For those living during the eighteenth-century, life was full of innovation and the reconstruction of social classes and societal norms. With the tumultuous effects of the American and French Revolution’s on the world and the Industrial Revolution in their own city, London became fertile soil for a new literary movement to flourish in . The Romantic era invoked in art, literature, and philosophy, a more aesthetic experience. Artist and poet, William Blake, not only lived through this time of great social change, but was an important contributor to the Romantic literary movement that occurred in his lifetime. William Blake uses his intuitive spirituality and artistic skills that he acquired throughout the early years of his life to write about important principles of the human condition and inherent nature of mankind in his works, namely “A Poison Tree”; his simplistic writing style and use of imagery allows his blunt and unflattering religious message to be universally understood and categorizes him as a seminal figure of the romantic era.
William Blake was born to Catherine Wright and her second husband James Blake on November 28, 1757. Both Catherine’s first husband Thomas Armitage and Blake’s father James Blake were hosiers. This allowed Blakes family to live in a less fashionable, yet respectable neighborhood(). It is speculated that Wright and Armitage were members of the Moravian church; this early influence from his mother affected Blake’s later works as some readers “detect echoes of Moravian hymns in Blake’s poetry” (blake archive). Even as a child, Blake was a level headed and spiritual individual. Because his parents recognized these qualities as different from others his age, he was allowed to skip all forma...
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... Through the plot of the speaker, Blake clearly states the dangers of enmity and how acting on these emotions can damage the human soul.
“A Poison Tree”, and many other poems by William Blake are superb examples of the Romanticism movement through their focus on the situation and sins of the common man and use of nature as a major symbol and conceit. These highly romantic characteristics, along with his simplistic language, convey the romantic focus on mankind. This poem is easily understood by all who read it; however simplistic it is, the message of warning continues to stand true. Blake’s unique transitional writing style to the romantic literary movement made him one of the most influential men in literature in his day. His works aided in the popularization of Romanticism, which continues to be a large contributor to the art and literature of today.
Mason, Michael. Notes to William Blake: A Critical Edition of the Major Works. Ed. Michael Mason. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988.
Blake, Wordsworth, and Keats all represent the Romantic style of literature with their unorthodox themes of nature, art, and life; and how those three points can be tied together and used for creative purposes among humankind. Art and life are counterparts; one is lacking without the other. The Romantic period was about passion; finding inspiration and beauty in things people see every day. Wordsworth found childhood memories in a familiar landscape, Blake found himself captivated by the mysteries of how the majestic tiger was created, and Keats’ urn triggered him to put his inquiries of it into poetry. Each man expressed his individual view within their works; and like many of their Romantic contemporaries, their ideas ran against the flow of their time’s societal beliefs.
William Blake, was born in 1757 and died in 1827, created the poems “The Lamb,” “The Tyger,” and Proverbs of Hell. Blake grew up in a poor environment. He studied to become an Engraver and a professional artist. His engraving took part in the Romanticism era. The Romanticism is a movement that developed during the 18th and early 19th century as a reaction against the Restoration and Enlightenment periods focuses on logic and reason. Blake’s poetry would focus on imagination. When Blake created his work, it gained very little attention. Blake’s artistic and poetic vision consists in his creations. Blake was against the Church of England because he thought the doctrines were being misused as a form of social control, it meant the people were taught to be passively obedient and accept oppression, poverty, and inequality. In Blake’s poems “The Lamb,” “The Tyger,” and Proverbs of Hell, he shows that good requires evil in order to exist through imagery animals and man.
The theme of the suffering innocent person, dying and being diseased, throws a dark light onto the London seen through the eyes of William Blake. He shows us his experiences, fears and hopes with passionate images and metaphors creating a sensibility against oppression hypocrisy. His words come alive and ask for changes in society, government and church. But they remind us also that the continued renewal of society begins with new ideas, imagination and new works in every area of human experience.
The hate he has for this enemy grows and grows until a fruit appears, representing his anger, and the next morning his foe lies dead. Blake clearly understands, and visually explains how deadly hate can be. “A Poison Tree”, written by the brilliant William Blake, uses an extended metaphor along with imagery and allusion to
Blake had an uncanny ability to use his work to illustrate the unpleasant and often painful realities around him. His poetry consistently embodies an attitude of revolt against the abuse of class and power that appears guided by a unique brand of spirituality. His spiritual beliefs reached outside the boundaries of religious elites loyal to the monarchy. “He was inspired by dissident religious ideas rooted in the thinking of the most radical opponents of the monarchy during the English Civil War “(E. P. Thompson). Concern with war and the blighting effects of the industrial revolution were displayed in much of his work.
