desire of raising other [people] into a perception of the infinite".
Who can doubt that William actually had that interview with Zeke? But if truth be known, that desire became the agenda for Blake's life, and perhaps the generic life purpose of every true prophet.
He saw things that most of us don't, and he urgently needed to show them to us, to show us how to see them.
There are many kinds of seeing and many levels of consciousness, but with the natural proclivity to resort to the dialectic we might say there are two:
1. The sense-based, natural, materialistic consciousness (Blake called this Ulro; Jesus called it Hell).
2. Vision, coming forth from the inner man, the Light, the Now. It's a different kind of consciousness, a perception of the infinite (Blake called it Eden; Jesus called it the Kingdom of Heaven or the Kingdom of God).
Jesus showed us with his life how to live eternally; and he told us we could do it. Blake did it, periodically at least, and like Jesus he wanted us to share that heavenly gift.
He called it Vision; that's what he lived for, those eternal moments were all that matters. If you can't do it continuously, then you can talk about it, write about it, draw it, paint it. He did (and you can) show us how to see.
Do you want to see? Read Blake.
Who can doubt that William actually had that interview with Zeke? But if truth be known, that desire became the agenda for Blake's life, and perhaps the generic life purpose of every true prophet.
He saw things that most of us don't, and he urgently needed to show them to us, to show us how to see them.
There are many kinds of seeing and many levels of consciousness, but with the natural proclivity to resort to the dialectic we might say there are two:
1. The sense-based, natural, materialistic consciousness (Blake called this Ulro; Jesus called it Hell).
2. Vision, coming forth from the inner man, the Light, the Now. It's a different kind of consciousness, a perception of the infinite (Blake called it Eden; Jesus called it the Kingdom of Heaven or the Kingdom of God).
Jesus showed us with his life how to live eternally; and he told us we could do it. Blake did it, periodically at least, and like Jesus he wanted us to share that heavenly gift.
He called it Vision; that's what he lived for, those eternal moments were all that matters. If you can't do it continuously, then you can talk about it, write about it, draw it, paint it. He did (and you can) show us how to see.
Do you want to see? Read Blake.
Friday, July 20, 2007
Friday, June 29, 2007
Blake's Women
This is not about Catherine, Blake's wife, with whom he lived in happy conjugal relationship for 40 years (her only complaint was that he spent too much time in heaven).
Nor is it about the fictional Catherine, who only serves to titillate the gossip lover.
Nor is it about Mary Wollencraft, although the story goes that William once proposed to Catherine that he bring Mary in as a concubine; Catherine cried, and William abandoned the idea. Blake hated and dispised 'jealousy', but it seems that Catherine's jealousy on this occasion solidified a very solid marriage relationship.
None of these, this post is about the women Blake met in heaven:
Thel was a kind of foretaste of the women to come; she exposed the seediness of mortal life and went back to heaven. In her life Blake posed the question 'is mortal life of any value?' (Raine).
Lyca is a microcosm of the three main women that Blake met in heaven. In Plate 6, 7, and 8 read two ethereally beautiful poems that reveal the kernel of the 'system' Blake developed after he said, "I must create a system or be enslaved by another man's".
Vala is the main woman in Blake's myth (The Four Zoas was originally named Vala). In the development of his story Blake splits Vala into two: Tirzah (the earthly woman) and Jerusalem (the heavenly one).
In To Tirzah Blake starkly presents the dichotomy:
"[Woman], what have I do to with thee?".
From a purely material viewpoint Blake has Jesus say this to his mother, actually a quotation from The Gospel of John 2:4. From a more significant viewpoint the woman represents mortality (Mary was his mortal mother). Jesus of course is something other than mortal. From the most significant viewpoint Blake is talking about you and me: we are made of clay, but an immortal spirit resides within the 'matter'.
Jerusalem of course is the obvious biblical metaphor for the "bride of Christ" and the heavenly (eternal) kingdom.
Nor is it about the fictional Catherine, who only serves to titillate the gossip lover.
