Songs of Perspective and Intention
While discussing Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Experience, the purpose of poetry was brought into question. Arguments were made that, while having a degree of legitimacy in exploring meaningful underlying themes, the poetry of the book is likely to be over-analyzed in some cases. In dissecting the structure of the poems, the rhyming schemes of specific […]
Romanticism and Music
When we were looking at the poem London, and Professor Mota pointed out the emphasis on hearing in that poem, I began to think about how Romanticism affected music. What do mind-forg’d manacles sound like? Metallic, probably. And the Romantic … Continue reading →
‘The Shepherd’
The most striking thing about William Blake’s ‘The Shepherd’ from Songs of Innocence and Experience is how strong the religious undertones are upon reflection. At first, the poem appears to simply be about the joys that a shepherd takes in … Continue reading →
Blake Calling Out the Racists
William Blake’s poem “Little Black Boy” is fairly controversial for its time. Written during the 1700s when slavery was still legal, this poem states incredibly progressive views. The poem insinuates that in the eyes of God, all are equal no … Continue reading →
What if, we all misunderstood Blake
Songs of Innocence and of Experience was not popular when it was first printed. Well technically it wasn’t mass produced due to difficulty with reproducing the images. But from the limited attention Blake’s other works received, it seems that not … Continue reading →
Mother Nature
Women have long been linked with nature in a way that men haven’t. Blake makes this connection evident in his poems by feminizing nature. For example, in “Earth’s Answer”, he describes earth as a woman: “Earth raised up her head” … Continue reading →
The Merry Nature Girl
One of the most joyful and freely expressed poem in Blake’s Songs of Innocence, I found to be the Laughing Song. William Blake’s expression of nature is very strong and soothing in this particular piece. The poem in itself contains … Continue reading →
Crossing the Channel (Billy and Jackie)
Last lecture, we talked at length about the poem ‘London’ and the image it carves of a broken and corrupted city. William Blake’s view of a port town in England wasn’t great, and it bore some odd similarities to a … Continue reading →
Songs of Innocence and of Experience
Analysis of poetry is hard, not because of the difficulty of interpretation, but because of the amount of different interpretations that can be gained from a single poem. Blake’s poetry is no different in this regard: while we can make some assumptions on his purpose with reference to his known life and religious faith, it’s impossible to be […]
Blake is Bleak? Or is he Lively? ;)
Hello, friends! For today, I’d like to pose two questions: A. Are Blake’s poems “beautiful”? B. In what ways do Blake’s poems fit with the ideas of Romanticism? In what ways are they different? Now, before the people who are in love with Blake’s poetry burn me at the stake like a little boy lost […]