Product Description
Discusses Blake the poet rather than Blake the artist in an attempt to discover and, "as far as may be, expound the 'doctrine' of William Blake: "the Everlasting Gospel'" as it finally became known. Analyzes in depth the mysticism and unwordliness of the author.

THIS TITLE IS CITED AND RECOMMENDED BY:Books for College Libraries; Cambridge Bibliography of English Literature. ... Read more

Product Description
Written by a leading William Blake scholar, this is an intriguing and controversial history of the poet and artist, which reveals a world of waking visions, magical practices, sexual-spiritual experimentation, tantric sex and free love. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Interesting, but academic
Suchard presents a thoroughly documented argument that bolsters the idea of William Blake's dedication to sex as a key to spiritual growth. Since so much of Blake's "controversial" writing and art was damaged or destroyed by the executors of his artistic estate, evidence in his own hand is spotty and subject to interpretation, at best. Then, since sexual repression dominated in his day, those involved with erotic expression had to keep much of their action and belief hidden from public examination. As a result, it is necessary to understand his thinking on spiritual sexuality by indirect means, by understanding the influences on him and seeing how they manifest in the work that survives. The author meticulously documents many of those influence, from his parents' involvement with Zinzendorf's Moravian church, through many of Blake's own associations and collaborations.

Despite the amazing amount of effort and scholarship brought to bear, knowledge of Blake's sexual beliefs and practices remains vague, and many conjectures remain just that - conjecture. Much of the argument remains circumstancial. The fact that Blake could have been exposed to some influence doesn't mean that he was; the fact that he knew of some potentially scandalous esoterica doesn't mean that he immersed himself in it. And, since no real record remains of how Blake did or did not act on these beliefs, the indirection of available evidence could easily become misdirection.

Suchard's historical sleuthing turned up many remarakable records relating to Blake and his influences. On the whole, though, too many pieces remain missing from this puzzle for me to believe wholly in the picture that Suchard claims to see.

-- wiredweird

Fascinating!!!
Catherine Blake is a hapless participant in this remarkable book that digs into the undergroundcircles of 18th century spiritual Europe. While Catherine would object to using her conjugal life as a rhetorical foil for Schuchard's ideas, I learnt a lot in this compendium of difficult-to-find information about sexual-spiritual practices amongst her husband's contemporaries. This book lays out the geography of organizations and mystics (often accomplished men of the world who practiced sexual-spiritual techniques in utter secrecy) some of which exert their influence into this day and age.

In Blake's time the privileged few had access to esoteric information from the East and the West. Despite sporadic accusations of antinomian sex, for example, Talmudic and Zoharic practices by Cabbalistic Jews had an especially prominent influence on spiritually inclined with their instructions about `earthly and heavenly copulation'. Schuchard: "By meditating on the male and female potencies concealed in the vessels of Hebrew letters, by visualizing these letters in the forms of human bodies, by regulating the inhalation and exhalation of breath, and by achieving an erection without progress to ejaculation, the Kabbalist could achieve an orgasmic trance state that elevated him to the world of spirits and angels." While the cabbalists put mystical union in the service of procreation, Swedenborg, Blake and of course Indian/Tibetan tantra put intercourse into the service of mystical consciousness.
According to the author, Blake was a disciple of a well-known rabbi, had access to information about sexual aspects of Freemasonry (especially the Scottish Rite), those of Moravian followers of Jan Hus (who believed that "Christ can make the most villainous act to be a virtue and the most exalted moral virtue to be vice"), Swedenborgiansand yogic/tantric practices from Tibet, China and India.

What strikes me most about Blake was his emphasis on embodiment of spiritual work:"we are all coexistent with God; members of the Divine Body". The erotic `mysterium'occurs "while in the Body. This is to be understood as unusual in our time, but common in ancient." Here Blake probably leans on Swedenborg who elevated the sense of touch into the highest spiritual gift in his voluminous treatise on The Brain, another on The Senses, another on The Organs of Generation, and yet another on Psychology. This detailed, original and (for Europe) groundbreaking work included graphic analyses of bodily glands and nervous function. Swedenborg obsesses withthe `cremaster' muscle that controls male ejaculation and describes"genital respiration" techniques leading to "an inward and sensible gladness shed over the whole body". IN other words, male's general health is sustained by sexual vigor, and vice versa. Sex, after all, represents "a pleasing expansion of all things of the mind". A man must keep his thoughts "on high and hold them in the air, as it were, so that they do not descend and press on to that which makes that love." Very Mantak Chia:) Perhaps not too surprisingly, these men had rather enlightened ideas about women. Because women are "designed by creation to constitute the felicity of Men" it is tragic that they are so repressed and poorly educated. The only way to achieve a sacred trance is with an empowered equal in a (hopefully, but not necessarily) conjugal sexual act. Here is where Mrs. Blake's unhappiness comes from.

In summary, in Blake's time many adventurers explored links and similarities between cabbalistic, Tibetan, Nordic-Gaelic, and Christian beliefs. The London society was linked to Swedenborgian & Masonic lodges in Avignon, Paris, Berlin and Stockholm.These rites were in turn exported to India and China by initiated captains sailing for the Swedish East India Company, completing the circle. Blake's own ideas were transmitted to Yeats and through him & the Golden Dawn to this day. Fascinating stuff.

Fascinating!
This is an absolutely fascinating book! Although many in the Swedenborgian ("New Church") community may take exception to some ofDr. Schuchard's statements about Swedenborg's influences, the author has researched her subject for a great many years and has had access to material unknown to or deliberately ignored by others. It is a pity that Dr. Schuchard's original, unabridged manuscript could not have been published, but its length was apparently impractical for a commercial publisher to issue.

