William Blake Poetry – Revision Notes
Key Ideas
Romanticism
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He is not a traditional Romantic, but holds some of their views.
You will see both biblical and mythological imagery in his works.
He was against science, preferring instead the creative spirit to rationality
Innocence
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Blake thinks that we are all born innocent and in God’s image, it is society
that corrupts us.
He holds a special place for children for this reason
He romanticizes the pastoral, and demonises the industrial revolution.
Religion
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Blake was deeply religious and you can see a lot of biblical imagery in his
work – but he is highly critical of organised religion and this turns up in a
lot of his poetry
Remember he believed that as a child he had religious visions
Women/Equality
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He believed in equality for women and taught his wife Catherine to read
and to assist in his engraving work.
However, he also believed in free love (Swedeborgianism) and this is also
evident in his work
Slavery
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He was highly critical of slavery and child labour.
He saw America as a new land where things could be put right.
Politics
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Blake supported the French and American Revolutions, and the
overthrow of corrupt power.
Poem by Poem
Song
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A comment on the treatment of women – he is looking for a more equal
partnership
Fairly regular rhyming scheme
Use of exclamation marks to show emotion
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Sexual imagery in first two paragraphs, it takes a dramatic turn in the
third
Mentions Apollo the sun god
Speaker + passive verbs, captor +active verbs
Entrapment – net, then a cage. Gets progressively worse
She (the bird, a dehumanizing tactic) is mocked by her captor
The speaker has moved from innocence to experience
Visions of the Daughters of Albion
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This was written around about the same time as the collection Songs of
Experience, and seems to fit in nicely with many of the ideas in this.
In this poem Blake condemns the absurdity of enforced chastity. Oothoon
has desires which her interactions with nature show that Blake thinks are
natural. He suggests women have as much right to sexual self-fulfillment
as men. Theotormon’s unsureness about sexuality – and especially after
Oothoon’s rape are seen as indecisive and foolish. Oothoon is seen as
brave and progressive by denying (eventually) that rape makes her
sullied, and still following her desires.
He also spurns marriage without love – and does not suggest Oothoon
should marry because she was raped. Bromion’s harsh and
contemptuous attitude towards her makes him the villain of the piece.
However, we readers also find Theortormon useless – he cannot forgive
or embrace her even by the end of the poem. He misses out on joy
because he is so hung up on the expectations of society.
The first 8 lines (under the subtitle – The Argument) should be seen as a
summary of the whole. Oothoon is unsure about sexuality and when she
decides to embrace it (represented by the ‘plucking’ references, a
common way to describe loss of maidenhead at the time) she is met by
Bromion instead
Her rape can also be said to reflect the rape of the natural world.
Bromion’s rape is man’s plundering and ruining of the natural world we
have inherited. Latre in the poem he gives a colonists perspective about
his desire to explore and subjugate nature.
Blake has an idealistic view of America in this poem – they still have
slaves and they have certainly subjugated the native Americans. But he
thinks they can put thing right there is this new land. A longing for
American is a longing for political emancipation
Remember to define the Daughters of Albion
Clear references to slaves and slavery in the poem.
Consider the meaning of the repeated line “The Daughters of Albion hear
her woes and eccho back her sighs”. Does this suggest her experiences are
those of all women?
Imagery of night and morn, darkness and light. Knowledge and lack of
knowledge or enlightenment.
Descriptions of how animals follow their nature and are not bound by
society’s strictures. She uses this to implore Theortormon to follow his
feelings.
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If you want to, you can research Plato’s allegory of the cave in reference to
this poem. This is certainly evident in some of drawings Blake did in
association with this poem.
The Lamb (Songs of Innocence)
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You can see the sing-song quality here in the simple rhyming scheme –
this was intended to be sung.
Each stanza consists of five set of rhyming couplets. The first stanza is
rural and descriptive, has a pondering tone. The second stanza is
explanation.
Very religious in nature – Lamb represents Jesus and the traditional
Christian values of meekness and gentleness.
Speaker is a child (remember Blake thinks they are close to God)
The questioning is both naïve and profound. God, who made the lamb, is
also like the lamb.
The companion poem in Songs of Experience is The Tyger. This poem in
this collection explores only the wonder and beauty of religious belief.
The content of The Tyger is more complicated.
The Little Black Boy (Songs of Innocence)
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This poem plays on traditional symbology of black and white
The speaker – a child slave – does not believe he is “bereft of light”.
His mother has taught him that his “sunburnt face” means that he is
closer to good’s love, which he experiences like rays on sunshine.
