William Blake

(28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827)

A HintThe singularity of Blake's work makes him difficult to classify. The 19th-century scholar William Rossetti characterised Blake as a "glorious luminary,"[9] and as "a man not forestalled by predecessors, nor to be classed with contemporaries, nor to be replaced by known or readily surmisable successors"

Significant Outline:Bo: 28 November 1757 at London, Kingdom of Great Britain

Died: 12 August 1827 (aged 69) at London, United Kingdom

Occupation: Writer (poet), painter, printmaker

Genres: Visionary, poetry

Literary movement: Romanticism

Notable work: Songs of Innocence and of Experience, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, The Four Zoas, Jerusalem, Milton a Poem, And did those feet in ancient time

Early LifeHis parents knew enough of his headstrong temperament that he was not sent to school but was instead enrolled in drawing classes. He read avidly on subjects of his own choosing. During this period, Blake was also making explorations into poetry

His Views

-later poetry contains a private mythology with complex symbolism.

-The earlier work is primarily rebellious in character and can be seen as a protestation against dogmaticism. (The Marriage of Heaven and Hell)

-In the later works such as Milton and Jerusalem, Blake carves a distinctive vision of a humanity redeemed by self-sacrifice and forgiveness,

- the later Blake emphasized the notions of self-sacrifice and forgiveness as the road to interior wholeness.

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Songs of Innocence

”The Chimney Sweeper”

When my mother died I was very young,And my father sold me while yet my tongueCould scarcely cry 'weep! 'weep! 'weep! 'weep!So your chimneys I sweep, and in soot I sleep.There's little Tom Dacre, who cried when his head,That curled like a lamb's back, was shaved: so I said,"Hush, Tom! never mind it, for when your head's bare,You know that the soot cannot spoil your white hair.

And so he was quiet; and that very night,As Tom was a-sleeping, he had such a sight, -That thousands of sweepers, Dick, Joe, Ned, and Jack,Were all of them locked up in coffins of black.And by came an angel who had a bright key,And he opened the coffins and set them all free;Then down a green plain leaping, laughing, they run,And wash in a river, and shine in the sun.

Then naked and white, all their bags left behind,They rise upon clouds and sport in the wind;And the angel told Tom, if he'd be a good boy,He'd have God for his father, and never want joy.And so Tom awoke; and we rose in the dark,And got with our bags and our brushes to work.

Though the morning was cold, Tom was happy and warm;So if all do their duty they need not fear harm.

Quotation

These lines are taken from William Blake’s Songs of Innocence: “The Chimney Sweepers.” It was written in the Eighteenth Century (Romantic Age).

This poem represents the Romantic era in different ways. First, there is a vast use of imagination, for example, “And by came an angel who had a bright key, /And he opened the coffins and set them all free” (13-14). Second, there is a sense of humanism, for example, “my father sold me while yet my tongue/ Could scarcely cry 'weep! 'weep! 'weep! 'weep!/ So your chimneys I sweep, and in soot I sleep” (2-4). Third, there is an employment of symbolism, for example, “a bright key” (13).

This poem is interesting in so many ways. It tackles touching issue, heart-felt story, and reflects a sense of humor as well.