Why did William Blake decide to illustrate his own poems? In 1789, he published Songs of Innocence, and in 1794, he published its partner Songs of Experience. While it is not unusual for authors to publish their poems, Blake’s sets are different because he not only wrote the poems but illustrated and printed them himself. Blake could have done this because he could. He had experience and skills as a printer, but because he created the illustrations himself, it is possible to use them to find a deeper meaning for each poem (Lynch). This could have possibly been his intention. Using this, one can find more meanings for his pieces even when the illustrations do not necessarily compare with their poem. The Tyger is an example of a poem that has an illustration that does not seem to match the poem. In the poem, the narrator describes a creature that is so fearsome and terrifying that he wonders about who created the tyger, but in the illustration, the tyger looks very harmless and almost like a cute little house cat. While the picture does not show the tyger’s fierceness, it could be showing something else. In the poem, the narrator inquiries about the creator. He wonders if the one …show more content…
In one of the illustrations, the Little Black Boy is still black when he meets God even though in the poem he claims that color will no longer matter. The way that they are standing is very interesting too because the poem suggests that they will be equal, but the Little Black Boy is described as standing behind the child and in the picture, he is standing behind the white boy. This could be another example of Blake showing how innocent people and naïve people are close to the same thing. The boy thinks one way, but Blake is showing the reader the way things really are through his
In William Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience, many of the poems correlate in numerous aspects. For example, The Chimney Sweeper is a key poem in both collections that portrays the soul of a child The Chimney Sweeper in Innocence vs. The Chimney Sweeper in Experience In William Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience, many of the poems correlate in numerous aspects. For example, The Chimney Sweeper is a key poem in both collections that portrays the soul of a child with both a naïve and experienced persona. Blake uses the aspects of religion, light versus dark imagery, and the usage of the chimney sweeper itself to convey the similarities and differences of the figure in both poems. The Chimney Sweeper is an excellent example of how William Blake incorporated religion into his poetic works.
The entire poem uses images to enlighten its meaning. For example, in lines 2-3, "Into the dangerous world I leapt: Helpless naked piping loud..." Blake writes in such a way that allows the reader to see the change that takes place, when a baby enters this world. The poem reveals that it is not a pleasant and peaceful entrance, but an unkind and dishonest world that the innocent is forced to come into. Also, lines 5-6, "Struggling in my fathers hands: Striving against my swaddling bands..." give the reader vivid images. In these lines, the reader can see the baby squirming and trying to move in the tightly wrapped blanket. This shows how the baby will have to go through many struggles in life and the parents will try to protect the child and try to hold the child back from all the harms and troubles that he or she might have to go through.
The industrial revolution left people unemployed as they were replaced by machines and also their lands were seized where they had no lands to work on. People migrated to industrialized places for better opportunities. It was impossible for the common people to own factories so the people made themselves available to work at the lowest wage rate. People for their own survival started to work for the greedy owners of the industries. The owner exploited the needy individuals by taking advantage of their innocence and letting them work more for a very minimal amount of money. The winters were very cold and the chimneys in the aristocrats’ house needed to be cleaned often and only young boys would fit in the chimneys. Poor people would sell their young children for a small amount of money. Industrialization and greed not only destroy ones innocence but it also limits an individual's freedom of living.
William Blake, born in 1757 and died in 1827, created the poems “The Lamb,” “The Tyger,” and Proverbs of Hell. Blake grew up in a poor environment. He studied to become an engraver and a professional artist. His engraving took part in the Romanticism era. Romanticism is a movement that developed during the 18th and early 19th century as a reaction against the Restoration and Enlightenment periods focusing on logic and reason.
Blake was not satisfied merely to write poems and send them off to a publisher; instead, he designed illustrations to accompany his poems, engraved the poem-illustration works onto copper plates, printed the plates onto paper, and (when color was desired) colored the pages by hand, then bound the printed pages into volumes for sale. Blake was assisted in much of this work by his wife, Catherine, who had been illiterate when he ma...