For anyone interested in the background of Blake's work, particularly his "prophetic" books, Dr. Schuchard's study is unquestionably required reading. For Swedenborgians who are open-minded enough to read this book without parochial preconceptions, there is extremely interesting material here that may shed light on the background of some of the more perplexing statements in "Conjugial Love."

Congratulations, Dr. Schuchard, on a book that will hopefully reach a much larger audience than your previous scholarly works, which also deserve to be carefully read, if one can afford to buy them!

A reader from England
The danger of a work like this is that the central character is re-inventd to meet the age of the biographer.In the Sixties we had Blake the revolutionary, and now we have Blake the Tantrist.On the face of it however I think the author offers enough evidence to justify her slant on the man. She certainly fills in the missing piece in the Blake biographical jigsaw.For the first time the sub-cultural influences on Blake are brought to the fore.Now we can see the religious, spiritual and sexual ideas that influenced Blake so strongly, and where they came from.The breakthrough was discovering the Blake family's involvement in the Moravian church.Prior to this EP Thompson had postulated an involvement with Muggletonian dissenters, but no one had known for sure.The Moravian link answers many questions.Swedenborg was closely involved with this church during his stays in London.Many of Blake's friends and aquaintances were linked to this church, or to the various secret societies that trod similar ground.This book looks at the influence of Swedenborg's ideas, as it does the sacred sexuality of the alchemists, the ancient Freemasons, the Rosicrucians and the Kabbalists of the time.The'new' interest in mesmerism also influenced Blake.
Blake's artistic style was inspired by these same sources.Schuchard may not have got it all right [see the previous review] but she enters new territory and she opens the way for further research.She quotes Swedenborg extensively and clearly has researched him in some depth so I question the accuracy of her being a 'fraud'.For me this is one of the most exciting texts about Blake to appear for years, and it throws much light on what was previously only guessed at.The book reads very well.It makes assumptions about the state of Blake's marriage based upon the plots of his various works, which may or may not be accurate.But one feels by the end of it, that one has had light thrown on what previously was obscure and puzzling.My only criticism would be the quality of the illustrations which are cheaply produced, especially compared to the lavishness of the Bentley biography, 'Stranger in Paradise'.A small matter, this is a major work.It needs to be read.

This book is a fraud.
Making the reasonable assumption that this book is based upon her article of the same name, Ms. Schuchard blatantly puts ideas into Swedenborg's mouth which he would have found revolting.To wit:

Ms Schuchard says, "Because virile potency is crucial to spiritual vision, Swedenborg argued that there were cases where an unmarried man could take a mistress and a husband could take a concubine." and that "when Mrs. Blake cried at her husband's proposal to bring a concubine into their home, she was perhaps influenced by those New Church preachers who warned about opening the floodgate to immorality."

Whereas what Swedenborg actually said was that in those cases where the alternative would lead to greater perversions, that it was *lawful* for an unmarried man to have a mistress, or a *permanently separated* husband to have a concubine; and that concubinage while living at the same time with a wife is "contrary to religion," "has been condemned and should be condemned by the Christian world," "is detestable," and "is an adultery whereby the conjugial principle, which is the most precious jewel of the Christian life is destroyed."

Nothing he wrote could be construed to mean that "virile potency is crucial to spiritual vision," but he did write that a moral life of wisdom is crucial to virile potency.

Ms Schuchard bizarrely states that what Swedenborg calls "wisdom" is a kind of "erotic trance" to be induced by meditations.

Which literally could not be further from Swedenborg's idea of "wisdom" which is this:
"Concepts come first; reason is formed by means of them, and wisdom by both concepts and reason together - and this when a person lives reasonably or rationally according to truths formed as concepts. Wisdom, therefore, has to do with both reason and life together. It is on the way to becoming wisdom when it is a matter of reason first and consequently of life; but it is wisdom when it has become a matter of life first and consequently of reason....
Since wisdom is, as we said above, a matter of life first and consequently of reason, the question arises, what wisdom of life is. In brief summary, it is this: to refrain from evils because they are harmful to the soul, harmful to the civil state, and harmful to the body, and to do good things because they are of benefit to the soul, to the civil state, and to the body. This is the wisdom that is meant by the wisdom to which conjugial love attaches itself. For it attaches itself through wisdom's shunning the evil of adultery as a pestilence injurious to the soul, to the civil state, and to the body. And because this wisdom springs from spiritual concerns which have to do with the church, it follows that conjugial love depends on the state of the church in a person, because it depends on the state of his wisdom."

The actual book Conjugial Love, from which she claims to take the things she asserts, can be read here.So judge for yourself.
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/11248/11248-h/11248-h.htm

I can't attest to her scholarship regarding Blake, but if it's as good as that regarding Swedenborg... then it's completely worthless. ... Read more

Product Description
«El matrimonio del cielo y el infierno» ocupa un lugar privilegiado en la evolucion poetica y artistica del William Blake Uno de los rasgos mas desconcertantes de «El matrimonio del cielo y el infierno» es la variedad de elementos que la componen: ilustraciones y poemas, dialogos y parodias, una teoria de la percepcion, proverbios, una teogonia, un canto politico, manifiestos religiosos y varios descensos a los infiernos. Esta edicion ofrece el texto en edicion bilingüe y reproduce el facsimil de las 25 planchas originales. ... Read more

