William Blake

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The work of William Blake
Studying William Blake, as a romantic poet, as a painter and also as a confrontational artist (born in London in November, 1757, a second child of a respectable tradesman.) represents for us the possibility to discover the English literature and especially the English poetry. The conditions of his birth were ordinary. A man who was not well recognized in his times but today he is considered as a seminal figure in the history of both the poetry and visual arts of the Romantic Age. His works forms what can be regarded as the least read body of poetry in English language in comparison to its value it offers. William Blake therefore can be proclaimed as the greatest artist Britain have ever had. This is because his poetry is radiant and affirms original points of view, for instance the topic of religion. It is true that studying an English poet constitutes a real open minded subject especially with Blake who produced an alternative poetry. This paper seeks to understand the romantic themes in his famous works.
Religion, opposition, imagination and others are some of the main themes of Blake’s poetry work. He wrote most of his work in reaction to the so called enlightenment age (the eighteenth century age of reason). Concerning the theme of opposition it is easy extract this theme from his works like in the “Marriage of Heaven and Hell” where he wrote, “Opposition is true friendship.” The topic itself gives a true picture of his theory of a “marriage” between opposites. From most of his work it is clear that he is to the opinion that opposition represents balance in the world we live today, and therefore giving a centre of attention to one side definitely leads to oppression and ignorance. Going through his works leads one to assume this great man was against the order of the day in his lifetime. However, paying a closer perspective of the works it clearly points out this is not true. The man was intelligent and courageous to recognize the Age of Reason’s over-governing intentions and set out to challenge the notion that sensibility and order are exclusive partners. Contrary to what people perceive on his work he was actually not for a complete disorder in the society and the world at large but to express the fact that governing does not have to equal a loss of liberty. He achieved his objective by presenting his opposition to the de...