During the British Romantic period, some writers used material from the Bible or imitated the Bible in style of writing or content. William Blake, a Romantic writer, engraver, and painter, believed that “the Bible was the greatest work of poetry ever written” (Barker 2004). The Bible influenced him throughout this life, specifically influencing both his writing and his art. There are many references to Biblical themes within his writing, and there are also many references to specific passages of Scripture (Barker 2004).
The lines “O thou, with dewy locks, who looked down / Thro’ the clear windows of the morning . . .” (1-2) in William Blake’s poem “To Spring” give a picture of the window from the Bible. “Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by . . .” (King James Bible, Josh. 2.18). The hills mentioned in the line “Come o’er the eastern hills . . .” (9) echo the hills written about in the Song of Solomon. “. . . Behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon this hills” (2.8).
In the poem “The Lamb,” William Blake writes about a child and a Lamb. Jesus Christ is this Lamb. In John, it is written “And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God!” (1.36). This is echoed in the line of the poem that says, “For he calls himself a Lamb” (14). The next line of the poem states that “He is meek & he is mild” (15). Jesus is meek as well as mild. This is stated in the Gospel of Matthew. “. . . I am meek and lowly in heart . . .” (11.29). The poem also states that “He became a little child” (16). Jesus came to earth as a child to live among mankind. This is stated by the prophet Isaiah. “For unto us ...
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... Museum of Art. 2004. 8 March 2011. Web.
Blake, William. “Songs of Experience: London.” Bloom and Trilling 26-27. Print.
Blake, William. “Songs of Experience: To Tirzah.” Bloom and Trilling 28-29. Print.
Blake, William. “Songs of Innocence: Holy Thursday.” Bloom and Trilling 22. Print.
Blake, William. “Songs of Innocence: The Lamb.” Bloom and Trilling 19. Print.
Blake, William. “The Book of Thel.” Bloom and Trilling 29-33, Plates 1-6. Print.
Blake, William. “The Marriage of Heaven and Hell.” Bloom and Trilling 34-44, Plates 1-21. Print.
Blake, William. “To Spring.” Bloom and Trilling 14-15. Print.
Bloom, Harold, and Lionel Trilling, Eds. The Oxford Anthology of English Literature: Romantic Poetry and Prose. New York: Oxford University Press, 1973. Print.
The Holy Bible: King James Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2005. Print.
William Blake is a literature genius. Most of his work speaks volume to the readers. Blake’s poem “The Mental Traveller” features a conflict between a male and female that all readers can relate to because of the lessons learned as you read. The poet William Blake isn’t just known for just writing. He was also a well-known painter and a printmaker. Blake is considered a seminal figure in the history of poetry. His poems are from the Romantic age (The end of the 18th Century). He was born in Soho, London, Great Britain. He was the third of seven children. Even though Blake was such an inspiration as a writer he only went to school just enough to read and write. According to Bloom’s critical views on William Blake; one of Blake’s inspirations was the Bible because he believed and belonged to the Moravian Church.
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.
Did he smile his work to see? Did he who made the Lamb make thee?
In the poem, "The Lamb," from Songs of Innocence, William Blake asks the little lamb, "Little Lamb, who made thee? Dost thou know who made thee?" (1351). It is here where the author purposely questions the reader and leaves the reader, wandering for an answer to that precise question. The author then continues by leading the reader to an indirect possible answer to his question by saying "Little Lamb I'll tell thee! / He is called by thy name, / For he calls himself a Lamb" and proceeds a line later with "He became a little child; / I a child & thou a lamb." It is apparent that he doesn't exactly give a direct answer. He mentions in an roundabout way that the lamb's creator calls himself a Lamb and that he became a little child. This vague background provides an idea who the creator actually is, but not enough to somehow match the creator with God from the biblical texts. And, since the information is vague, the reader really can't come to a narrowed conclusion because the answer itself depends on the reader's beliefs and experiences and so therefore leaves the true answer to the question still unanswered.
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.
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.
Mark’s portrait of Jesus as a servant originates from the middle of the first century, Mark wrote his gospel during this time of persecution because the people being oppressed lacked faith that God would provide for them. Mark gives them the model of Jesus as a man submissive to the Lord so that they can receive salvation if they remain faithful to the servant of God. Mark stresses that Jesus is a suffering Messiah with the passage concerning Jesus praying to God that “Abba(Father), all things are po...
baby then calls itself joy so that it can be happy and live a joyful
who are at the center of his work? If they are Contraries, then what does the
"Open Book Newsletter No. 1: The Bible and Western Literature by Peter J. Leithart January, 1991." Biblical Horizons » No. 1: The Bible and Western Literature. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Jan. 2014.
Bloom, Harold. "Critical Analysis Of "The Tyger " Bloom's Major Poets: William Blake. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York, NY: Chelsea House, 2003. 17-19.
" The Lamb" in trying to convey the answers to certain philosophical questions exhibits basic Christian creedal statements. and relays certain images concerning Jesus and also tries to explain His relation to the common man. The opening line of the poem embodies every human's curiosities. surrounding creation and the origins of human existence.
“The Lamb” starts with an innocent directness and a natural world with no visible signs of adults. William Blake addresses the lamb itself, saying it is pure, innocent and it is associated with Christ. William Blake describes the lamb exactly as he sees it. The lamb has been blessed with soft and warm
(Isaiah 9:6) "For unto us a child is born unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, THE MIGHTY GOD, THE EVERLASTING FATHER, the prince of peace.
LaGuardia, Cheryl. "WILLIAM BLAKE: SONGS OF INNOCENCE AND OF EXPERIENCE." Library Journal 128.9 (2003): 140. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 13 July 2011.