Product Description
The Oxford Poetry Library series offers compact and fully annotated editions of some of the most important and best-loved English poets. Drawing on the acclaimed texts of the Oxford Authors series, these collections provide a generous selection of the verse of figures as diverse as Andrew Marvell and William Blake, John Keats and Thomas Hardy. Ideal for anyone interested in the eloquently wrought observations and thoughts of some of the English language's greatest writers, The Oxford Poetry Library should find a welcome place on the bookshelves of all lovers of literature.
Beginning his career as an engraver, it was not until his thirties that William Blake distinguished himself as a poet. This new edition of Blake's verse, presented in hronological order, encompasses Blake's entire career, from is early Poetical Sketches and There is No Natural eligion through his best known work Songs of Innocence, part of his beautiful series of poetry in lyric and blank verse, to his later works Jerusalem and The Everlasting Gospel. Representing the full range of Blake's accomplishements as a poet, this outstanding volume highlights the extraordinarily diverse achievements of his remarkable poetic oeuvre. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

What immortal hand or eye
The prophetic Blake of Zoas, Jerusalem , and the other long -poems has always escaped me.
The Blake of the short memorable lyrics , of the 'Songs of Innocence and Experience' reverberates in my mind.
The Blake of proverb always strikes a strong note.
All the radical ideology ,and the fervor of an upturner of worlds , the solitary angry social critic too has not meant that much to me.
But 'Little Lamb who made thee/Dost thou know who made thee?/
and Tyger/Tyger/ Burning bright in the forest of the night/ these fascinate as only real poetry does.
Little Lamb who made thee? Dost thou know who made thee?

Perhaps The First Modern Poet.
Contained in this collection are most if not all of Blake's most essential works,including "The Marriage Of Heaven & Hell";the two songs,"Auguries Of Innocence"; etc..In the creative fertility ofthis great poet came some of the greatest lines ever written in the Englishlanguage,or any language for that matter.His conjuring of visions perhapsis the first written document of modern poetry,heralding what is to come. ... Read more

Product Description
This is the most accessible introduction available to one of the greatest British artists. The art of William Blake unites visionary simplicity with profound complexity of thought. In this illuminating new study, illustrated throughout in colour, Raymond Lister provides an engaging and lucid approach to Blake's paintings, fully alive to their infinite power of suggestion and refreshingly unfettered by polemic. The biographical introduction, making extensive use of Blake's writings and of contemporary accounts of him, traces the vicissitudes of this absolutely individual artist's life; his very human nature is revealed, no less than his boundless creative energies. The seventy-five colour plates represent the whole span of Blake's working life and all the major areas of his art: his biblical pictures, his allegorical subjects and his illuminated books, which he wrote, engraved and decorated himself. The detailed commentary to each plate explores as much of his symbolism as is readily comprehensible, and explains his often idiosyncratic techniques. ... Read more

Product Description
One of the great English Romantic poets, William Blake (1757-1827) was an artist, poet, mystic and visionary. His work ranges from the deceptively simple and lyrical Songs of Innocence and their counterpoint Experience - which juxtapose poems such as ‘The Lamb’ and ‘The Tyger’, and ‘The Blossom’ and ‘The Sick Rose’ - to highly elaborate, apocalyptic works, such as The Four Zoas, Milton and Jerusalem. Throughout his life Blake drew on a rich heritage of philosophy, religion and myth, to create a poetic worlds illuminated by his spiritual and revolutionary beliefs that have fascinated, intrigued and enchanted readers for generations. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

An Unattractive Edition of Great Literature
Like the other reviewers here, I love Blake's poetry. From the short poems to the long, I think they're all great and among the best things ever printed in English.

The Penguin edition, however, is full of editorial markings that make many of the poems, especially the long poems, virtually unreadable. Almost every page of beautiful poems like "America" is marred by extra text in italics and brackets, which are supposed to be variants from different versions of the poems. I could see putting these sorts of things in footnotes or endnotes, but they are actually right there in the text itself! You'll be given a stanza of a poem, and then the same stanza in brackets or italics with only minor variations. This often leaves you wondering which lines you should be reading and which you should be skipping, which occasionally detracts from the poetic experience, or at the very least forces your eye to be darting all over the page. I've never seen this in another Penguin book; I don't know what went wrong here.

That said, if you're looking for a scholarly edition of Blake, this might be the thing for you. But I'm not a Blake scholar. Like the other reviewers here, and like most readers of Penguin Classics, I'm looking for something I can read for enjoyment. Some of the editor's decisions have made enjoyment difficult.

the heights and depths of human experience
Immerse yourself in the long poems, such as Vala, Milton, and Jerusalem, for the closest thing in literary form to a psychedelic trip, the heights and depths of being a living human being. Blake integrates Heaven and Hell, Good and Evil, the Soul and the Body. Then memorize some of the shorter poems from Songs of Innocence and of Experience for a treasure that you can carry with you anywhere and take for comfort and awe as needed.

Masterful
William Blake is probably my favorite poet.The Songs of Innocence and Experierence are lauded in every school but it is the lesser known writings that are what made him a Master of the Letter.The proverbs of Heaven and Hell for instance won't come up in conversation or at the University, but they will reside within your heart when the brisk winds of fortune and misfortune hit hard in each day, anew.

"The eagle never lost so much time as when he submitted to lean of the crow."

His beauty spreads out like spilt ink and while he is known as a poet he also wrote about politics and metaphyics.The book "The Complete Works of William Blake" is great to have around but weighs about as much as a eight normal length books, so along with any of his other collections, a portable book is good to keep, unless you can memorize "The Augeries of Innocence" completely.

Unparalleled visionary power
Though I firmly support the general consensus that Shakespeare is our greatest poet--the more one reads, the more this becomes apparent--I am equally firm in stating that there has been no greater visionary poet than Blake, not even Milton.

William Blake lived and wrote almost entirely ignored during his time, regarded, if at all, as an eccentric painter. This speaks not to the quality of his works; it speaks to how ahead of his time he was. Nobody knew what to make of him, and I must confess that even now it is difficult to cement his place.

