William Blake and His Poems, Essay Example

William Blake, the third of five children was born into a poor family who was only given a basic education of learning to read and write and later able to attend a small school of drawing run by Henry Par. He was later taken by the apprentice under the engraver James Basire at from the age of 14 until he completed his apprenticeship at the age of 21. He and his wife Catherine Boucher worked avidly together to publish his book of poems and drawings called Songs of Innocence.  He like most other authors and artists did not gain any real recognition until after his death in 1827. He is buried at an unmarked grave in London, England.

One of his most recognized poems is The Sick Rose. The poem speaks of a worm that had gotten to the rose and tainted its lovely natural beauty and destroyed the secret love that holds the beauty of the rose. The poem is short and sweet but encompasses the meaning behind the poem so eloquently with detail as the worm finds his way into the bed of crimson joy and dissipates the love away. Another great poem of Blake is The Chimney Sweeper (Innocence) that speaks of some innocent children that apparently had lost their mother at a very young age and were forced to fend for themselves in the desolate times of sweeping the black soot out of chimneys. Soon they learned they were not the only children in the same position doing the same work and without a mother. They would pray for rescue from the Angels above and one day to astonishment of their prayers they were answered for they were rescued from the torturous work they were doing. They awoke one day and they no longer had to fear the cold and the hard work anymore for they were rescued and they were safe and warm in their beds at home just as a young child should be. Blake’s two poems speak of desolate times and shows that better times are ahead that fate can bring about a change in life. It appears he writes his poems through his childhood experiences growing up in a family where often there was not enough to go around and many sacrifices had to be made. He may have exaggerated a little in his poems but that was to stress to the readers that anything is possible with enough fate and endurance in life and to further stress to the readers that not everyone is wealthy and people should have compassion for others. A Poison Tree is an example of someone holding a grudge and wishing for something evil and it appearing into that person’s life. This is a common example of ‘be careful of what you wish for because you just might get it.’ The little boy was angry at someone and told him so and the anger went away. He was angry at another foe but kept the anger built up inside of him and held a grudge and resentment and wished evil thoughts inside of himself. Instead of good things appearing in his life the angry foe appeared under his tree and his angry foe became the evil in his life or rather the poison to him. The School Boy speaks about how someone can be happy when their dignity and freedom are taken away from them. Further the poem is written from the eyes of school boy that sees life as ups and downs and is trying to establish how life can be so good and so bad at the same time. He does not understand how life is so nice one day and so evil another day. He is so happy when he can be part of nature with the birds singing and chirping. This makes the child very happy but he is not happy when he witnesses the changes of the season where the plants have to go away and the birds fly away. To him the seasons are a blessing and he does not want to see them go away. Essentially the child is resistant to change because change brings about a loss. The Echoing Green is very similar to The School Boy because the poem expresses the changing of the seasons and it brings happiness whilst the seasons are in but the narrator does not like the change of the season because the beauty goes away as the season changes. He/She does not see the new beauty that the change of season brings. The narrator refers to the change of season as ‘the darkening or echoing green’. The second poem gives rise to more sound effects such as the chimes of the bells and the laughter of play. But as the sun descend that fun has to end.

The Tyger is a little different than the other poems we have examined thus far. This poems related to the fierce energy and possession that the tiger has over the night and the jungle. The narrator speaks of the tiger with respect and honour that he has a reason to be the king of the jungle and a reason for him to instil fear over people and other animals. The tiger is spoken of with great reckoning and no one is to question his presence. What is ironic is that the narrator speaks of his presence during the night with his fierce eyes under the stars and who will dare to find him and declare themselves higher authority over him. Let’s compare this poem to Blake’s other poem The Lamb. The lamb is spoken about by the narrator as a kind and gentle little creature which is totally opposite of the fierce jungle tiger in the previous tiger. He speaks of the soft clothing and gentle delight that the lamb brings and speaks directly to the lamb as if the lamb has almost capable human intelligence and linguistic capability. As a reader you might get the impression the narrator is speaking to a baby or infant child. The narrator brings the name of God with relation to the lamb into the poem when he tells the lamb ‘God Bless thee’. He has compassion for the lamb as a gentle and meek creature.

Blake’s poem London speaks of the cries of infants from the street and the cries of bloodshed from the war. With every new birth there is a new marriage. The times of London were very horrific during this period and uncanny. This poem is essentially a Biblical and social protest. Blake’s friend Thomas Paine gave a literary criticism of the poem stating there was Royal Chartered oppression granting trade restriction. There was much unrest due to the French Revolution and the unrest of poor social and working conditions put on the working class of London. There was much unsettlement and London was not a very nice place to reside. The Land of Dreams speaks of a land with peace and tranquillity; one filled with a mother and a father and child in peace where there is no fighting or no unsettledness only the presences of white doves and the calming waters of a rivers streams. To emphasize the purity of the place there are lambs cloaked in white dressage and the child asks the father is this a land of make believe where there is no more fear. Blake appears to write two types of poems. One type of his poems shows mastery and fear and the other shows peace and resolution where families are united. I believe he shows the contrast of the two in order to show realistic showcase of what the world is really like but to give hope and promise that there is presence of the other world out there.

Critics’ state William Blake’s poems speak too much of a preoccupation with death and a dismal world view for children read. They further state that his poems are of an experimental view. Other critics beg to differ stating Blake took a very proactive and consoling disposition with the way he wrote most of his poems with relation to social activism in such poems as London. Some critics state that his poems have similar meanings but do not have similar titles but other critics that that is ‘hogwash’ because the title is not relevant to the nature of the poem. On the other hand, one critic states that Blake constantly was highlighting different points of life through innocent worlds in some of his poems rather than simply pointing to one definitive argument. Other critics say this is subjective and fine as long as Blake can creatively argue his point and the point is objectively explained in his poems. A critic’s view is only as good as an objective statement to back up his point and remember it is only a viewpoint of a man or woman-it is not God!

In Visions of the Daughters of Albion expresses the characters to represent symbolic nature. Most of the characters have reverence to Greek Gods and God’s of Love and Sexuality. The plot or storyline is to journey to America to end all forms of discrimination. Women thought they would be able to end all oppression with working and especially sexuality. This poem was meant for adult reading unlike Blake’s other children poems. What was ironic was that although America had freed itself from the British rule they still continued to practise slavery even though they were not governed by the British themselves. This was a classic piece from Blake.

Most of Blake’s works involved symbolism in order to properly portray meaning to his poems. His works were depicted from the times during the French Revolutionary War when stress was high due to infringement of women’s right and the Americans were enslaved to the British. There was much unrest and children were affected by the unrest as well as the parents. All the families desired were equal right and unity within the households. He wrote about this non-unification in hopes to unify the families and give them hopes to find inner peace and solace within themselves. He gave two perspectives to view so that there was not false hope. He believed in reality bur also believed in dreams.