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William Blake ( 1757-1827)

William Blake ( 1757-1827). A poet. An engraver. A visionary. A painter. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3hQXQ5_zCM. The man.

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William Blake ( 1757-1827)

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  1. William Blake ( 1757-1827) A poet An engraver A visionary A painter https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3hQXQ5_zCM

  2. The man A political freethinker: he sympathized with the forces of revolution in America and shared the initial enthusiasm for the principles of the French Revolution. He was concerned with the political and social problems of his time: he supported the abolition of slavery and focused on the evil consequences of the Industrial Revolution https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3hQXQ5_zCM&t=105s

  3. The Poet Regarded as early Romantic : rejected classical themes stressed the importance of imagination over reason believed that ideal forms should be created not from observation of nature, but from an inner vision

  4. ILLUMINATED PRINTING He broke with all the conventions and created a new kind of art which emphasized the power of imagination: • a particular process of printing • probably influenced by medieval illuminating manuscript • the test was often surrounded by imaginary figures that provided decorations, but also an imaginative interpretation of the text itself. • a unique work of art, too expensive and hard to reproduce • Engraved on copperplate , printed and then water-coloured

  5. INTRODUCTION Piping down the valleys wild,Piping songs of pleasant glee,On a cloud I saw a child,And he laughing said to me:"Pipe a song about a Lamb!"So I piped with merry chear."Piper, pipe that song again"So I piped, he wept to hear.……………And I made a rural pen,And I stain'd the water clear,And I wrote my happy songsEvery child may joy to hear

  6. WHO IS THE NARRATOR? • The narrator is a shepherd who receives inspiration from a child in a cloud to pipe his songs celebrating the divine creation. • The language is simple and musical

  7. A visionary poet • Far from being hallucinations caused by mental disorder • He believed in the illuminating power of his visions • The triumph of imagination against reason • He always followed the truth he felt in himself • Imagination and the sensations of his heart were his only guides • “He who sees the Infinite in all things sees God. He who sees the Ratio sees himself only.”

  8. Look at this video:Auguries of innocence... • What feelings do you get ? • Harmony • Tranquillity • Serenity • Infinity • Eternity • “death is only a removal from one room to another” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYVGKCR0tE4

  9. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wi848QqLbdo Auguries of Innocence To see a World in a grain of sand,And a Heaven in a wild flower,Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand,And Eternity in an hour. how children see the world The poem begins with a quatrain which captures how the beauty of nature and the universe is often in the small everyday details

  10. From the second stanza on , a list of cruel situations and auguries (signs) about what might happen if these kinds of injustice continue. A Robin Redbreast in a Cage Puts all Heaven in a Rage. A dove house fill’d with doves and pigeons Shudders Hell thro’ all its regions. A Dog starv’d at his Master’s Gate Predicts the ruin of the State. …………………………… Each outcry of the hunted Hare A fiber from the Brain does tear. ………………………………… He whomocks the infant'sfaith Shallbe mock'd in age and death. He whoshallteach the child to doubt The rotting grave shallne'erget out. ……………………………………… Couplets creating a sort of Nursery rhyme In each of the rhyming couplets we see the juxtaposition of innocence and cruelty.

  11. Every night and every morn Some to misery are born, Every morn and every night Some are born to sweet delight Some are born to sweet delight, Some are born to endless night. We are led to believe a lie When we see not thro' the eye, Which was born in a night to perish in a night, When the soul slept in beams of light. God appears, and God is light, To those poor souls who dwell in night; But does a human form display To those who dwell in realms of day.

  12. Take the highway to the end of the night End of the night End of the night Take a journey to the bright midnight End of the night End of the night Realms of bliss Realms of light Some are born to sweet delight Some are born to sweet delight Some are born to the endless night End of the night End of the night End of the night End of the night End of the night Realms of bliss Realms of light Some are born to sweet delight Some are born to sweet delight Some are born to the endless night End of the night End of the night End of the night End of the night END OF THE NIGHTTHE DOORS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmBErhkoczY

  13. Blake’s Influence Jim Morrison got the name for The Doors from The Marriage of Heaven and Hell “If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is—infinite. For man has closed himself up till he sees things through narrow chinks of his cavern.”

  14. INNOCENCE EXPERIENCE

  15. INNOCENCE • A pastoral symbolism drawn from the Bible • A state of soul connected with: purity happiness freedom • childhood represents: not an age but a state of the soul a childlike view of life people who still feel close to their divine origin.