One can say for certain, however, that he is one of the greatest poets; aside from the Bard, Keats (whom I adore), and Milton, he has no companions in this uppermost echelon. Reading Blake is sometimes overwhelming. The power of his vision and the vivacity of his language sometimes overpower the faculties, and makes one nearly break down into tears. His poetry is beautiful; it is complex; it is at times incomparably deep and more powerful in force of language than perhaps any other, even Shakespeare's.

Many restrict their reading of Blake to his accessible and delightful lyrics SONGS OF INNOCENCE AND OF EXPERIENCE (which must be read side-by-side to fully appreciate what he is doing!), but to do so is to bind oneself in a nutshell. Read THE MARRIAGE OF HEAVEN AND HELL, as an introduction into his vast vision. Go on to read THE BOOK OF URIZEN, MILTON, JERUSALEM, etc., but take it slowly. Blake is one of the most difficult poets; he is infinitely complex. He creates his own, metamorphosing mythology, which parallels Biblical mythology and that of Milton, and expounds it throughout his poems. To fully appreciate them, one must not only read, but also study his works. I highly recommend doing so--William Blake is infinitely rewarding.

A note: The Penguin edition reviewed here is good, but, if possible, try to acquire an illustrated copy of Blake's work. Blake wrote most of his great poems in the style of illuminated manuscripts (he is actually the precursor of the graphic novel genre), and his illustrations are profound and beautiful. It seems to be increasingly difficult to acquire his illustrations in book form, so if you cannot, at least view them at blakearchive.org. They are magnificent!

What immortal hand or eye ?
It is the shorter poetry of Blake, that of the 'Songs of Innocence' and 'The Songs of Experience' that lives for me, and I suspect for most others. Though Northrop Frye the master literary critic saw in Blake's longer poems a key to reading the whole universe of Literature, I strongly suspect those long- lined abstraction filled 'visions'are outside the interest and staying power of most readers.
Blake was one of the great aphoristic poets, and along with the mystical visionary lines, there came lines like lightning sudden flashes of the mind which strike us strongly and remain with us.
Here is one of the most well- known Blakean lyrics
:
And did those feet in ancient time
Walk upon England's mountains green?
And was the holy Lamb of God
On England's pleasant pastures seen?

And did the Countenance Divine
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
And was Jerusalem builded here
Among these dark satanic mills?

Bring me my bow of burning gold!
Bring me my arrows of desire!
Bring me my spear! O clouds, unfold!
Bring me my chariot of fire!

I will not cease from mental fight,
Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand,
Till we have built Jerusalem
In England's green and pleasant land.

Blake was the lunatic lover one of the great madmen of poetry who according to his wife gave her little timeas he most of the time was 'in Paradise'.
Each reader will going through the Collected Poems stop and select what they find congenial for themselves.
In the Collected Poems of Blake there is very much to stop for, including many of the most memorable lyrics and lines Poetry in English has given the world.

" Little Lamb who made thee, Dost thou know who made thee?"

"Tiger, Tiger, burning bright in the forest of the night/ What immortal hand or eye/ Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?/ ... Read more

Product Description
With essays by Gerald E Bentley Jr, Robert N Essick, Shelley M Bennett, and Morton D Paley. A group of young artists, now known as 'The Blake Followers', gathered around William Blake in the last years of his life. Of the four essays in this collection, two deal broadly with biographical information concerning the Blake Followers and their relations with Blake; the other two focus on specific problems of technique and literary interpretation. Together they give an indication of the nature and range of this fascinating group of artists. The essays are based on papers given at a 1982 Huntington Library symposium. ... Read more

Product Description
This anthology contains the masterpiece of W. Blake "Songs of Innocence and of Experience" including over 50 poems. Nicely formatted with capital letters, page break and interactive toc!

In this collection of poems, Blake contrasts Songs of Innocence, in which he shows how the human spirit blossoms when allowed its own free movement with Songs of Experience, in which he shows how the human spirit withers after it has been suppressed and forced to conform to rules, and doctrines.

... Read more

Product Description
The core of William Blake's vision, his greatness as one of the British Romantics, is most fully expressed in his Illuminated Books, masterworks of art and text intertwined and mutually enriching. Made possible by recent advances in printing and reproduction technology, the publication of new editions of Jerusalem and Songs of Innocence and of Experience in 1991 was a major publishing event. Now these two volumes are followed by The Early Illuminated Books and Milton, A Poem. The books in both volumes are reproduced from the best available copies of Blake's originals and in faithfulness and accuracy match the acclaimed standards set by Jerusalem and Songs. These two volumes are uniform in format and binding with the first two volumes.

The Early Illuminated Books comprises All Religions Are One and There Is No Natural Religion; Thel; Marriage of Heaven and Hell; and Visions of the Daughters of Albion. Milton, A Poem, second only to Jerusalem in extent and ambition, is accompanied by Laocoön, The Ghost of Abel, and On Homer's Poetry. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Five beautiful works from 1788 - 1793
This beautifully produced volume contains five of Blake's early works in relief etching (his illuminated books from 1788 to 1793 save "The Songs of Innocence" from 1789 - published in volume 2 in this series).They are the early tract like "All Religions Are One" and "There Is No Natural Religion", then the fable of "Thel", the magnificent "Marriage of Heaven and Hell" (one of Blake's most popular works), and the beautiful "Visions of the Daughters of Albion".

This volume really four books bound in one.The tracts are treated as one book, then each of the others individually.Each sub-volume has its own introduction and commentary and each plate is given its own page and most have the text on the left page with the plate on the right.

There are also alternative plates provided for additional study.

