William Blake

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Una rapida e concisa descrizione del profilo dell'artista e i temi principali di alcune sue opere (in inglese) (2 pagine formato doc)

William Blake William Blake POET'S PECULIARITYES Visionary poet: he claimed to see visions from heaven.
He is a poet and a painter at the same time. He believes that poetry should be accompanied by paintings. Quite peculiar writer: he stands apart from the romantic literature for his extravagant personality. Revolutionary poet: He believes in total freedom. He get married with a girl completely illiterate and he tries to educate her. Blake strongly believe in a revolution because it can establish a better world. He is religious himself but he's against the church as an institution. SONGS OF INNOCENCE & SONGS OF EXPERIENCE Published in two different period, but they were collected together.
Contraposition, union of discordant elements (childhood, adulthood, good part, bad part). Blake does not put them in contrast: there's a continuity. The poems are paintings, they were printed in copper plates pages. (originality) Musicality: simple language(only apparently). Songs of innocence are easier than songs of experience. LOVE SEEKETH NOT ONLY HIMSELF TO PLEASE 3 stanzas: there is a symmetry between the first and the last stanza(they have the same structure and a lot of terms in common), but they're in contrast. Ring composition. Metaphor: the clod(lump of earth, unselfish love) and the pebble(a small stone, selfish love).[contrasting words of innocence and experience] THE LAMB Rhythm: slow and calm (songs of innocence) Archaic words (are giving the idea of being in an ancient world) Wild use of repetition Sense of serenity It seems a song made for children, a nursery rime. The language is apparently simple: behind this simplicity we have to consider that the lamb is something deeper. We realize the importance of the word “childhood” a period revalued in the romantic age (Blake, Wordsworth). Lamb is the symbol of a child, Christ and the poet. Is a mild, innocent, tender animal. TYGER Hammering rhythm (alliteration of the dental “t” that is scanning the hammering rhythm) Oxymoron: burning bright. All the poems are dealing with the contrast between two different natures. The tiger is beautiful and fearful at the same time. “the forests of the night” a reclaim of a Dante's expression. Tiger: the power o creation: he becomes the symbol of an overreacher who tries to create something over the limit (Frankenstein) Icarous and Prometeus: two dreamers (in a romantic point of view). Also William Blake is a dreamer. LONDON It describes the look of London after the industrial revolution. Utilitarianism: all the society is in function of the production. Utilitarianism is a philosophical view(adam Smith) and was applied to the social and the economical context. “I wander”(he's walking without a specific destination): the poet is the main protagonist. “charter”= something that is imposed, they are under the power of the economy. “I wander” gives a sense of freedom, “charter” has the