Man who creates his own mythology: WILLIAM BLAKE

                                                                                 WILLIAM BLAKE

William Blake was highly influenced by the idea of childhood. He likes referencing childhood in his poetry, and there are many allusions to the this period of a persons lifetime. This man lived quite a simple, limited, and unadventurous life, however his spiritual life was quite rich, brief and dramatic.

( Pages are from Poetical Sketches)

William was born in London (Londoner); his father was haberdasher. He was educated in art (Royal Academy of Art), and married his wife Katrine at the age of 24. Blake was dealing with art, drawing and engraving, but in his free time he was reading literary works. He began to practice poetry and learned to read Latin and Greek. William was a self-educated person, and considered a genius as he taught himself these languages.

William was rebellious against the conventional lifestyle of his day. (During the “Romantic period”, people were rebellious. They don’t conform to the rule of society, and most of the time reject institutions such as marriage or the government. There were many arguments with politicians.)  He was not happy with the institutions, and he believed that institutions which were established by human being were corrupt. Blake was a very prophetic figure, and he references numerous visions and prophecies within his works. Due to this, he is defined by many people as a mystic. He was truly a believer, and declared that all he knew was in the Bible. Some critics believe that he was just being ironic, due to him being a strong man.

Blake created  incredibly beautiful illustrations, painting and engravings. He made illustrations for Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales”, and Milton’s “Paradise Lost”, as well as for his own poems. Many of Blakes inspirations came from Bible. His first book of poems was “Poetical Sketches”, even the title of his first publication suggests his relation to painting and creating art. He was poet and an artist, and he showed new techniques in his poetry. For Lyrical model in poetry, he turned back to Elizabethan and Early 17^th century poets (as William Collins). Blake was taking their example and influences.

(Songs of Innocence and Experience)

Songs of Innocence (1789) was basically about childhood, purity, innocence, consists of lyrics, songs about children. It represents the purity of the soul, innocence of human beings, period before the fall.

Songs of Experience (1794) represents adulthood, experience, corruption and after the fall of humankind. William Blake was a poet who realizes on his own imagination. Imagination is one of his greatest sources of inspiration. He observed society, nature. Later, this two works were published under the name “Songs of Innocence and Experience”

(1794). These two collections represent the world as it is envisioned by “two contrary states of the human soul”. He was always on the side of people who were rebelling against institutions. He was fond of the idea of revelation. Therefore, he was writing about it.  He believed that modern man was isolated from himself, from his world, nature, fellow human beings. He never liked the mechanized world of the industrial revolution, never liked the idea Britain as a mechanized place.

Devil And Inferno Concept Of Dante’s Artwork called Divine Comedy’s Evaluation On Literature And Process Of Today’s Evolved Stage Of Modern Devil And Inferno Diablery.