As with all the volumes in this series, the production values are high, as is the scholarship.A volume you can be proud to have on your shelf.

A must have!
I recommend that any fan of William Blake buy this volume and the other 5 in the series. The books are beautiful, large, and handsomely bound. Each book is reproduced in full color, using a six-color printing process rather than the standard four. The pages are heavy, opaque and have a gorgous lustre indicating very high quality paper. The text of each book accompanies the color reproductions in standard typeface with very competent commentary to boot.

A must have!
I recommend that any fan of William Blake buy this volume and the other 5 in the series. The books are beautiful, large, and handsomely bound. Each book is reproduced in full color, using a six-color printing process rather than the standard four. The pages are heavy, opaque and have a gorgous lustre indicating very high quality paper. The text of each book accompanies the color reproductions in standard typeface with very competent commentary to boot. ... Read more

Product Description
Two classics of English poetry, alternately describing childhood states of innocence and their inevitable corruption by a harsh and unjust world. Contains the full texts of all the poems in the original 1794 edition of both collections. Alphabetical lists of titles and first lines. Publisher’s Note.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Not for the tone deaf
To begin with, it can be helpful to distinguish between "aesthetic" worldly poets/musicians and "vatic"/prophetic artists.Keats and Shakespeare, Ellington and Bill Evans belong in the first category; Shelley and Milton (and, of course, Dante) along with John Coltrane and Sun Ra belong in the second.

Blake is the foremost representative of the latter group--the bards (Milton was his hero; America's Ezra Pound his foremost descendant).Of all the so-called "Romantic" poets, he is in many respects the most atypical.Time, its passing, its presence as "personal memory," specific referents to particular places, the fleshing-out of human figures, whether upper or lower class--all this is of little interest to the visionary prophet written off as "crazy" during his life-time, eventually canonized by the Beatniks in the 1950s, and finally admitted to respectable academia.Earthly phenomena are of little interest to him because, frankly, they have no status in reality.I deliberately steer students away from his graphic art, because its symbolic nature is poorly understood by a generation brought up on images that glorify the material world (if the emphasis isn't on the "real," it's on the surreal or "hyper-real"--but the real with which today's readers identify is anything but the spiritual cosmos that Blake finds everywhere, whether a tiger or a grain of sand.(Pity his wife, who understandably had little patience with him.) More often than not, Blake's pictures nowadays detract from, rather than support, the poetry.When Blake said, "the eye can see more than the heart can know," he envisioned a human potential which few are able to realize--the sort of epiphany granted to the prophet who, after a lifetime of struggle, sees the New Jerusalem or, like Dante, the Godhead itself (the spinning wheel at the end of The Paradiso).

Blake's poetry, in both the Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience, is music that, even when tranquil and serene on the surface, is never resolved in its minor modalities and dissonant counter-themes.In the second set of poems, that verbal music rises to a deafening fortissimo in the poem "London," in which the speaker, above all, "hears" in every cry--from the infant's to the prostitute's to the numerous thralls of the church, state and crown--a threnody of pain and suffering that climaxes in an uproar of righteous anger and indignation at the horrible realization of the consequences of"mind-forged manacles" upon the world and its inhabitants.But even in the poems from the early collection, the tone is characterized by ever-present irony--the disjuncture between the voice of the innocent child and that of the poet who knows all too well what is in store, or the disparity between the trusting faith of the child and the selfish scenarios of the "wise" keepers--the grey-haired beadles--who will violate that trust with their well-laid plans.Blake's message is unceasingly twofold--first, a testament to the holy birthright of the human child and, second, withering criticism of the "rational engines" of society that will act to estrange the child from the Father, from the Son, from its own spiritual identity.

Each of the poems may be read simply, but make no mistake about it: each is ironic and complex, inexhaustibly so.The reader must, with each passing word, be attuned, above all, to irony, ambiguity, and radical shifts in tone--or risk inflicting upon the poet the same distortions the poet finds in human society.The "enemy" is not the "Tiger" which, like the Lamb, is merely evidence of Divine Mystery and Power--but of another order.For Blake, the Lamb, the Tiger, the babe--and a poisonous reptile or virus--are created by God and are equally holy.And now the true antagonist makes its appearance: human reason and its institutions--climaxing in the state-sanctioned marriage of children and parents to the "bridegroom" of organized government and religion.

It can be discouraging to read these poems with students and discover, practically without fail, that a large majority will misinterpret them, frequently coming to conclusions opposite to the evidence of the poems individually as well as collectively. The reasons are at least three-fold: fast and careless readings of short poems that often require (and deserve) the amount of time devoted to a novel; imposition of one's own belief system (or instilled principles and conventional aphorisms); the sheer challenge offered by Blake's "radical" ideas and their deceptive expression.

Those who are serious about poetry and Blake will no doubt soon infer his "message": we must see not with the eye of reason, which measures and "charters" the flowing Thames as readily as it maps out the dehumanizing streets of London, but with the imagination, with the symbolic faculty that enables us to see the underlying spiritual basis of all material reality and thus to empathize with all living things and to live in harmony only with what is alive and vital.Blake is the first thinker I'm familiar with who puts the child first and foremost--and not until the early 19th century.For the Age of Enlightenment (The Age of Reason), children simply don't count.They have no individualism, no identity, no status in art and literature.In his own time, children were little more than the utilitarian objects of the Church-State, deployed to sweep chimneys, then disposed of.The dying chimney sweep of the first "Chimney Sweeper" poem (how regrettable that many readers do not even understand that little Tommy Dacer's "awakening" at the end of the poem is possible only because of his "murder" by the church) is, in the 2nd poem of the same title, a dead child, whose excoriating criticism includes his parents but is leveled primarily at the church.Some readers dismiss the second poem because it doesn't make sense to have a dead child lying in the snow and speaking--it's not rational.

