The French Revolution (poem) according to Blake, were stuck in a problematic feudal system that was represented by the Bastille, a prison that kept enemies of the state. As the work continues, he demands that the Bastille be removed and he explains how the American Revolution provoked the French Revolution. The dates spanned in the first book is from May 1789 until July 1789. Although Blake relies on history, he includes characters that are his own, but none of them are characters that he used in his mythological works. The work deals with the symbolism of the Bastille, which the seven towers of the
French Revolution and wrongs of revolution, in the abstract and in practicalities. The Revolution Controversy was a "pamphlet war" set off by the publication of "A Discourse on the Love of Our Country", a speech given by Richard Price to the Revolution Society on 4 November 1789, supporting the French Revolution (as he had the American Revolution), and saying that patriotism actually centers around loving the people and principles of a nation, not its ruling class. Edmund Burke responded in November 1790 with his own pamphlet, "Reflections on the Revolution in France", attacking the French Revolution as a threat to the aristocracy