His mother is the hero of the poem and teaches him that no matter
what he goes through here on Earth, something special is waiting for
him in Heaven. This reflects Blake’s own religious ideas.
Blake’s attitude to slavery is evident here, especially in writing from
the child slave’s perspective. He believes slavery is at odds with
Christian values.
The boy longs for acceptance and equality from the white boy that he
serves. He dreams of finding this in Heaven. Spiritual love transcends
race.
Some interesting use of inclusive language
This particular rhyming scheme and ten syllable structure is called
heroic quatrains.
The Chimney Sweeper (Songs of Innocence)
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This poem reflects Blake’s attitude to child labour and is a year after they
tried to pass a law to improve the conditions of these children. They went
into the business at about 5 or 6, when they were at a size toe clean the
chimneys. Few lived long after this.
The mention of death in the first line immediately gets the reader’s
sympathies, as does his naming and descriptions of the characters.
Imagery of the chimneys as coffins in the dream
Contrasts of language use: ‘dark’ and ‘work’ for ‘sun’ and ‘light’
Infant Joy (Songs of Innocence)
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Ambigous title – could be the joy of motherhood, the joy possessed by the
innocent infant or it could be completely symbolic. Babies often
represented a beginning. Could it mean the beginning of a revolution?
Very short lines
Irregular rhyming scheme
Mix of voices in different parts of the poem
Exclamation marks show depth of feeling
IS it hopeful or is the mother trying to reassure herself?
The Sick Rose (Songs of Experience)
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Literal and symbolic – flowers are destroyed thus, but could refer to a
number of things. The flower is a symbol of love. The death of a love? Of
love itself in this society? The death of beauty via corruption.
Sexual undertones
The Tyger (Songs of Experience)
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Mention the use of the archaic reference to the tiger
Partners with The Lamb
Childlike rhyming scheme – but deals with the big questions
Questioning God – he created the lamb (gentle. Meek) but also this
fearsome creature. He creates the whole world and it has both good and
evil in it.
Even the fearsome tiger is a creature of beauty and divine design
Use of the imagery of God as the smith or creator
Look at the change from ‘could’ to ‘dare’ in the final stanza
London (Songs of Experience)
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A romantic view of cities. (in the sense that he is very critical) Society is
reflected herein. A marvelous piece.
Blake is frustrated by what he sees around him. He condemns child
labour, the church, war, and prostitution. He therefore encourages
revolution.
He is critical of those that belong to this society. They not only have
“marks of woe” but also of “weakness”.
Use of repetition to reinforce point of view
Infant Sorrow (songs of Experience)
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Written in the past tense, like the speaker looks back on the sorrowful
moment of his birth.
Very negative imagery – birth is a trauma. Is it just entering this unjust
world or is it an unwanted birth too?
What sort of world has the child been born into? He does not appear
happy or joyous to be here. He knows better.
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Perhaps Blake wants to comment on the unhappy experiences of children
(such as chimney sweeps)
Fiend, struggling, striving, bound… look at the words here.
Struggles against the father – could represent struggling against
patriarchal authority. Blake would approve of this however – he would
say yes! Struggle against authority. The mother’s breast is more loving
and natural – in this way this could be viewed as a positive poem.
Mary
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Sweet and angelic Mary is the object of jealousy and derision due to her
beauty.
She points out the irony of other people’s responses to her when she
attempts to remain meek and mild, and is scorned for causing envy.
Could be linked in to his earlier works on women and freedom of love.
Some readers suggest Mary was unchaste.
Auguries of Innocence
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To prepare, you will need to go through all the aspects of this. Each line
has meaning and makes a statement.
Juxtaposes innocents with evil and corruption throughout. A highly
complex poem. You would only get an extract.
This poem is disdainful and condemns all the Blake sees is wring with
society. Mostly the inequality between the innocent and
underpriviledged with the blessed and elite. He also condemns the poor
treatment of animals and reinforces that nature should be treated with
respect and fear.
The opening stanza shows how small creation is in comparison with the
divine
The Four Zoas – What Price Experience?
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Blake worked on this over several years
Experience is painful, because life is painful.
Like the previous poem, each section maintains a different one number of
a number of views about the world.
And did those feet in ancient time…
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Wonders if Jesus ever travelled to England (as the aprocryphal story
mentions) with Joseph of Arimethea. Would this have made England holy
at that time?
Blake will not rest until this golden time returns. Calls for a number of
holy weapons
Condemnatory of where society has been led in terms of the industrial
revolution as well as our morality.