But that's to place ourselves at the mercy of the poems' judgments--as misguided tools of Reason, deaf to the harmonious world and the discordant society around us.If it helps to postpone taking on some of the more difficult poems in either collection, fine.But each poem, each ironic line and musical phrase, each word and note of sorrow or joy is integral with the whole, each part absolutely and completely consistent with the overall theme, meaning and purpose.Seeing with the imagination requires practice and patience: reclaiming one's inner child (Wordsworth's "child-philosopher" who, trailing clouds of glory, is borne of another realm and place) is not a piece of cake.Neither is reading Blake's Songs of Innocence and Experience.

Pretty Good
This is an excellent compilation of Blake's monumentous work in the English language. I am dissapointed, however, that this does not include some of my favorite poems by him, but it is still, in its entirety, very good. His language and masterful skill is beautiful and I suggest this volume because it is both content rich and economical. As for those who say Blake is a "dork," they might be too if they spend their free time insulting writers who died three hundred years ago. Anyway, happy reading!

Artful simplicity as poetic greatness
Blake is the master of the simple childlike deep and meaningful line. "Little Lamb , who made thee dost thou know who made thee" The lines of the first book are of innocence, before knowledge and experience have complicated the soul. The lines of the 'Songs of Experience" are of a more problematic reality. "Tiger Tiger burning bright in the forest of the night/ What immortal hand or eye/ Dare frame thy fearful symmetry/?
Blake is a thinker with an ideology, a revolutionary but I think his greatest value is not in the political or even metaphysical ideas but rather in the psychological apprehension in lines of beauty. Blake understands that wrath held within it will grow, but spoken wrath may go- he understands that the road to hell may be paved with good intentions. His proverbial quality is in this simple , or seemingly simple poetry too , and he is telling us about life and soul while uplifting us with lines which ring and remain in the mind.
These poems are Blake at his most accessible and memorable, whatever literary critics may say about the longer epic poems. These are the poems which have meant and will mean much to mankind. And they can be read with pleasure and puzzlement, over and over again.

The Human Abstract in Mystical Form
William Blake is one of the giants of poetry.He is often overlooked because of the obliqueness of many of his poems.But this affordable (read: cheap) collection of poems is well worth the price of admission. Most of Blakes most famous and well loved poems are included in thisvolume.Most of us had to read at least a couple of these poems in school. The Tyger still stands as one of the great poems of the English language.The Fly, The Lamb, Children of a Future Age, London and Ah, Sunflower areall included here.These are some of the most beautiful poems everwritten.Even if you struggle to understand the meaning, the sheer beautyand music of the verses can still carry you away.Anyone interested inpoetry needs to read these poems.It is among the best ever written.

Beautiful, significant poetry for those who know poetry.
In order to understand Blake's vision, it's helpful to know as much as possible about the social and historical context in which he was writing, and about the kinds of attitudes and social conditions he was addressing. Without that context, readers are unlikely to appreciate Blake as fully ashe deserves to be appreciated. Such readers may write uninformed andignorant reviews in this column.Those who understand the context in whichBlake was writing are likely to have a much deeper appreciation of Blake'spoetic beauty and sharp social conscience. ... Read more

Product Description

Published in 1947, Fearful Symmetry was Northrop Frye's first book and the product of over a decade of intense labour. Drawing readers into the imaginative world of William Blake, Frye succeeded in making Blake's voice and vision intelligible to the wider public. Distinguished by its range of reference, elegance of expression, comprehensiveness of coverage, coherence of argument, and sympathy to its subject, Fearful Symmetry was immediately recognized as a landmark of Blake criticism. Fifty years later, it is still recognized as having ensured the acceptance of Blake as a canonical poet by permanently dispelling the widespread notion that he was the mad creator of an incomprehensible private symbolism.

For this new edition, the text has been revised and corrected in accordance with the principles of the Collected Works of Northrop Frye series. Frye's original annotation has been supplemented with references to currently standard editions of Blake and others, and many new notes have been provided, identifying quotations, allusions, and cultural references. An introduction by Ian Singer provides biographical and critical context for the book, an overview of its contents, and an account of its reception.

Customer Reviews (6)

frye and beyond
Some time ago I reread Northrop Frye's Fearful Symmetry before having another read through of the poems of William Blake including the longer poems The Four Zoas, Milton and Jerusalem. Despite my appreciation of Frye's book I was struck by the disconnect between many of Frye's well-expressed and coherent ideas and the poems themselves. I noticed also that Frye barely quoted from any of the poems or analyzed any passage specifically. At that point I started to look around for other texts which offered a different viewpoint from Frye to see if my dissatisfaction was justified or not. The more I read the alternative views the more convinced I became that Frye's account was seriously deficient. I do not think he is entirely wrong or that there is nothing of value in his book. However, I strongly recommend that readers interested in Blake's poetry read alternative views. The ones I have found most useful and interesting include the current book listed here as well as the following:The Four Zoas (Photographic Facsimile (Magno & Erdman), Narrative Unbound (Donald Ault),The Dialectic of Vision (Fred Dortort),Dark Figures in the Desired Country (Gerda Norvig),The Traveler in the Evening (Morton Paley), Rethinking Blake's Textuality (Molly Rothenberg),Blake's Critique of Transcendence (Peter Otto) and some of the articles in Blake's Sublime Allegory (Curran & Wittreich Eds.) I might note that after doing all this reading of the poems and about Blake I am convinced that the unpublished The Four Zoas is the central and most significant poem Blake wrote and that both Milton and Jerusalem suffer in comparison with it. The problem that Blake may have realized with the Four Zoas was that it could never be published in its authentic form due to the graphic (for the time) psychosexual content of the illustrations (the subtitle of the poem is The Torments of Love and Jealousy).

