Blake’s End as a Mastermind, or the Beginning?

Commending William Blake for what he’s showcased throughout his work is an understatement. Not only does he provide lucrative characters to symbolize significant aspects of his world view, but he also implements them to compare and contrast with your perception of what’s right or wrong. Throughout The Song of Los within the Asia section, Blake’s character Urizen is what we can view as the closest encapsulation of what Blake was during his time, a manipulator. Blake’s dictionary explains, “Los is Poetry, the expression in this world of the Creative Imagination” (Blake Dictionary 246). This interconnects both Africa and Asia as the glue to frame together works of Blake’s past. This was to narrate how biblical prophecy structured the undertone of Blake’s expectations for readers. In contrast, Asia is the induction of Urizen’s demise when challenging the prophetic image that is portrayed within Los’s work. It exemplified the progressive shift in power within the anti-penultimate stanza of Asia; “Urizen heard them cry, and with his shudd’ring waving wings went enormous above the red flames…And his Books of brass iron & gold melted over the land as he flew” (Blake 111). He weeps because of what he has lost than for what he sees within his surroundings. Like Blake, Urizen losing his books meant losing his ability to manipulate those around him. He’s deemed powerless, for which is why he weeps. If this is the beginning of the end for Blake’s ability to string upon the reader’s understanding of his readings, does this mean that what’s lies ahead is ultimately up to us to decipher what it means? Is this the end for Blake being able to decipher the future and thus, enabling us to structure for what lies ahead for the future? Asia represents the downfall for Blake’s understanding of the biblical truth, which he considers that hold his assumptions of the unknown altogether. 

– Stephen Munoz

What Ones’ Slumber Can Do Others Perception

In Plate 12, line 5 (p. 101), why is Enitharmon’s eighteenth hundred-year-old slumber described as a “female dream”?

William Blake’s, Europe: A Prophecy sets a tone into a different comprehension of how we can be able to view Blake’s literature. Within this section of his work, it doesn’t persuade us to be able to predict our future, but rather to focus on how it can be able to unscramble the hidden motives of human decisions. In short, the way we interpret his text will be able to establish its representative for either our writing or our morals. Within Blake’s 12th plate, Enitharmon’s eighteenth hundred-year-old slumber instills many impressions that supports it to be described as a female dream.

“Shadows of men in fleeting bands upon the winds: Divide the heavens of Europe: Till Albions’ Angel smitten with his own plagues fled with his bands” (Blake 101).

To some, this can be exemplified to establish the norm of her dream being feminine for the vast amount of foreshadowing of men within her memory. In reality, this extends beyond the norms and casts a different understanding of how important Enitharmon’s nature establishes her dream far beyond within the feminine spectrum. Although this inhibits the insinuation that with more men signifies the more feminine the dreams, I view this in a different angle that introduces Enitharmon as a more masculine character that contrasts opposed beliefs. The significance of the stanza above enables Enitharmon to be viewed in an overabundance of ways. Enitharmon views herself in one way, while Blake created her to be viewed differently. In contrast, this gives the reader to be able to converse a never-ending conversation as to why her dream was to be ever be considered as a female dream. Enitharmon can exist in many different versions, it’s ultimately up to the reader to confine with the most appropriate version of Enitharmon that appeals with their beliefs of her being feminine or masculine.

– Stephen Munoz

Our Different Perceptions of Things Determine Their Meaning of Existence

“A fool sees not the same tree that a wise man sees.”

What many people tend to believe throughout their lifetime is to what they’re shown to when they grow. What I mean is that many stigmatize many conditions due to either their lack of knowledge or blatant ignorance. Here we see William Blake comparing to what a fool and wise man see within the tree and how they perceive such a tree through their perspective. The tree could utterly be just a tree, but it takes much more to truly appreciate what a tree’s significance is for the world. A fool would see the tree as rubbish just to supply shade. Fools wouldn’t cherish the tree for what it presents, but rather what they can get from it. They see destruction and self-benefit while the wise man sees more than meets the eye. For the wise man, a tree is much more than just a shelter from the sun. A tree can provide nourishment. With appropriate care, a tree would live on for centuries and future generations can be able to cherish the tree’s importance.