Nor is it about Mary Wollencraft, although the story goes that William once proposed to Catherine that he bring Mary in as a concubine; Catherine cried, and William abandoned the idea. Blake hated and dispised 'jealousy', but it seems that Catherine's jealousy on this occasion solidified a very solid marriage relationship.
None of these, this post is about the women Blake met in heaven:
Thel was a kind of foretaste of the women to come; she exposed the seediness of mortal life and went back to heaven. In her life Blake posed the question 'is mortal life of any value?' (Raine).
Lyca is a microcosm of the three main women that Blake met in heaven. In Plate 6, 7, and 8 read two ethereally beautiful poems that reveal the kernel of the 'system' Blake developed after he said, "I must create a system or be enslaved by another man's".
Vala is the main woman in Blake's myth (The Four Zoas was originally named Vala). In the development of his story Blake splits Vala into two: Tirzah (the earthly woman) and Jerusalem (the heavenly one).
In To Tirzah Blake starkly presents the dichotomy:
"[Woman], what have I do to with thee?".
From a purely material viewpoint Blake has Jesus say this to his mother, actually a quotation from The Gospel of John 2:4. From a more significant viewpoint the woman represents mortality (Mary was his mortal mother). Jesus of course is something other than mortal. From the most significant viewpoint Blake is talking about you and me: we are made of clay, but an immortal spirit resides within the 'matter'.
Jerusalem of course is the obvious biblical metaphor for the "bride of Christ" and the heavenly (eternal) kingdom.
Saturday, May 26, 2007
The Immortal Man
It was early morning; I sat in the breakfast room reading the paper. Then I turned to Kathleen Raines' Blake and Antiquity. It led to some deep thoughts about life, death-- the various meanings of those two words, and especially how much Blake's poetry and pictures parallel Eastern Religion. Suddenly these two verses from Gates of Paradise popped into my head (click on Of the Gates):
13. But when once I did descry
The Immortal Man that cannot die,
14. Thro' evening shades I haste away
To close the labours of my day.
(Should this link go on the chapter on Poetry or the chapter on Myth?)
Blake frequently gives us the fundamental truths of life and death, but clothed in a symbology that we have to learn to get the full impact.
13. But when once I did descry
The Immortal Man that cannot die,
14. Thro' evening shades I haste away
To close the labours of my day.
(Should this link go on the chapter on Poetry or the chapter on Myth?)
Blake frequently gives us the fundamental truths of life and death, but clothed in a symbology that we have to learn to get the full impact.
Monday, May 21, 2007
The Book of Brass
As committed a Christian as Blake was, he still receives little or no coinage in conventional religious circles. The reasons are rather obvious: he exploded the pet values and prejudices of the conventional Christian, like the "inerrency" of the Bible, etc. etc.
In MHH Blake promised to write the Book of Hell:
The Book of Urizen shows Urizen (Old Nobodaddy) with the Book of Brass; it doesn't save; it condemns. As Moses (and Blake) said, "would to God that all the Lord's people were prophets", and able to hear God speaking directly in Jesus' tones of love rather than like Urizen heard it.
In MHH Blake promised to write the Book of Hell:
The Book of Urizen shows Urizen (Old Nobodaddy) with the Book of Brass; it doesn't save; it condemns. As Moses (and Blake) said, "would to God that all the Lord's people were prophets", and able to hear God speaking directly in Jesus' tones of love rather than like Urizen heard it.
Thursday, May 03, 2007
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Shrinking the Gap
Ezekiel talked to Blake about "the desire of raising other men to the perception of the Infinite" (MHH).
Here's a modern equivalent of Blake's famous conversation in the last place you might expect it:
The Gap stands for the relatively uncivilized (uh unglobalized) part of the world, with about 1/3 of the world's population. Or you might call it the global equivalent of America's Wild West, where the law comes out of the mouth of a six shooter. Half the time a brutal, barbaric terrorizing dictator makes the law, while the terrorized population struggle to get enough food to live.
20 years ago 2/3 of the world's population lived like that, but since 1980 only half of the 40% living on a dollar or less a day still do. It's called globalization.
