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WILLIAM BLAKE 🎐 life and works - Coggle Diagram
WILLIAM BLAKE
🎐
life and works
born in London in 1757,
humble origins
and remained poor in life
he was trained as an
engraver
and studied at the Royal Academy of Arts
as a
painter
and an engraver he created a new kind of art which emphasised the power of imagination
He made illustrations for John Milton, the Bible and the
Divine Comedy by Dante
a political
freethinker
he supported the French Revolution and remained a
radical
in life
he witnessed the evil effects of industrial development on man's soul and came to belive that the artist should have the role of guardian of the spirit and imagination
A
strong sense of religion
: The Bible as a complete vision of the world
He is regarded as
early Romantic
: he rejected neoclassical literary style and themes -> heemphasised the
imagination over the reason
he created the method of
illuminated printing
which combined picture and poetic text
SONGS OF INNOCENCE
AND
SONGS OF EXPERIENCE
also published
prophetic books
in which he created a complex personal mythology
Songs
pastoral linked to Virgilio of
Innocence
(no fear) and
Experience
(know the bad)
Songs of Innocence
was produced before the outbreak of the French Revolution
the poems deal with
childhood
as the symbol of innocence -> the soul connected with happiness, freedom and imagination
language
simple and musical
Style: simple structure and original use of symbols, verse linear and rhythmical
, use of
repetition
Songs of Experience
: during the period of Terror in France
the visual of the world is
complex and pessimistic
experience ->
adulthood
(
no Russeau
- good savage-
Friday
innocence and freedom-no civilazation)
immagination
: the means to
know the world
(see beyond material reality)
God, the child (free from society) and the poet
share this power of vision and creation a new reality not connected w senses
the poet -> prophet
who can see more deeply into reality
RUSTIC LIFE
-> SIMPLE LIFE IN CONTACT W NATURE, GOD AND INNOCENCE