William Blake implicates this proverb within his work, a fool only concentrates on what suits his interests rather than being able to expand his understanding of the unknown. Ignorance alone is what truly sets apart between the wise man and the fool. The fool barricades himself from seeing beyond the tree’s significance, all while the wise man interconnects what the characteristics trees provide for not only for his benefit but for the tree itself. Their perception goes uncharged, which ultimately hinders for the ability of growth. To conclude, Blake is aware that this problem stirs discussion due to how different factors contribute to a person’s final thought, but that could be what inhibits for Blake’s literature to never cease its spark of uniqueness amongst the rest.

– Stephen Munoz

Discovering the Poetic Genius Within

For the post next Wednesday (9/11), students will choose 3-4 plate designs from The Songs of Innocence (from any of the editions accessible in the Blake Archive, listed under “Friends & Links” below) to create your own story about this compilation of “songs.”  You will arrange these plates in any order that helps illustrate your specific narrative, and this order need not follow any of the arrangements found in the various copies of The Songs of Innocence.  In other words, set your imagination free and achieve Poetic Genius!

Insert these designs into your post and then write a short paragraph or two that interprets the embedded narrative that threads your arrangement and justifies your particular ordering.  Ideally, your story should address the larger themes, images, and motifs that define The Songs of Innocence as a whole.  Place the post under the category “Innocence, Eden, and Childhood” and don’t forget to create specific and engaging tags.  And most importantly, please HAVE FUN!!!

The post is due by next Wednesday (9/11) 9:30am. And please remember to write your name.

 

Instructions on inserting images into your blog post:

1. Find the image you want on the Blake Archive under the “Illuminated Books” tab.  Feel free to use “The Songs of Innocence” or the joint “The Songs of Innocence & Experience,” or both, of whatever edition (or combination thereof) you choose.

2. Right click on the image and go to “Save picture as.”  Save it in your laptop or PC.

3.  In your post, click on “Add Media” (in the upper right), then “upload files,” and then “select files.”  Choose the desired image from your picture files.  Under the “Attachment Details” side window you will select your specifications (make sure your images are large and easy to view) and then click “insert into post” once you are done.

The Female Touch

     Enitharmon, who it has been notioned to represent Marie Antoinette, is the embodiment of both the Womens’ force, while at the same time indicating that such a force is not a conducive one.  It is a rarity to have a woman in power, in any context, during this era; however, through Blake’s work, we see an antipode of such a parameter taking place. Her paradoxical/unfamiliar stance was a call-to-action to generate a revolution during a time when Christian ruling via the monarchy was the the status quo.  

    As noted in Blake’s Poetry and Designs, this obscurely written call-to-action, titled Europe: A Prophecy (1794) was a “prophecy for a revolutionary era because it demonstrates how much there is to rebel against and how sorely this languorous, effeminate society is in need of a cataclysmic awakening” (96).  While the term effeminate can exhibit a negative connotation, it supports the storyline Blake uses to counterpart what is going on during this time; thus, Enitharmon symbolizes that effeminate governing.

    When Enitharmon slept: “She slept in a middle of a nightly song/ Eighteen hundred years: a female dream!” (lines 4,5. P. 101).  This metaphor of a slumber translates to the lull in revolutionary progress. Before we understand what this means, we must approach this as a feminist critique so as to not necessarily decode the poem, but to ask ourselves why Blake chose to use the female (woman) motif to deliver this history lesson.  

     The use of the woman motif is used in several ways; we see this at the opening of “Preludium”: “The nameless shadowy female rose from out the breast of Orc: Her snaky hair brandishing in the winds of Enitharmon/and thus her voice arose” (98). The figure goes on to express her dissatisfaction with the current conditions she is enduring. This could possibly be the woman figure that represents a more humble and nurturing one -the one that France is in need of versus the one that seems to be more fixed on handling political matters in an aggressive way. And since Orc represents the French Revolution, this could be his inner being calling out for help, explaining: “I wrap my turban of thick clouds around my lab’ring head/ And fold the sheety waters as a mantle round my limbs/ Yet the red sun and moon/ And all the overflowing stars rain down prolific pains” (99).  What this could possibly translate to is that the female shadowy figure also represents loyalty to her mother country, but there has not been any reciprocity in that action.