I know it has worked a hardship on all the auto workers and such like who watched their jobs exported to South Korea or China or such places, but it has dropped the starvation in those places radically. So whether it's good or bad depends on whether America is all that matters to you or you have a more cosmopolitan outlook; maybe whether you're an "American Christian" or a plain Christian.
These insights came from a military analyst named Thomas P.M.Barnett, a man whose writings would cause the average good Quaker to avert his eyes. BUT-
Strangely enough near the end of his second famous book, called Blueprint for Action he reports a wealth of email from clergymen. (Once again we have to discriminate between "American Christian clergymen" and plain Christian clergymen.)
Barnett believes the Gap must be shrunk, and often through military intervention, after which investment and general "connectivity" begins to flow in, and with it law, and commerce, and wealth (for the gap and for those who invest in it). I might try exhaustively to explain the proposals he outlines in The Pentagon's New Map and Blueprint for Action, but I could do no better than to quote at length two paragraphs on page 270 of the second:
"Globalization will rule this planet or it will be ruled in pieces by forces far less beneficent than free markets and collective security schemes. We cannot turn off this hughly powerful process of global integration without triggering its opposite force-- disintegration. Such a decision to withdraw from the world would send it into a fracturing spiral of unprecedented magnitude precisely because the Leviathan's (American military's) departure from the global security system would create a power vacuum that other core pillars would feel compelled to fill with their own competing military activities. Globalization could easily split into a plethora of antagonistic blocs, replicating the [political] dynamics of the first half of the 20th century. Make no mistake-- the burden of picking up those pieces- yet again- would not somehow be magically outsourced to the rest of the world, but to our children and grandchildren....
"Americans need to see the world for the ties that bind the nations and economies together, and not simply fixate on the vertical borders that give the illusion that the pain and suffering of the gap can always be kept distant from our shores. [This is to help] citizens understand that connectivity is my main goal because an informed citizenry will ... demand ... better strategic global leadership from Washington and better understand the long term scope of this effort to shrink the gap."
I understand that he's saying in essence this is the only way to "win the war against terrorism". Although I don't totally agree with Mr. Barnett, I'm impressed with the fact that he (only, as far as I know) has provided a scenario for the future more hopeful than the prospect of continuous military activity to guard ourselves against what has been called the "axis of evil".
Many readers of this post may wonder what all this has to do with the quote from Blake. I may be just foolish enough to see a correspondence between Ezekiel's Infinite and Barnett's Connectivity. And I may be just foolish enough to think that Barnett's slant on peace may be more creative than that of droves of "knee jerk peace lovers".
Here's a modern equivalent of Blake's famous conversation in the last place you might expect it:
The Gap stands for the relatively uncivilized (uh unglobalized) part of the world, with about 1/3 of the world's population. Or you might call it the global equivalent of America's Wild West, where the law comes out of the mouth of a six shooter. Half the time a brutal, barbaric terrorizing dictator makes the law, while the terrorized population struggle to get enough food to live.
20 years ago 2/3 of the world's population lived like that, but since 1980 only half of the 40% living on a dollar or less a day still do. It's called globalization.
I know it has worked a hardship on all the auto workers and such like who watched their jobs exported to South Korea or China or such places, but it has dropped the starvation in those places radically. So whether it's good or bad depends on whether America is all that matters to you or you have a more cosmopolitan outlook; maybe whether you're an "American Christian" or a plain Christian.
These insights came from a military analyst named Thomas P.M.Barnett, a man whose writings would cause the average good Quaker to avert his eyes. BUT-
Strangely enough near the end of his second famous book, called Blueprint for Action he reports a wealth of email from clergymen. (Once again we have to discriminate between "American Christian clergymen" and plain Christian clergymen.)