Blake had an uncanny ability to use his work to illustrate the unpleasant and often painful realities around him. His poetry consistently embodies an attitude of revolt against the abuse of class and power that appears guided by a unique brand of spirituality. His spiritual beliefs reached outside the boundaries of religious elites loyal to the monarchy. “He was inspired by dissident religious ideas rooted in the thinking of the most radical opponents of the monarchy during the English Civil War “(E. P. Thompson). Concern with war and the blighting effects of the industrial revolution were displayed in much of his work.
William Blake’s 1793 poem “The Tyger” has many interpretations, but its main purpose is to question God as a creator. Its poetic techniques generate a vivid picture that encourages the reader to see the Tyger as a horrifying and terrible being. The speaker addresses the question of whether or not the same God who made the lamb, a gentle creature, could have also formed the Tyger and all its darkness. This issue is addressed through many poetic devices including rhyme, repetition, allusion, and symbolism, all of which show up throughout the poem and are combined to create a strong image of the Tyger and a less than thorough interpretation of its maker.
The first and third lines start with the main word, while in the second and fourth ones the words come preceded by the word "And". This makes the reader connect cruelty with terror and jealousy with secrecy. We can notice that the stress of the lines in this first stanza falls onto the main word, giving an emphasizing effect. Unlike many other Blake poems, such as "The Tyger" or "The Lamb" we cannot find rhyming couplets in this stanza, but the rhyming and stressing effect is enough for the reader to tie the ideas together. This effect is strengthened by the repetition of the word "human" in every line and the repetition of the "y" ending sounds in lines one, two and four.
In “A Poison Tree,” by William Blake is a central metaphor explains a truth of human nature. The opening stanza sets up everything for the entire poem, from the ending of anger with the “friend,” to the continuing anger with the “foe.” Blake startles the reader with the clarity of the poem, and with metaphors that can apply to many instances of life.
William Blake is mostly famous for his romantic poems and significant artwork. His work was not really appreciated until the beginning of the twentieth century as his work seemed adventurous and somewhat ahead of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century because it was that different to other poets or artists around. Some of his romantic poems have been said to have taken a lifetime to establish as he was such a clever man and made the readers try really hard to think and read between the lines of what his poems were all about. William Blake was born on 28th November 1757 in Soho in London (where he spent most of his life) and he seemed to have a lovely, happy upbringing. The house was on the corner of Broad Street & Marshall Street and was upon an old burial ground, his father, named ‘James Blake’ was a London hosier and his mum ‘Catherine Wright Armitage’ home schooled William at a young age.
two entirely different worlds, but it is my belief that it is not the Lamb
It portrays realism and the hardship that not only the children of that time had to face but all the poor, under privileged people. He captured his time using realism and the drudgery. He shows us unspoilt innocence and its saddening and moving how innocence can never last! Although Blake was not very well known throughout his life, he became a part of history creating some of the most passionate poetry of all time. He was an artist of great ability creating amazing pieces of work with profound simplicity encouraging and inspiring people around the world.
William Blake’s “The Chimney Sweeper” songs of innocence and songs of experience both give insight into the mind of young chimney sweepers. When it comes to tone, Blake’s poems are similar in terms of word choice and subtle tone shifts. Comparatively, the poems differ in perspective and attitude.
Johnson, Mary Lynn and John E. Grant, eds. Blake's Poetry and Designs. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1979.
Although Blake’s poem The Tyger revolved around the idea of a ferocious mammal, its illustration of a sheepish tiger complicates and alters Blake’s message in the poem by suggesting that good and evil simultaneously exist. Upon first reading the poem, without any influence from the illustration, the consistent use of harsh imagery paints an animal that is both fearful and wild. Creating an extended metaphor between the creator and a blacksmith, Blake poses the question “What is the hammer? What the chain, in what furnace was thy brain?