William Blake LIFE. di Andrea Piccolo

Transcription

1 William Blake LIFE Always faithful to Spiritual life, which he considered better than the Corporal one; Of humble origins, he worked as an engraver; He didn't leave London but for a short period, under the patronage of Hayley; He supported the French Revolution, as a freethinker; He was strongly religious and against the industrialization of the early 19 th century. Important as: Artist (drawer, where he felt the influence of Michelangelo and painter, where he created an art following the power of imagination, with subject taken from the Bible, Milton and Dante); Poet (against neoclassical poetry and in favour of the Romantic ideal of imagination); Prophet (publishing prophetic books, as a result of his inner visions)

2 Blake, the poet

3 'Complementary opposites' MAIN IDEA There are no contraries fighting each other, but just opposites that, in their union, bring progress, Knowledge and the sublime. So, in a sort of apocalyptic vision, the two forces Meet each other, without a supremacy of one over the other The idea of opposites on God, mankind and literature With this idea (he had taken from the philosopher of Jakob Boehme), the nature of God is double: he has a good and loving part, and an evil and wrathful one. In Blake's opinion, Heaven, which is the reign of order and rules should merge with Hell, which is the reign of creativity and liberty. The two states of good and evil coexist not only in God, but also in men, as fundamental parts of our being. The complementary opposites manifest themselves in his work with the two collections of poems, Songs of innocence and Songs of experience. The second one was composed later, but doesn't reject the first one: it represents its contrary in the perfect Blake's literary sinthesis.

4 Innocence and Experience: overview Songs of Innocence Songs of Experience Period of life depicted Childhood/adolescence Maturity/adulthood Idea of life Optimistic (happiness, purity and freedom) Pessimistic (bitterness, strength, deceit and constraint) Feelings Love and generosity Hate and selfishness Ideal setting A quiet bucolic garden The industrialized and polluted city Songs introduced by A little young piper An ancient Bard, aware of the imminent Fall Animal symbolized The Lamb The Tyger

5 The power of imagination Immagination as a mystic force It is the means through which it is possible to know the world, not in its surface, but into the essence of things. It is also called Divine Vision, and not only does it allow the poet to see the inner world, but also to create images and poetry. Style Characterised by: a)simple structure; b)consistent use of symbols, especially to represent the states of innocence and experience; c)linear and rhytmical verse; d)strong influence of sound and strong relantionship sound/meaning; e)frequent use of repetition. God, the poet and the child In Blake's idea, the three agents that are endowed of the power of the Divine Vision are: a)god, b)the child; c)the poet. In such a way, they are the only ones who can create the world, and the poet has also a prophetic power to see the inner things and warn man of the evils of society.

6 Blake: a final analysis in a list I.In Blake the rebellion against every form of power and tyranny (the Church, society, sexual repression and prudery) conducts him towards a sympathy for French revolution and other revolutions; II. Unlike Wordsworth, Blake is keen on the esoteric, the mystic and the idealization of nature and it represents this through the use of the symbol. III.The role of imagination is essential and it is not just the capability of observing the world through the senses, but a divine force which enables the poet to recreate the essence of life (pantheistic vision); IV.The poet, so, is a prophet who sees the world in its internal part and speaks to men; V.The dualisms in Blake (innocence/experience; life/death; good/evil; Lamb/Tyger...) never solve themselves in a triumph of one element on the other, but as the fusion between them VI.The engine of Blake's poetry is the sublime, which is described by the philosopher Kant in this way: VII.Sublime è il senso di sgomento che l uomo prova di fronte alla grandezza della natura sia nell aspetto pacifico, sia ancor più, nel momento della sua terribile rappresentazione, quando ognuno di noi sente la sua piccolezza, la sua estrema fragilità, la sua finitezza, ma, al tempo stesso, proprio perché cosciente di questo, intuisce l infinito e si rende conto che l anima possiede una facoltà superiore alla misura dei sensi.