Barnett believes the Gap must be shrunk, and often through military intervention, after which investment and general "connectivity" begins to flow in, and with it law, and commerce, and wealth (for the gap and for those who invest in it). I might try exhaustively to explain the proposals he outlines in The Pentagon's New Map and Blueprint for Action, but I could do no better than to quote at length two paragraphs on page 270 of the second:
"Globalization will rule this planet or it will be ruled in pieces by forces far less beneficent than free markets and collective security schemes. We cannot turn off this hughly powerful process of global integration without triggering its opposite force-- disintegration. Such a decision to withdraw from the world would send it into a fracturing spiral of unprecedented magnitude precisely because the Leviathan's (American military's) departure from the global security system would create a power vacuum that other core pillars would feel compelled to fill with their own competing military activities. Globalization could easily split into a plethora of antagonistic blocs, replicating the [political] dynamics of the first half of the 20th century. Make no mistake-- the burden of picking up those pieces- yet again- would not somehow be magically outsourced to the rest of the world, but to our children and grandchildren....
"Americans need to see the world for the ties that bind the nations and economies together, and not simply fixate on the vertical borders that give the illusion that the pain and suffering of the gap can always be kept distant from our shores. [This is to help] citizens understand that connectivity is my main goal because an informed citizenry will ... demand ... better strategic global leadership from Washington and better understand the long term scope of this effort to shrink the gap."
I understand that he's saying in essence this is the only way to "win the war against terrorism". Although I don't totally agree with Mr. Barnett, I'm impressed with the fact that he (only, as far as I know) has provided a scenario for the future more hopeful than the prospect of continuous military activity to guard ourselves against what has been called the "axis of evil".
Many readers of this post may wonder what all this has to do with the quote from Blake. I may be just foolish enough to see a correspondence between Ezekiel's Infinite and Barnett's Connectivity. And I may be just foolish enough to think that Barnett's slant on peace may be more creative than that of droves of "knee jerk peace lovers".
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Forgiveness
This was central to Blake's evolving theology. It came to him at 42 and delivered him from his need to flog Old Nobodaddy; he had experienced the 'healing balm'. Henceforth he loved and adored Jesus, the bearer of Forgiveness.
In this form Blake experienced the new birth, which Baptists tell us occurs when you "accept the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal savior". For Blake (and for me) it came with recognition of God's love, and particularly in his case a feeling of being accepted (for me, too actually). The First Vision of Light described his jubilation at being accepted and called "thou Ram hornd with gold".
For Blake (and for me) this led to an excess of power. It appears that Blake had a sense of guilt that came to a head during his three years at Felpham (by the sea). He had been invited there by a fashionable poet and man of affairs named Hayley.
That was wonderful, but Blake soon found that Hayley proposed to "assist" him to becoming succesful by producing miniatures. Blake had struggled with the temptation to pursue worldly success instead of the "main chance", by which he meant artistic integrity (no doubt something all or most artists struggle with). Blake spoke of this in a letter to Cumberland dated 2 July 1800.
The pressure of Hayley on him to conform to worldly expectations was the last straw, and he returned to London a new man, no longer concerned about the approval of those who could reward him monetarily.
His best work came then with Milton and Jerusalem, but his new life is also expressed in the last part of The Four Zoas.
This experience of Blake's strikes me as a universal, applicable to many of us. The world calls, and God calls. Happy are those who hear and respond to the second call.
In this form Blake experienced the new birth, which Baptists tell us occurs when you "accept the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal savior". For Blake (and for me) it came with recognition of God's love, and particularly in his case a feeling of being accepted (for me, too actually). The First Vision of Light described his jubilation at being accepted and called "thou Ram hornd with gold".
For Blake (and for me) this led to an excess of power. It appears that Blake had a sense of guilt that came to a head during his three years at Felpham (by the sea). He had been invited there by a fashionable poet and man of affairs named Hayley.
That was wonderful, but Blake soon found that Hayley proposed to "assist" him to becoming succesful by producing miniatures. Blake had struggled with the temptation to pursue worldly success instead of the "main chance", by which he meant artistic integrity (no doubt something all or most artists struggle with). Blake spoke of this in a letter to Cumberland dated 2 July 1800.
The pressure of Hayley on him to conform to worldly expectations was the last straw, and he returned to London a new man, no longer concerned about the approval of those who could reward him monetarily.