searchlight
I have a much clearer sense of Blake's writings now that I've read this book.I took a long time in finishing it, reading some major poems by W.B. at the same time.This is really an exciting book; it brings to life a whole universe - that lived in the poet's imagination.Blake is alive today (in the spirit of his artistic creations) I am convinced.William Blake had a great gift for describing aspects of real life in a way that was inspired by the Bible, and some other imaginative or visionary artists and poets; he was also highly opinionated.It's impressive how wellFrye understood Blake's gift, and his personal life, which also makes a strand of this effort, which is a literary effort in it's own right.Anyone with an interest in Blake ought to read this book.It's a tool that allows one to approach Blake's creations of writing and visual artistry with an active (as well as open) mind.

Essential for Blake fans
Northrop Frye manages to convey in sweeping master strokes the brilliance of William Blakes poetry and unlocks the mysteries of Blakes symbols.More importantly, Frye engages the reader in learning a new way to look at literature in general and open up his eyes to a deeper world.

The tygers of wrath are wiser than the horses of instruction
This punch statement belongs to William Blake .
Enthusiasm , passion and a huge sense of commitment describe the enormous effort behind these admirable lines written by Frye
Every major poet demands from his critic a combination of direction and perspective , of intensive and extensive reading . Cosmology is literary art but there are two kinds : the first designed to understand the world and the other designed to transform it into the human desire .
The part one The argument
1. The case against Locke
2. The rising God
3. Beyond Good and evil
4. A literalist of the imagination
5. The word within the word
Part two The development of the symbolism
6. Tradition and experiment
7. The thief of fire
8. The refiner in fire
9. The nightmare with her ninefold
Part threeThe final synthesis
10. Comus Agonistes
11. The city of God
12. The burden of the valley of Vision
Fearfulsymmetry was written during the Second World Two and the principal reason which persuades me to recommend you this wise essay is the fact you can draw a line in the story which starts with Homero , Dante , Michelangelo,Blake and Beethoven and obtain a powerful conclusion about the enormous significance of this admirable thinker.
Beware the fact the unforgettable conductor Wilhelm Fürtwangler whose father was an intimate friend of Hans Schliemann liked to visit Rome and Florence to watch over and over the Michelangelo sculptures and paintings ; this fact allows meto onclude the underground road between the Florentine genius and theBonn genius .
An indispensable book in your library.

Judging the book by its cover . . .
One disadvantage of browsing online bookstores is that you can't simply skim the cover blurbs; sometimes you just have to settle for the opinions of strangers like me. So it may be helpful to read the quotes on the back cover of my copy of 'Fearful Symmetry.'

"To say it is a magnificent, extraordinary book is to praise it as it should be praised, but in doing so one gives little idea of the huge scope of the book and of its fiery understanding . Several great poets have written of Blake, but this book, I believe, is the first to show the full magnitude of Blake's mind, its vast creative thought." -- Edith Sitwell, 'The Spectator'

"According as we agree or disagree with Mr. Frye's contention we shall decide finally on the supremacy of his book. In following the structure of Blake's total vision and relating it to the thought of his age he has triumphantly carried out a task which, given the giant shape of the material, cannot help being immense. His cadences, by sheer explanatory devotion, approach the sonorities of Blake's own." -- 'Times Literary Supplement'

"Frye conducts his ambitious study with unflagging energy, great enthusiasm, and immense erudition." -- 'Poetry'

"An intelligent and beautifully written critical interpretation of the poetry and symbolic thought of William Blake..." -- 'New Yorker'

My opinion: Northrop Frye's literary criticism manages to shift the ground underfoot in the same rare way Blake's poetry does. Frye was the first to crack Blake's code, remove from him the labels of Mystic and Nutcase, and reveal him as a poet who systematically recreates the world. Frye taught Blake to Jesuits, Communist organizers, deans of women, and angry young poets. He was continually pleased to encounter doctors, housewives, clergymen, teachers, blue-collar workers, and shopkeepers, all with a great and deep appreciation of Blake.

Frye's deep appreciation and admiration for Blake comes through on every page, six times over. I reread this book about every five years, each time coming away seeing the world upside down, inside out, and worth renovating. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

a hidden gem, not your mainstream tarot deck
I collect Tarot cards and use several for fortune readings and I cannot compliment on this deck enough. The symbolism is very intuitive making interpretation more precise and accurate. I sometimes use other decks but when I really want to read into the mind/reasoning/hidden motive or to get deeper understanding of a reading from other decks, the William Blake Tarot is the one to use.

An Inspired Deck
I can't say enough great things about this deck.It is a revolutionary consideration of Blake's work, taking it out of the purely academic and intellectual level and placing it squarely where Blake's passion lay--the imaginal realm.I ordered this directly from the author, since it is not easy to obtain. Wonderful artwork, thoughtful interpretations.An amazing and transformative way to approach one of the West's great mystics. ... Read more

Product Description
The idea of the gift, in contrast to concepts of commercial exchange or the exercise of self-interest at the expense of social ties, is integral to the ways in which William Blake thought about his art, and the production and dissemination of his work. Sarah Haggarty offers a sophisticated and thorough account of the idea of the gift in Blake's writing and designs, examining both the theoretical implications of the term, and the way it plays out in specific textual and visual contexts within Blake's works. Elegantly written, thoughtful and closely argued, this book explores particular passages with great dexterity and in a style that enables the reader to participate in the experience of discovering the significance of 'the gift' for understanding Blake's work. ... Read more

