WILLIAM BLAKE

letteratura inglese

WILLIAM BLAKE

William Blake was born in London in 1757. Though he didn't attend a school he was apprenticed to an engraver ,entering later, at the age of 22: the royal Academy. From 1779 onwords he made his living through his art , which included a combination of poetry writing and engrav 515e42f ings . Infact he had invented a very unique technique which he called '' illuminated printing ''. He engraved the text of his poems ( he started his poetic production in his mid twenties ) on a sheet of copper and with it colorful pictures and images which depicted (illustrated, represented) and gave life to the very poem itself. Creating ,expensive to buy and hard to reproduce, works of art. Even if today we recognise his works as something valuable and prestigious , unfortunately for him , he was only really given proper credit after his death . That meant that to survive he ( helped by his wife whom he taught how to read and wtite ) had to make a living applying his art in writing poems of other more aknowledged (pubblically recognized) people .

His most important work is SONGS OF EXPERIENCE (1794) .

He also wrote : THE FRENCH REVOLUTION , A POEM IN SEVEN BOOKS (1791) , A MERICA A PROPHECY (1793) and MILTON (1803-08)

songs of innocence(1789) and songs of experience(1793) :

songs of innocence and songs of experience are two distinct but parallel productions , they are complete opposites but at the same time they complement one another. The first handles themes such as ifancy in a very particular way : one must not be tricked ( fooled ) by the simple childlike way of writing , the messages behind his poems are much more complex and profound .

Childhood in his poems is not only a time of our lives but a whole different more innocent way of viewing , living and percieving the world , for ( inteso come poichè) one is closer to God, nature and perfection when young.

Whilst (mentre invece) songs of experience , is an evolution of the first .

Man does not stay child forever , his nature becomes corrupted even if strong , selfish and incapable of spontaneity.

BLAKE'S SYMBOLYSM :

INNOCENCE 

- children

-flowers

-seasons

OPPERSSION RATIONALISM

-urban / industrial landscapes

-machines

Many have commented on this , infact Blake is very famous for his dual vision of life . In men 2 parts cohexist: the child and the grown man. The poet figure for example , is seen closer to the innocent child , like he shows clearly in the poem ''lamb'' wich is the antithesys of ''tyger''.

And while the lamb provides us with images of inocence , weakness , forgiveness , and the figure of Christ ; the tiger is , beautiful , symmetrical , strong but also violent and dangerous , and it's energy becomes not something to praise but to fear ( like the french revolution) .

Though Blake  shows us how the two figures cohexist even through little details , for example the profile of the tiger in his poem is very similar to that of the lamb.