His best work came then with Milton and Jerusalem, but his new life is also expressed in the last part of The Four Zoas.
This experience of Blake's strikes me as a universal, applicable to many of us. The world calls, and God calls. Happy are those who hear and respond to the second call.
Thursday, September 21, 2006
Blake and the Bible
(Look also at Blake's Bible.)
If you think the Bible is inerrant, and that every word has one and only one meaning, then you don't need to read this any further.
Blake had an unparalleled freedom with the Bible. Northrup Frye referred to him as a Bible soaked protestant. He was Bible soaked, but the meanings he found in most of the Bible were distinctive and often unique: "Both read the Bible day and night,But thou read’st black where I read white."
Blake's 'white' reading will excite you and/or repel you. Or perhaps you will add your Blake to the canon; that happens.
1. The idea of Nobodaddy implies an explicit and emphatic rejection of the "sub-Christian" elements of the O.T.
Blake spent half his life figuring out who/what Christ was, after which he measured the quality and value of everything in the Bible in accordance with Christ's identity.
He rejected the thump on the head for the "healing balm".
2. He put the same value on his own visions (and vision) as he did the Bible. In visions he conversed with Isaiah and Ezekiel (see the second Memorable Fancy). My wife's favorite Blake quoted Ezekiel's conversation with Blake thusly: when Blake asked him why he behaved so erratically re living in his underwear and spending 3 months on his left side, etc., Ezekiel responded "'the desire of raising other men into a perception of the infinite". That has in fact became our calling in life.
To use slightly more orthodox terminology we could say the desire to get people thinking about Heaven (in it's larger meaning). That's a good subject for another post.
When our youngest was married (an outdoor Catholic marriage, I had a chance to read some scripture. I finished with the quotation from "Saint William Blake":
"Throughout Eternity I forgive you, you forgive me;
as the dear Redeemer said, this the wine and this the bread."
Blake was very free with his use of the Bible, as I, too strive to be, God willing.
There's much further information on this subject at Chapter Six of my Blake website.
If you think the Bible is inerrant, and that every word has one and only one meaning, then you don't need to read this any further.
Blake had an unparalleled freedom with the Bible. Northrup Frye referred to him as a Bible soaked protestant. He was Bible soaked, but the meanings he found in most of the Bible were distinctive and often unique: "Both read the Bible day and night,But thou read’st black where I read white."
Blake's 'white' reading will excite you and/or repel you. Or perhaps you will add your Blake to the canon; that happens.
1. The idea of Nobodaddy implies an explicit and emphatic rejection of the "sub-Christian" elements of the O.T.
Blake spent half his life figuring out who/what Christ was, after which he measured the quality and value of everything in the Bible in accordance with Christ's identity.
He rejected the thump on the head for the "healing balm".
2. He put the same value on his own visions (and vision) as he did the Bible. In visions he conversed with Isaiah and Ezekiel (see the second Memorable Fancy). My wife's favorite Blake quoted Ezekiel's conversation with Blake thusly: when Blake asked him why he behaved so erratically re living in his underwear and spending 3 months on his left side, etc., Ezekiel responded "'the desire of raising other men into a perception of the infinite". That has in fact became our calling in life.
To use slightly more orthodox terminology we could say the desire to get people thinking about Heaven (in it's larger meaning). That's a good subject for another post.
When our youngest was married (an outdoor Catholic marriage, I had a chance to read some scripture. I finished with the quotation from "Saint William Blake":
"Throughout Eternity I forgive you, you forgive me;
as the dear Redeemer said, this the wine and this the bread."
Blake was very free with his use of the Bible, as I, too strive to be, God willing.
There's much further information on this subject at Chapter Six of my Blake website.
Monday, September 18, 2006
Jung and Blake
Records show a strange congruence between the development and psyche of these two men:
Blake saw the face of God in his window at four.
Jung dreamed of a giant turd dropping from heaven on the cathedral at four.
Both men had a critical attitude toward conventional Christianity; note Blake's "Nobodaddy" and Jung's departure from several generations of ministers on both sides of his family, and of course the 'turd dream'.