     Being that with Enitharmon is a correlation with Marie Antoinette and Antoinette had a bad reputation known as running the country into the ground financially, as well as playing a part in great political decisions, we can assume then that Enitharmon’s slumber indicates the halt in social development and justice: “During her sleep, time is collapsed so that to her the birth of Christ, making the beginning of the European calendar, is the same event as the birth of revolution eighteen hundred years later” (Blake’s Poetry and Designs, 96).

   Hence, the use of the feminine (woman) is being used to symbolize a stunt in growth.  It is only until Orc resists against his mother that the revolution occurs. Thus, the woman motif, in this case, eludes to the notion of power, but at the same time disorganized power.

-Marcy Martinez

 

“Lions, and Tyger’s and Bears.”

 

 

Prisons are built with stones of Law, Brothels with bricks of Religion. (1)
The pride of the peacock is the glory of God. (2)
The lust of the goat is the bounty of God. (3)
The wrath of the lion is the wisdom of God. (4)

In the very first line of this poem are metaphors that are quite cunning. As one can see, Blake did not hold back when it came to calling out the hypocrisy of which the state and church contained. Using irony, he shows the backward system of both Law and Religion -law is supposed to step in to prevent the further demise of deviant behavior so as to prevent the further imprisonment of the members of society; while religion is supposed to intervene and prevent the moral decline of its people. Instead, there is a greed filled profit to be made in both circumstances. In the following three lines he does a few things: he mentions emotion; he uses animal symbols; and he uses several key representation of God. Line 2’s Peacock symbol represents immortality -thus saying God’s glory is eternal. Line 3’s Goat represents bountifulness, indicating God will always provide. And, finally, Line 4’s Lion, represents that absolute leadership. One has to question why he would place these lines under the very first one, where he is revealing the greed that exists. The dichotomy in that was probably his goal. We see this throughout the rest of the poem.

 

 

The nakedness of woman is the work of God. (5)
Excess of sorrow laughs. Excess of joy weeps. (6)
The roaring of lions, the howling of wolves, the raging of the stormy sea, and the destructive sword, are portions of eternity too great for the eye of man. (8)

In line 5, “the nakedness of the woman” indicates the actual human condition; but it is interesting, and should be noted that Blake chose to use the woman gender to represent such work. Perhaps he wanted to indicate that women are, in fact, the actual creators/carriers of other humans, and in addition, should not be demonized with regard to their connection to Eve. Again, just like line 1, line 5 stands out from lines 6, 7, and 8 where Blake speaks through emotional and physical attributes, and uses irony: “Excess of sorrow laughs/excess of joy weeps.” The three lines that follow imply the truth: that God does see all that occurs in the world; His power is too intense for others to want to recognize; therefore, they hide behind their lies.

 

The fox condemns the trap, not himself. (9)
Joys impregnate. Sorrows bring forth. (10)
Let man wear the fell of the lion, woman the fleece of the sheep. (11)
The bird a nest, the spider a web, man friendship. (12)

Because Foxes are known for being clever, line 9 could represent the marginalized group of people whom are being set up to fail amongst society. Lines 10 shows a before and after affect: first there is joy, later there is sorry that follows, as with most things in life. Lines 11, and 12 creates the idea that we should live our lives the way that we want, in order to create harmony.

 

The selfish smiling fool, & the sullen frowning fool, shall be both thought wise, that they may be a rod.
What is now proved was once only imagin’d.
The rat, the mouse, the fox, the rabbit: watch the roots; the lion, the tyger, the horse, the elephant, watch the fruits.
The cistern contains; the fountain overflows.
One thought, fills immensity.
Always be ready to speak your mind, and a base man will avoid you.
Every thing possible to be believ’d is an image of truth.
The eagle never lost so much time, as when he submitted to learn of the crow.

 

The line that sums up the point of Blake’s message is that when he says: “Always be ready to speak your mind.” Blake’s use of nature and animals is a device where he wanted to use the most organic constructs to convey his message about truth.  -Marcy Martinez