William Blake Research Paper

690 Words3 Pages

William Blake is a well renown poet and artist from the Romantic era of literacy. The opinion of Blake’s work has been very controversial through the history of literacy and many criticise him heavily for his rather strange and unorthodox ideas and beliefs. However, his work presents as highly respected by the contemporary reader as he is often regarded as an intellect in his own right. Throughout his early life and later career many events which took place can be seen to be of influence to his work. Two of Blake’s famous collections of poetry are songs of Innocence, generally portraying the happiness, kindness and peace, whereas songs of Experience relate to the darker, evil and mysterious ways mainly through religion. Well renowned examples …show more content…

Children were inspiring as they were what many poets would think of them as 'pure', they were innocent and were considered too young to form any malevolence. They were young and free, and the conditions of the industrial revolutions were constantly restricting this free nature. One of the poems from the Songs of Innocence that perfectly portrayed this includes The Lamb. The first stanza of The Lamb, begins with a child asking if it knows who made the creature. The answer being God. The child continues and explains the gifts God has given the lamb, life, clothing, food and a sweet voice. The poem is a child’s song, in the form of a question and answer. The lamb of course symbolises Jesus. The traditional image of Jesus as a lamb underscores the Christian values of gentleness, meekness, and …show more content…

One is bright and innocent in contrast to the other which is dark and sinister. The Lamb represents all the goodness in the world, the happiness. The Tyger for the opposite, indirectly speaking of the complicated evils of the world. An underlying question evolves from these to opposites, how could such evil and simple good exist in the same world. Blake was a devout Christian and drew inspiration from the Bible and other Biblical artistry. However, his opinions would regularly be classed as attacks to faith, many considered him a heretic, however his view on orthodoxy was quite unique as well

Open Document