Both men were primarily visionaries and poets although Jung of course carefully disguised himself from those roles.
In particular you will note a strange coincidence regarding one extremely critical vision: Blake's four zoas and Jung's four functions. The functions appear to relate positively to the zoas:
Tharmas may be related to Sensation.
Luvah to Feeling.
Urizen to Thinking.
Los to Intuition.
How did this come about? We know that Jung had read Blake.
Rightly or wrongly he never gave Blake credit for the functions. To do that might have given away his mask as a scientist.
In studying the two men we note a close resemblance between poetic (and graphic) vision and scientific discovery. Blake was certainly not (much of) a scientist, and Jung was more of a visionary than he cared to acknowledge.
He came closest in Memories, Dreams, and Reflections, written in his 80's and published posthumously. By that time he didn't care!
Blake saw the face of God in his window at four.
Jung dreamed of a giant turd dropping from heaven on the cathedral at four.
Both men had a critical attitude toward conventional Christianity; note Blake's "Nobodaddy" and Jung's departure from several generations of ministers on both sides of his family, and of course the 'turd dream'.
Both men were primarily visionaries and poets although Jung of course carefully disguised himself from those roles.
In particular you will note a strange coincidence regarding one extremely critical vision: Blake's four zoas and Jung's four functions. The functions appear to relate positively to the zoas:
Tharmas may be related to Sensation.
Luvah to Feeling.
Urizen to Thinking.
Los to Intuition.
How did this come about? We know that Jung had read Blake.
Rightly or wrongly he never gave Blake credit for the functions. To do that might have given away his mask as a scientist.
In studying the two men we note a close resemblance between poetic (and graphic) vision and scientific discovery. Blake was certainly not (much of) a scientist, and Jung was more of a visionary than he cared to acknowledge.
He came closest in Memories, Dreams, and Reflections, written in his 80's and published posthumously. By that time he didn't care!
Sunday, September 17, 2006
For Blake Fans
“Every thing possible to be believ’d is an image of truth.”, from the Marriage of Heaven and Hell
Here it is: the first blog (from blogger.com at least) devoted to the works of William Blake. What ensues here will also appear in Ram Horn'd with Gold.
"Thinking as I do that the Creator
of this world is a cruel being, and
being a worshipper of Christ, I have to
say: "the Son! oh how unlike the Father":
First God Almighty comes with a thump on
the head; then J.C. comes with a balm
to heal it." (Blake's comments on The Last Judgment)
Blake damned Old Nobodaddy until his early 40's. From then on he blessed Jesus the Forgiveness.
He recorded that Moment of Grace in a letter to his friend and benefactor, Thomas Butts. It contained the famous poem where he was called "Thou Ram Horn'd with Gold.
-----------------------------------------
I need your help for this ongoing project. Grace me with your objections, comments, suggestions or whatever, in the form of a comment here.
Here it is: the first blog (from blogger.com at least) devoted to the works of William Blake. What ensues here will also appear in Ram Horn'd with Gold.
"Thinking as I do that the Creator
of this world is a cruel being, and
being a worshipper of Christ, I have to
say: "the Son! oh how unlike the Father":
First God Almighty comes with a thump on
the head; then J.C. comes with a balm
to heal it." (Blake's comments on The Last Judgment)
Blake damned Old Nobodaddy until his early 40's. From then on he blessed Jesus the Forgiveness.
He recorded that Moment of Grace in a letter to his friend and benefactor, Thomas Butts. It contained the famous poem where he was called "Thou Ram Horn'd with Gold.
-----------------------------------------
I need your help for this ongoing project. Grace me with your objections, comments, suggestions or whatever, in the form of a comment here.
Sunday, November 07, 2004
INTRODUCTION TO OUR BLOG
This is a repost of an earlier post intended to help Blake students get started:
An anonymous reader has asked that we provide more information in our posts. So I will try to explain what we are attempting to do in our Blake blog.
First we want to focus our attention on William Blake and his writing.