  16. Look at the videoWILLIAM BLAKE Anxiety Anguish Terror Fear Power Sorrow Experience

  17. “Complementary opposites” • without contraries there’s no progression • Man must be tested by experience ; in order to develop his vital energies he must know not only joy , but sorrow too • Good and Evil ; Love and hate …. are necessary to human existence. All of them exist in an eternal opposition and together they represent the plenitude of man’s life

  18. Who is God?

  19. God is the creative and spiritual power in man God is IMAGINATION Imagination is The Divine Power, the power of creating things. He denied the existence of God separated from man. Did he who made the Lamb make the Tyger?

  20. The two states of the soul coexist also in GOD, in the figure of the Creator. • He can be at the same time: the God of love and innocence the God of energy and violence

  21. Every living thing was a symbol of the everlasting power • He tried to discover the reality beyond the visible world • He described the invisible in the language of the visible • it was possible only through similes and metaphors, from here his symbolism

  22. The poet is a PROPHET • His task is to awaken his generation to the well organized world of imagination • The poet is a link between man and nature, and the Divine

  23. Little Lamb, who made thee?Dost thou know who made thee?Gave thee life & bid thee feed,By the stream & o'er the mead;Gave thee clothing of delight,Softest clothing, wooly, bright;Gave thee such a tender voice,Making all the vales rejoice?Little Lamb, who made thee?Dost thou know who made thee?Little Lamb, I'll tell thee,Little Lamb, I'll tell thee:He is called by thy name,For he calls himself a Lamb.He is meek & he is mild;He became a little child.I a child & thou a lamb.We are called by his name.Little Lamb, God bless thee!Little Lamb, God bless thee! Questions Rhyming couplets Answer

  24. Little Lamb, who made thee?Dost thou know who made thee? The Rhythm is slow and meditative Gave thee life & bid thee feed,By the stream & o'er the mead;Gave thee clothing of delight,Softest clothing, wooly, bright;Gave thee such a tender voice,Making all the vales rejoice Little Lamb, who made thee?Dost thou know who made thee? Little Lamb, I'll tell thee,Little Lamb, I'll tell thee: Refrain He is called by thy name,For he calls himself a Lamb.He is meek & he is mild;He became a little child.I a child & thou a lamb.We are called by his name. Little Lamb, God bless thee!Little Lamb, God bless thee!

  25. Little Lamb, who made thee?Dost thou know who made thee?Gave thee life & bid thee feed,By the stream & o'er the mead;Gave thee clothing of delight,Softest clothing, wooly, bright;Gave thee such a tender voice,Making all the vales rejoice?Little Lamb, who made thee?Dost thou know who made thee? Allitteration They convey an image of tenderness, purity and peace Assonance: Long vowels

  26. Little Lamb, who made thee?Dost thou know who made thee?Gave thee life & bid thee feed,By the stream & o'er the mead;Gave thee clothing of delight,Softest clothing, wooly, bright;Gave thee such a tender voice,Making all the valesrejoice?Little Lamb, who made thee?Dost thou know who made thee? setting nature

  27. Little Lamb, who made thee?Dost thou know who made thee?Gave thee life & bid thee feed,By the stream & o'er the mead;Gave thee clothing of delight,Softest clothing, wooly, bright;Gave thee such a tender voice,Making all the vales rejoice?Little Lamb, who made thee?Dost thou know who made thee? Words related to the Lamb

  28. Biblical symbol Little Lamb, I'll tell thee,Little Lamb, I'll tell thee:He is called by thy name,For he calls himself a Lamb.He is meek& he is mild;He became a little child.I a child & thou a lamb.We are called by his name.Little Lamb, God bless thee!Little Lamb, God bless thee! They refer to the Creator

  29. Little Lamb, I'll tell thee,Little Lamb, I'll tell thee:He is called by thy name,For he calls himself a Lamb.He is meek & he is mild;He became a little child. Identification of the poet with the child Childhood a state of the soul Poet = a prophet I a child & thou a lamb. We are called by his name.Little Lamb, God bless thee!Little Lamb, God bless thee! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pClJMaPHqOo

  30. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uTWujEMYvQ The Tyger Tyger ! Tyger! Burning brightIn the forests of the night,What immortal hand or eyeCould frame thy fearful symmetry?In what distant deeps or skiesBurnt the fire of thine eyes?On what wings dare he aspire?What the hand dare seize the fire? And what shoulder, and what art,Could twist the sinews of thy heart?And when thy heart began to beat,What dread hand? And what dread feet?

