William Blake and The Garden of Love Essay - 1531 Words

William Blake and The Garden of Love At first glance, the poetry of William Blake may appear simplistic; he writes most often in regular metrical rhythm, apparently sticking to the rules, blunt observations on such mundane subjects as tigers, lambs and roses. But if one were to finish with Blake and move on, left with only these initial impressions, it would be a great pity; true enjoyment of this poet can only come about through some understanding of his life, background, and skill in the manipulation of the tool of simple lyrical poetry, to convey deeper meaning. Amongst his admirers, Blake is considered something of a renaissance man, a frustrated and hugely gifted artist and†¦show more content†¦When such an inquisitive mind was married with social conscience and inclination toward a deep spirituality, and dropped into the chaos of late eighteenth century London with its corruption, oppression and suffering, Blakes genius was molded and he was destined to become one of the most moving and admired poets of his language. Lyrical poetry will here be defined as poetry that is set with a definite meter and structure, and is rhythmic in nature. It is this classical form that Blake so thoroughly understood and used to build a foundation for his lyrical poems. Those educated or otherwise skilled in creative arts of all sorts, from painting to sculpting to design and interior decorating, to writing, will usually agree that one must build on a solid simple foundation, and then add elements of surprise, to create a memorable work. Herein lies the genius of William Blake - in the unpredictable. Now let ¹s look at Blake ¹s The Garden of Love. This poem serves as a great example of the poet ¹s use of simplicity and surprise, and touches lightly upon the typical ideology expressed in his work. Here, we see his oft-invoked mood of childhood innocence, and a setting of beauty, marredShow MoreRelatedThe Garden Of Love By William Blake1420 Words   |  6 PagesIn William Blake’s poem, The Garden of Love, the speaker is trying to convey that life is in a constant state of inconsistency and that nothing can remain uniform. Blake uses religion in a negative light to convey that restriction on life, particularly love, corrupts life and prevents you from experiencing happiness. The main conflict presented in this poem is between the individual and religion. Blake uses religious symbols such as chapels, graves, and priests to show how religion can destroy theRead MoreWilliam Blake s Poem The Garden Of Love Essay1111 Words   |  5 Pagesand Living in Blake and Gray The church played a critical role in the process of memorializing the dead in the nineteenth century. For instance, William Blake in his poem â€Å"The Garden of Love† depicts death as an abstract concept between the living and deceased due to the interference of an institutionalized church. Adversely, Thomas Gray in â€Å"Elegy in a Country Churchyard† describes a church that embraces the dead, which allows a more individualized approach to the departed. Blake and Gray’s useRead MorePoetry Analysis Between Taylor Swift and William Blake976 Words   |  4 Pageslinks can you make between the world of your poets and your world?’ Love and the breakdown of love or relationships is a theme explored in many poems. The songs Long Live by Taylor Swift and the poems The Sick Rose and The Garden of Love by William Blake all question and explore the theme of love. The song, Long Live, by Taylor Swift, was written in 2010. At first listening to the song, we hear a fun, buoyant song about love, friendship and loss. However, careful analysis reveals a complex pieceRead More How do William Blake and William Wordsworth respond to nature in their811 Words   |  4 PagesHow do William Blake and William Wordsworth respond to nature in their poetry? The Romantic Era was an age, which opened during the Industrial (1800-1900) and French Revolution (1789). These ages affected the romantic poets greatly by disrupting and polluting nature. Before the Industrial Revolution, William Blake wrote about Songs of Innocence. He also wrote Songs of Experience but after the Industrial Revolution. William Wordsworth, on the other hand, continued on an optimistic routeRead MoreEssay about William Blake’s Poetry1541 Words   |  7 PagesWilliam Blake’s Poetry William Blake was one of those 19th century figures who could have and should have been beatniks, along with Rimbaud, Verlaine, Manet, Cezanne and Whitman. He began his career as an engraver and artist, and was an apprentice to the highly original Romantic painter Henry Fuseli. In his own time he was valued as an artist, and created a set of watercolor illustrations for the Book of Job that were so wildly but subtly colored they would have looked perfectly at home inRead MoreWilliam Blake As An Apprentice Essay1543 Words   |  7 PagesWilliam Blake born in London on the 28th of November in 1757 to a hosier names James and Catherine Blake with six siblings and 2 died in early age. Blake spoke of having visions in his early childhood. He saw god putting his head to the window when he was at the age of four and around the age of nine, he saw a tree filled with angels while walking through the countryside. His parents notice that he was different from his other siblings and they did no t force him to attend conservative school. BlakeRead MoreEssay on William Blake as a Critic of His Time838 Words   |  4 PagesWilliam Blake as a Critic of His Time Blake took an active role in exposing the corruption taking place in his society. Prime targets of his criticisms were the institutions that remained silent in the faces of injustice. Blake stands agains the institutions that allow human oppression. Three of his poems from Songs of Experience present his views on the matter: The Chimney Sweeper, The Garden of Love, and London. In The Chimney Sweeper, Blake takes his stand against the the calamitiesRead MoreEssay Songs about Life712 Words   |  3 PagesIn Songs of Innocence and Experience (1789 and 1794), William Blake arouses readers minds and leads them into a path of finding their own answers and conclusions to his poems. He sets up his poems in the first book, Songs of Innocence, with a few questions as if they were asked from a childs perspective since children are considered the closest representation of innocence in life. However, in the second book, Songs of Experience, Blakes continues to write his poems about thought-provoking conceptsRead MoreOrganized Religion Versus Sprituality in William Blakes Poetry990 Words   |  4 PagesWilliam Blake was a poet and artist who was born in London, England in 1757. He lived 69 years, and although his work went largely unnoticed during his lifetime, he is now considered a prominent English Romantic poet. Blake’s religious views, and his philosophy that â€Å"man is god†, ran against the religious thoughts at the time, and some might equate Blake’s views to those of the hippie movement of the 20th century. In â€Å"The Garden of Love†, the conflict between organized religion and individual thoughtRead MoreEssay about Analysis of Poem, The Garden of Love737 Words   |  3 PagesAnalysis of Poem, The Garden of Love from William Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Experience Blake’s poems are divided into two sections, Songs of Experience and Songs of Innocence. Under Songs of Innocence, Blake seems to present his readers with innocence as freedom from sin, moral wrong, and guilt. In Songs of Experience, Blake seems to present the faults and sufferings of mankind. Innocence and experience are contradictory viewpoints. When one is innocent, one is not aware, therefore