william blake

WILLIAM BLAKEA poet and an engraverA medieval artistAn illustrator of his own poems

His philosophy

A POET AND AN ENGRAVER

Trained as an engraver• Illuminated his own poems• Made drawings for texts from other

poets (Milton, Dante, contemporaries)

A MEDIEVAL ARTIST

A complete artistLines more important than coloursInfluence of Michelangelo

AN ILLUSTRATOR OF HIS OWN POEMS Words as part of the image

Illustrations complete the

meaning Focus on mankind

BLAKE’S PHILOSOPHY

Duality Imagination Mysticism Revolutionary spirit

IMAGINATION

refusal of “REASON”a quality of the state

of INNOCENCEA VISIONARY faculty

BLAKE’S MYSTICAL SYSTEMHe believed to be in contact with the world of the spiritsHe developed his own mythological systemHe embodied his theories in his Prophetic Books

BLAKE’S POSITION IN THE HISTORY OF LITERATURE An eighteenth century man in

• His influence from neoclassical linear design

• His insistence on the importance of man

A Romantic in• His rejection of science and fact• His emphasis on the imagination and

the spiritual

A Vision of the Last Judgment

designs by Michelangelo for THE LAST JUDGMENTLondon, British Museum

The Lamb

A little black thing among the snow…

The Chimney Sweeper

Without contraries there

is no Progression

THE TYGER

Tyger Tyger, burning bright,In the forests of the night;What immortal hand or eye,Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

When the stars threw down their spears

And water'd heaven with their tears:

Did he smile his work to see?Did he who made the Lamb make

thee?

Tyger Tyger, burning bright,In the forests of the night;What immortal hand or eye,Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

NEWTONNature, and Nature's laws lay hid in night,God said, Let Newton be! and all was light.

He who sees the Infinite in all things sees God. He who sees the Ratio only sees himself only.

LONDON

What words does Blake use to refer to the poet?What do these words suggest?

LondonI wander thro' each charter'd street,Near where the charter'd Thames does flow,And mark in every face I meetMarks of weakness, marks of woe.In every cry of every Man,In every Infant's cry of fear,In every voice, in every ban,The mind-forg'd manacles I hear.How the Chimney-sweeper's cryEvery blackning Church appalls,And the hapless Soldier's sighRuns in blood down Palace walls.But most thro' midnight streets I hearHow the youthful Harlot's curseBlasts the new-born Infant's tear,And blights with plagues the Marriage hearse.

The creation of man What image comes to your mind

?

What do you expect God to look like in the act of creating Adam?

What do you expect Adam to look like?

ELOHIM CREATING ADAM