We are not experts but students of Blake. We follow our own interests. We are interested in sharing what we have learned of Blake and would would like to tailor our posts to the interests of the reader. We hope readers will let us know what interests them about Blake.
There have been posts which attempt to introduce the reader to studying Blake especially using the resources on the internet. The links to the text of Blake's poetry and prose, and to his graphic works are provided. A link to Larry's online book which includes a primer is also a useful tool. (These files can be electronically searched for specific topics.) Within the posts we often provide links to external files which expand the study to wider sources.
None of Blake's work is simple to understand. Beginners can start with Songs of Innocence and Experience. Marriage of Heaven and Hell grabs the attention of many with its irony. The major prophecies can be approached a little at a time rather than entire. If you are visually oriented, the visual images can be used as an avenue to draw you into reading the poetry.
Blake's body of work is large and complex. On our blog we have not attempted a systematic study. We are giving clues to solving the mystery. Analysts of Blake's work often tell us that Blake expected the reader to go beyond what was stated in the text, to perceive the underlying meaning. We hope our readers will sift through the blog posts looking for cracks or doors or highways through which they may enter Blake's mind and heart and imagination.
Reading Blake may expand your mind, nourish your spirit, or enrich your imagination; don't expect it to put money in your pocket, expand your social circle or impress your professors.
Here are some earlier posts which may help the neophyte.
Bible
Perception
Vision
Emphasis
Help
Fourfold
Idealism
Reader
Plates
4Z's
I can't end without a quote from Blake as well as the picture.Liberty or Stems of Vegetation
Jerusalem, Plate 60, (E 209)
"within the Furnaces the Divine Vision appeard
On Albions hills: often walking from the Furnaces in clouds
And flames among the Druid Temples & the Starry Wheels
Gatherd Jerusalems Children in his arms & bore them like
A Shepherd in the night of Albion which overspread all the Earth
I gave thee liberty and life O lovely Jerusalem
And thou hast bound me down upon the Stems of Vegetation"
An anonymous reader has asked that we provide more information in our posts. So I will try to explain what we are attempting to do in our Blake blog.
First we want to focus our attention on William Blake and his writing.
We are not experts but students of Blake. We follow our own interests. We are interested in sharing what we have learned of Blake and would would like to tailor our posts to the interests of the reader. We hope readers will let us know what interests them about Blake.
There have been posts which attempt to introduce the reader to studying Blake especially using the resources on the internet. The links to the text of Blake's poetry and prose, and to his graphic works are provided. A link to Larry's online book which includes a primer is also a useful tool. (These files can be electronically searched for specific topics.) Within the posts we often provide links to external files which expand the study to wider sources.
None of Blake's work is simple to understand. Beginners can start with Songs of Innocence and Experience. Marriage of Heaven and Hell grabs the attention of many with its irony. The major prophecies can be approached a little at a time rather than entire. If you are visually oriented, the visual images can be used as an avenue to draw you into reading the poetry.
Blake's body of work is large and complex. On our blog we have not attempted a systematic study. We are giving clues to solving the mystery. Analysts of Blake's work often tell us that Blake expected the reader to go beyond what was stated in the text, to perceive the underlying meaning. We hope our readers will sift through the blog posts looking for cracks or doors or highways through which they may enter Blake's mind and heart and imagination.
Reading Blake may expand your mind, nourish your spirit, or enrich your imagination; don't expect it to put money in your pocket, expand your social circle or impress your professors.
Here are some earlier posts which may help the neophyte.Bible
Perception
Vision
Emphasis
Help
Fourfold
Idealism
Reader
Plates
4Z's
I can't end without a quote from Blake as well as the picture.Liberty or Stems of Vegetation
Jerusalem, Plate 60, (E 209)
"within the Furnaces the Divine Vision appeard
On Albions hills: often walking from the Furnaces in clouds
And flames among the Druid Temples & the Starry Wheels
Gatherd Jerusalems Children in his arms & bore them like
A Shepherd in the night of Albion which overspread all the Earth
I gave thee liberty and life O lovely Jerusalem
And thou hast bound me down upon the Stems of Vegetation"
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