William Blake Essay, Research Paper

The Story of Blake

William Blake is one of the most intriguing and notorious poets of the 19th Century. He was regarded as a failure in his day, but is now understood to be one of the most powerful poets of all time.

William Blake was born in London in 1757 to a prosperous hosier. He was gifted with outstanding artistic and poetic talent. His father, who originally noticed his son?s talents, sent Blake, at age ten, to the best drawing school of its day. He bought his son supplies, provided him with an allowance and permitted him to collect prints. At fourteen, Blake began apprenticeship in engraving. Oftentimes, he was assigned to draw monuments in old London churches, particularly in Westminster Abbey.

There were many factors that contributed to William Blake?s work. Among those were socio-economic influences: the social and economic environment around him. The French Revolution sparked an interest in Blake that may have influenced his writing. He was known as a Jacobin, a British sympathizer for the French rebels, long after most English advocates had deserted the Revolution. Blake was also involved in the rebellion known as the Gordon Riots led by Lord George Gordon, who opposed Catholic emancipation. The Church became an immense source of Blake?s angst toward society and it showed in his writing.

William Blake was known to have been very critical of conventional Christianity. He was brought up in a Swedenborgian family (one that believed in the teachings of Emmanuel Swedenborg, a highly respected Swedish scientist and philosopher of the 18th Century). However, he spent much of his life studying religion and came to the conclusion that ?there is no natural religion? and that ?all religions are one? (Va. Union, 1). Both ideas have works of Blake titled after them.

Blake gained many of his religious beliefs through his studies of Gnosticism and Druidism. From discussions of Gnosticism, he identified the Supreme Creative God different from multiple other gods. He also classified Adam, as well as the ancient Greeks, as Druids, which obviously conflicted with the common knowledge of the time period. Blake also claimed to have visions of angels and superhuman views of himself: ?Ill treated and neglected by men, he went to live with angels?he was not entirely human, if humanity implies material grossness, but was himself a bit of an angel?(Kunitz, 57). In his later works, Blake became known as less an affirmer of faith and more a denouncer of errors (Sampson, 592).

William Blake was oftentimes said to have come before his time. He was a poet who pioneered the romantic movement. Because he wrote before most romanticists, much of his writing was very original. However, he was understood to have been influenced by Robert Burns and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. In addition, he borrowed themes and dramatic forms from Byron.

Despite the fact that he was one of a kind, Blake did have some friends. Other romanticists such as Burns, Keats, Shelley and Wollstonecraft were regarded among his company. In addition, Blake had great respect for his illiterate wife, who supported him throughout his life. Blake was also friends with John Linnell, a famous painter of the early 19th Century. Nonetheless, he did not have many acquaintances in the art industry. When he was young, he was taken advantage of by the celebrated artist Flaxman, who Blake thought was a mentor but treated Blake awfully with patronizing contempt. Moreover, an unscrupulous dealer named Cromek and the popular artist Schiavonetti used Blake?s artwork and printed it under the name of Schiavonetti. Blake was also too trusting of his friend Stothard, who used Blake?s ideas and published them under his name.

William Blake had clear visions of himself and his world. He understood that his abilities were underappreciated in his time, but did not dwell on it. Blake decided to be true to himself and his gods by not treating others horribly as he had been. He had strong views of right and wrong and it was clear in his denouncement of other prophets.

Blake?s principal literary and philosophical contributions came through the romantic movement. His writing inspired later romantic writers. Blake also helped his wife, Catherine Boucher, overcome her intellectual incapabilities to become a content person.

William Blake?s foremost weakness was that he was too trusting of others. He did not realize that other people did not hold to the same ethic and moral standards as he did. Although he was not an accomplished writer in his time, he was fiercely honest. Blake labored hard, and was not merely neglected, but openly derided (Sampson, 592). He finished his life with constant illness, of which some declared was mental, and inescapable poverty.

The work of William Blake is very unique. He did not publish his works, instead he concealed them. When they were discovered after his death, they revealed the poetic power of Blake. His prose is direct and simple while it is also vigorous, epigrammatic, and at times peculiarly eloquent (Sampson, 594).

Stanley J. Kunitz and Howard Haycraft ?William Blake.? British Authors of the Nineteenth Century. New York: H. W. Wilson Company. 1964. 55-57

Frank N. Magill ?William Blake.? Encyclopedia of World Authors. New Jersey: Salem Press. 1974. 185-186

George Sampson ?Blake.? Concise Cambridge History of English Literature. Cambridge: University Press. 1953. 588-594

Virginia Union University authors ?Blake: thinker.? Virginia Union University research.