William Blake: Man, Myth, Or Machine?

sladerunner69

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Anyone else fascinated by the late great legend of the 18-19th century Romantic movement?

I recently bought "Songs of Innocence" and have read a few passages. alluring, elegant, deep but disjointed, it is all out there. I really am falling for his brushwork, really remarkable stuff. I want to put up a few paintings in my room.

I am currently taking a British Literature course and was excited to learn we are spending a lecture learning about William Blake. I want to seek out opinions/thoughts/observations about the man himself, or his work, so that I will contribute to the discussion on friday. Any thoughts?

"Blake’s work, I think, is of continued and increased interest because he discovered something of great importance, namely, how to avoid dogmatisms of all sorts. Many students who are assigned to write about a poem of Blake’s are puzzled, and ask what it means. When they find out that they understand the words and the syntax, it turns out that the only problem was that they were taught that they had to “interpret” poetry. And that they don’t think he could have meant what he said. Most twentieth century students are too stodgy to accept Blake’s writing easily. In the 1950s, some people couldn’t understand Alan Ginsberg’s poetry, because they didn’t think anyone was allowed to say such things. That is the kind of problem students have with Blake. "- Dr. Prof. Raymond Peat
 

x-ray peat

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Anyone else fascinated by the late great legend of the 18-19th century Romantic movement?

I recently bought "Songs of Innocence" and have read a few passages. alluring, elegant, deep but disjointed, it is all out there. I really am falling for his brushwork, really remarkable stuff. I want to put up a few paintings in my room.

I am currently taking a British Literature course and was excited to learn we are spending a lecture learning about William Blake. I want to seek out opinions/thoughts/observations about the man himself, or his work, so that I will contribute to the discussion on friday. Any thoughts?

"Blake’s work, I think, is of continued and increased interest because he discovered something of great importance, namely, how to avoid dogmatisms of all sorts. Many students who are assigned to write about a poem of Blake’s are puzzled, and ask what it means. When they find out that they understand the words and the syntax, it turns out that the only problem was that they were taught that they had to “interpret” poetry. And that they don’t think he could have meant what he said. Most twentieth century students are too stodgy to accept Blake’s writing easily. In the 1950s, some people couldn’t understand Alan Ginsberg’s poetry, because they didn’t think anyone was allowed to say such things. That is the kind of problem students have with Blake. "- Dr. Prof. Raymond Peat
Blake was very much into the occult and all sorts of Swedenborgian, Theosophical and Freemasonic sex magic rituals. Try and work some of this into class and see how quickly you get shut down.
The Secret World, and Sexual Rebellion, of William Blake
William Blake's Sexual Path to Spiritual Vision: Marsha Keith Schuchard: 9781594772115: Amazon.com: Books
 
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Badger

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Some have said the best interpreter of Blake's poetry is Kathleene Raine, especially her magisterial "Blake and Tradition" (2 volumes): Blake and Tradition: The A. W. Mellon Lectures in the Fine Arts, 1962, the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D. C.: Kathleen Raine: 9780415290883: Amazon.com: Books
I have met her in person many years ago, while she was quite elderly. A great scholar, but also a tremendous mystical poet; I have almost all of her books of poetry, which I re-read regularly. Don't let the word "Tradition" mislead you, he's expresses his ideas quite radically. A sample of this from a review of the Raine book on him: "People who cultivate the ability to express hyperbolic truths ought to be interested in this collection of scholarly reflections on the work of William Blake. Back in 1790-1793, Blake produced THE MARRIAGE OF HEAVEN AND HELL, an idea so rancid that it might be compared to finding Hosea's wife in a city named Saint Paul...A work like BLAKE AND TRADITION by Kathleen Raine, illustrated with numerous examples of pictures that depict the most stirring examples of Blake's imagination, including "The symbolic representation of the female genitals as a shrine or chapel" on page 196 of Volume One."
 

Regina

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Some have said the best interpreter of Blake's poetry is Kathleene Raine, especially her magisterial "Blake and Tradition" (2 volumes): Blake and Tradition: The A. W. Mellon Lectures in the Fine Arts, 1962, the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D. C.: Kathleen Raine: 9780415290883: Amazon.com: Books
I have met her in person many years ago, while she was quite elderly. A great scholar, but also a tremendous mystical poet; I have almost all of her books of poetry, which I re-read regularly. Don't let the word "Tradition" mislead you, he's expresses his ideas quite radically. A sample of this from a review of the Raine book on him: "People who cultivate the ability to express hyperbolic truths ought to be interested in this collection of scholarly reflections on the work of William Blake. Back in 1790-1793, Blake produced THE MARRIAGE OF HEAVEN AND HELL, an idea so rancid that it might be compared to finding Hosea's wife in a city named Saint Paul...A work like BLAKE AND TRADITION by Kathleen Raine, illustrated with numerous examples of pictures that depict the most stirring examples of Blake's imagination, including "The symbolic representation of the female genitals as a shrine or chapel" on page 196 of Volume One."
Raine is mentioned in this engaging discussion:
 

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