Blake's View of the Church, Government, and God

2087 Words5 Pages

Blake's View of the Church, Government, and God

William Blake 1757-1827 was born is Soho, London. He lived in London

throughout most of his life and during his life witnessed many things

that affected him. While walking through London Blake had a long time

to think. He acknowledged that England was a very rich and powerful

country and then wondered why poverty was still in existence. Blake

did not go to school but he was taught at home using references from

the Holy Bible. Blake was highly critical of the church the government

and God because he thought that they could do more to end poverty; he

was also critical of the injustices that were exposed upon society. He

was a very religious man; he had a great deal of influence from the

Holy Bible. He believed that the soul was split up into two halves,

good and bad. He created four visions from which he saw the world.

After witnessing the poverty and inequalities that were in London

Blake translated them into highly meaningful and significant poetry.

He also displayed his thoughts as forms of art; Blake was a keen

artist and worked as an engraver in Westminster Abbey. Blake did not

enjoy seeing poverty but what he hated seeing the most were children

or babies having to face the harsh realities. He believed them to be

signs of innocence and was disgusted when they were exploited.

“I have no name…

Joy is my name…

Sweet joy befall thee.”

These are lines taken from Blake’s poem Infant Joy; they clearly

display Blake’s love of children. The poem is showing a new born baby

who is happy and full of life. The first sentence where the baby has

no name could mean that the baby could not be placed into any category

of visions. At present the baby is in two fold visions which is where

it could move into three fold vision and live a good life with

education and happiness. Alternatively the baby could move into single

vision which is a harsh life where the baby would be repressed. The

baby then calls itself joy so that it can be happy and live a joyful

life. The last line shows that the mother is wishing the baby a life

full of joy. This poem, Infant Joy, has been taken from a collection

of poems called ‘Songs of Innocence. ‘Songs of Innocence’ and ‘Songs

of Experience’ are two collections of poems that were written by

Blake. They are Blake’s most famous poem collections and they only

found popularity after his death.

Blake uses examples of contrast in his work, from his vision we can

Open Document