Product Description
At the dawn of the 19th century, Blake created this imaginative series of 116 watercolors to illustrate 13 poems by Thomas Gray. Including such popular poems as "Elegy in a Country Churchyard" and "Ode on the Death of a Favourite Cat," these rarely exhibited treasures remained exclusively in the hands of collectors for close to 175 years. This is the first inexpensive, full-color reproduction, with the complete text of the poems.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

With all 116 plates originally in the Trianon Press edition
Blake created his series of 116 watercolors at the turn of the century to illustrate 13 poems by Thomas Gray: this reproduces his watercolors in an affordable edition, allowing a much wider audience access to his works. Blake's Watercolours For The Poems Of Thomas Gray republishes all 116 plates originally in the Trianon Press edition. ... Read more

Product Description
Superb reproduction of 1797 publication of four sections of Edward Young’s popular poem Night Thoughts, illustrated with 43 designs by William Blake. Images of angels, spirits, poets, sensuous women, Life, Death, Reason and Truth swirl about Young’s text, adding to its meaning and revealing much of Blake’s own vision. Plate-by-plate commentaries by Professors Robert Essick and Jenijoy La Belle. Introduction. Bibliography. 43 illustrations.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Unjustly forgotten
This is the reprint of the edition published in 1797, with engravings of William Blake. The poem itself, enormously popular in the 18th century, is now shrouded in obscurity, and it stays in print only due to Blake's illustrations. But despite of its unpopularity, I found it quite enjoyable. It is best read in one sitting, without interrupting the constant flow of ideas and thoughts. It is a meditation, at once introspective and all-encompassing, a contemplation of Death, Time, Friendship, and Immortality of man. Granted, it does tend to drag on too much in the last chapter, but the first ones are so good they're worthy of being memorized. Blake's engravings, surrounding the text as a frame, capture the essense of the poem and at the same time enhance it, adding to it even more depth. The poem's abstract concepts take shape, making some passages more memorable. (This edition includes a commentary on the pictures' symbolism.) The book is worth getting for the engravings alone; it is a work of art in every sense of the word. ... Read more

Product Description
Naxos AudioBooks begins its new series of Great Poets represented by their most popular poems on one CDwith William Blake, whose 250th anniversary of birth falls this year. This CD contains all of his most popular works Tyger, the Auguries of Innocence, Jerusalem, as well as some lesser-known poetry that demonstrates the range and power of his verse. They are strikingly read by Robert Glenister, Michael Maloney and Stephen Critchlow. ... Read more

Product Description
Does the Devil lie at the heart of the creative process? In The Devil as Muse, Fred Parker offers an entirely fresh reflection on the age-old question, echoing William Blake's famous statement: the true poet is of the Devil's party.

Expertly examining three literary interpretations of the Devil and his influence upon the artist -- Milton's Satan in Paradise Lost, the Mephistopheles of Goethe's Faust, and the one who offers daimonic creativity in Thomas Mann's Doctor Faustus -- Parker unveils a radical tension between the ethical and the aesthetic. While the Devil is the artist's necessary collaborator and liberating muse, from an ethical standpoint the price paid for such creativity is nothing less damnable than the Faustian pact -- and the artist who is creative in that way is seen as accursed, alienated, morally disturbing. In their own different ways, Parker shows, Blake, Byron, and Mann all reflect and acknowledge that tension in their work, and model ways to resolve it through their writing.

Linking these literary conceptions with scholarship on the genesis of the historical conception of the Devil and recent work on the role of 'otherness'; in creativity, Parker insightfully suggests how creative literature can feel its way back along the processes -- both theological and psychological -- that lie behind such constructions of the Adversary. ... Read more

Product Description
massive critical work on Blake's 'The Four Zoas' ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

frye and beyond
Some time ago I reread Northrop Frye's Fearful Symmetry before having another read through of the poems of William Blake including the longer poems The Four Zoas, Milton and Jerusalem. Despite my appreciation of Frye's book I was struck by the disconnect between many of Frye's well-expressed and coherent ideas and the poems themselves. I noticed also that Frye barely quoted from any of the poems or analyzed any passage specifically. At that point I started to look around for other texts which offered a different viewpoint from Frye to see if my dissatisfaction was justified or not. The more I read the alternative views the more convinced I became that Frye's account was seriously deficient. I do not think he is entirely wrong or that there is nothing of value in his book. However, I strongly recommend that readers interested in Blake's poetry read alternative views. The ones I have found most useful and interesting include the current book listed here as well as the following:The Four Zoas (Photographic Facsimile (Magno & Erdman), Narrative Unbound (Donald Ault),The Dialectic of Vision (Fred Dortort),Dark Figures in the Desired Country (Gerda Norvig),The Traveler in the Evening (Morton Paley), Rethinking Blake's Textuality (Molly Rothenburg),and some of the articles in Blake's Sublime Allegory (Curran & Wittreich Eds.) I might note that after doing all this reading of the poems and about Blake I am convinced that the unpublished The Four Zoas is the central and most significant poem Blake wrote and that both Milton and Jerusalem suffer in comparison with it. The problem that Blake may have realized with the Four Zoas was that it could never be published in its authentic form due to the graphic (for the time) psychosexual content of the illustrations (the subtitle of the poem is The Torments of Love and Jealousy).

Donald Ault / Donald Duck / WIlliam Blake
Donald Ault is an inspiring and unique mind.No boundaries, for they are always re-examined, as he does here with a response and re-thinking of his own arguments towards William Blake and his responses to the Newtonian Universe.Donald Ault is a mind stretched as it should be--lobes in literature, lobes in Disney, lobes in Coca-Cola.His books do not yet show his utter vastness, but I hope one day his thoughts on Donald Duck will come to the bibliography. ... Read more