  31. What the hammer? What the chain?In what furnace was thy brain?What the anvil? What dread graspDare its deadly terrors grasp?When the stars threw down their spears,And water’d heaven with their tearsDid he smile his work to see?Did he who made the Lamb make thee?Tyger! Tyger! Burning brightIn the forests of the night,What immortal hand or eye, Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

  32. How does the poet address the tyger ? Tyger ! Tyger ! Burning brightIn the forests of the night,What immortal hand or eyeCould frame thy fearful symmetry?In what distant deeps or skiesBurnt the fire of thine eyes?On what wings dare he aspire?What the hand dare seize the fire? And what shoulder, and what art,Could twist the sinews of thy heart?And when thy heart began to beat,What dread hand? And what dread feet? invocations questions

  33. How is the tyger like? oxymoron violence Tyger ! Tyger !Burning brightIn the forests of the night, What immortal hand or eyeCould frame thy fearful symmetry ? shining Symbol of experience, suffering and violence

  34. How is the tyger like? Tyger ! Tyger !Burning brightIn the forests of the night, What immortal hand or eyeCould frame thy fearful symmetry ? The light of genius overcoming ignorance

  35. What about the setting? In what distant deepsor skiesBurnt the fire of thine eyes?On what wings dare he aspire?What the hand dare seize the fire? The poet emphasizes the distance between man and God • A link with the first stanza • A metaphor of strenght

  36. In what distant deeps or skiesBurnt the fire of thine eyes?On what wings dare he aspire?What the hand dare seize the fire? • Metaphor of the Creator’s / artist’s capacity to rise above the material world • The myth of Icarus

  37. We should be terrified by the tyger and by God, but at the same time we feel admiration for their strenght And what shoulder, and what art,Could twist the sinews of thy heart?And when thy heart began to beat,What dread hand? And what dread feet? What the hammer? What the chain?In what furnace was thy brain?What the anvil? What dread graspDare its deadly terrors grasp?

  38. Here there is a clear reference to the biblical fall ofthe angels when they revolted against God. Reason revolted against Imagination When the starsthrew down their spears,And water’d heaven with their tearsDid he smile his work to see?Did he who made the Lamb make thee? They fought against God They surrended afraid of the power and punishment of God

  39. What’s the final answer? Tyger! Tyger! Burning brightIn the forests of the night,What immortal hand or eye,Dare frame thy fearful symmetry? Impossible to understand through reason

  40. Romantic aspect of his poetry: • concept of imagination • contemplation of nature • interest in the medieval and gothic • exaltation of art ( in this he anticipates the aesthetic movement ) • art seen as a creative vision • freedom: he lived all the contradictions of his time. Like Rousseau he believed that “ Man is born free and everywhere he is in chains”, so he hailed the American and French revolution. • He rebelled against any form of oppression: social , political and religious. He attacked the values of the 18th c. in favour of democracy and justice

  41. LET’S ANALYZE “ THE CHIMNEY SWEEPER When my mother died I was very young, And my father sold me while yet my tongue Could scarcely cry " 'weep! 'weep! 'weep! 'weep!“ So your chimneys I sweep & in soot I sleep. There's little Tom Dacre, who cried when his head, That curl'd like a lamb's back. was shav'd: so I said "Hush. Tom! never mind it, for when your head's bare You know that the soot cannot spoil your white hair.“

  42. And so he was quiet & that very night, As Tom was a-sleeping, he had such a sight! That thousands of sweepers, Dick, Joe, Ned or Jack. Were all of them lock'd up in coffins of black. And by came an Angel who had a bright key, And he open'd the coffins & set them all free; Then down a green plain leaping, laughing, they run, And wash in a river. and shine in the Sun.

  43. Then naked & white, all their bags left behind, They rise upon clouds and sport in the wind; And the Angel told Tom, if he'd be a good boy, He'd have God for his father & never want joy. And so Tom awoke; and we rose in the dark. And got with our bags & our brushes to work. Tho' the morning was cold, Tom was happy & warm; So if all do their duty they need not fear harm.

  44. WHAT DO THEY BELONG TO?

  45. THE CHIMNEY SWEEPER • A little black thing among the snow:Crying weep, weep, in notes of woe!Where are thy father & mother! say!They are both gone up to the church to pray. • Because I was happy upon the heath,And smil'd among the winters snow:They clothed me in the clothes of death,And taught me to sing the notes of woe. • And because I am happy, & dance & sing,They think they have done me no injury:And are gone to praise God & his Priest & KingWho make up a heaven of our misery.

  46. London by William BlakeI wander thro’ each charter’d street, Near where the charter’d Thames does flow,And mark in every face I meet Marks 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 cry Every black'ning Church appalls;And the hapless Soldier’s sighRuns in blood down Palace walls. But most thro’ midnight streets I hear How the youthful Harlot’s curseBlasts the new-born Infant’s tearAnd blights with plagues the Marriage hearse.

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