Blake was educated at home by his mother, whom he was very fond of. his poem "Cradle Song" was about his memories of his upbringing.
William Blake is remembered by his poetry, engravements, printmaking, and paintings. He was born in Soho, London, Great Britain on November 28, 1757. William was the third of seven siblings, which two of them died from infancy. As a kid he didn’t attend school, instead he was homeschooled by his mother. His mother thought him to read and write. As a little boy he was always different. Most kids of his age were going to school, hanging out with friends, or just simply playing. While William was getting visions of unusual things. At the age of four he had a vision of god and when he was nine he had another vision of angles on trees.
In “A Poison Tree,” by William Blake is a central metaphor explains a truth of human nature. The opening stanza sets up everything for the entire poem, from the ending of anger with the “friend,” to the continuing anger with the “foe.” Blake startles the reader with the clarity of the poem, and with metaphors that can apply to many instances of life.
Blake's readers become angry at the ugliness and unfairness of life, and bondage and resignation are seen everywhere. Both authors achieved their tasks admirably. Works Cited Blake, William. The. The "London" - "The City" Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama.
William Blake’s “A Poison Tree” is a vengeful poem that demonstrates the importance of releasing your emotions. The author creates a scenario about an augmenting anger towards an enemy that continually grows, and it eventually grows beyond anger. Throughout the poem, the reader recognizes the hatred toward the adversary. The rage and loathe felt converts to a plot for revenge. He establishes the theme that suppressing your feelings can cause you to make irrational decisions. Blake uses a wide range of literary devices such as symbolism, rhyme scheme, form, imagery, and allusions to establish a moralistic tone in this narrative poem.
William Blake wrote “The Poison Tree” to show he’s angry at his friend and keeping his anger hidden, allowing his anger to grow. As his anger was growing he was bottling up his feelings till he bear “an apple bright” that the enemy deserves. The greedy enemy takes the fruit and eats it. The next morning Blake was glad to see his “ foe outstretched beneath the tree.” Blake uses personification and metaphor in “The Poison Tree” to illustrate about his anger towards an individual emotion.
The imagery of nature and humanity intermingling presents Blake's opinion on the inborn, innate harmony between nature and man. The persona of the poem goes on to express the `gentle streams beneath our feet' where `innocence and virtue meet'. This is where innocence dwells: synchronization with nature, not synchronization with industry where `babes are reduced to misery, fed with a cold usurous hand' as in the experienced version of `Holy Thursday'. The concept of the need for the individual's faithfulness to the laws of nature and what is natural is further reiterated in `the marriage of heaven and hell' in plate 10 where Blake states `where man is not, nature is barren'. The most elevated form of nature is human nature and when man resists and consciously negates nature, `nature' becomes `barren'. Blake goes on to say `sooner murder an infant in its cradle than nurse unacted desires'. This harks back to `the Songs of Innocence' `A Cradle Song' where the `infants smiles are his own smiles'. The infant is free to act out its desires as it pleases. It is unbound, untainted. Blake's concern is for the pallid and repressed, subjugated future that awaits the children who must `nurse unacted desires' and emotions in this new world of industrialisation. Despairingly, this is restated again in `the mind-forg'd manacles' of `London'. The imagery of the lambs of the `Songs of Innocence' `Introduction' is developed in `the Chimney Sweeper' into the image of `Little Tom Dacre, who cried when his head, that curl'd like a lamb's back, was shav'd'.
Because of Blake’s support of Rousseau’s noble savage, his poetry is somewhat anti-Enlightenment, a characteristic of Romanticism. Another Romantic ideal was the beauty of the natural world, which opposed the Enlightened thinkers of the Industrial Revolution. Finally, Blake’s usage of a child, who is speaking to animals that are unable to respond, demonstrates the Romantic belief in the “importance of feelings and imagination over reason” (Romanticism 699). William Blake’s “The Lamb” and “The Tyger” are excellent examples of Romantic literature that supports Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s myth of the noble savage.
William Blake who lived in the latter half of the eighteenth century and the early part of the nineteenth century was a poet, a philosopher, a radical, an artist, and a great thinker; who was able to bring about "remarkable results with the simplest of means" in all of his work. He wrote his poems with deep personal emotions but if we look further and ignore the prophetic qualities we discover a further intended meanings of a strong political and social level. He was a critic of his own era but his poetry also strikes a chord in ours. He was one of several poets of the time who restored emotion and feelings into poetry, and so was one of the first "romantics." Blake lived during a period of intense social changes, the industrial revolution, the French revolution and the American revolution all happened during his lifetime. Blake was witness to the transformation of a agricultural society to an industrial society, which is where the basis for some of his poems stand.