William Blake: biography and works. William Blake – biography and paintings of the artist in the genre of Romanticism, Symbolism – Art Challenge

02.04.2019

The Mysticism of William Blake

See the world in one grain of sand
And the whole cosmos is in a blade of forest grass,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And in a fleeting moment there is eternity...
William Blake

“For forty years there was not a single day that I did not take up the copper board. Engraving is a craft that I studied; I should not have tried to live by any other labor. My heaven is brass, and my earth is iron." This is what the long-suffering William Blake wrote about himself at the beginning of the nineteenth century. One of the rooms served as a living room for him and Kate, the other as a bedroom, kitchen, office and workshop. There were almost no things. The wife wore a simple, stale dress. “Due to endless adversity, she has long lost her former beauty, except for that which gave her love and speaking eyes, sparkling and black.”

BookJob. WilliamBlake

Blake William (11/28/1757 - 08/12/1827), English painter, engraver, poet. He studied the art of painting and engraving in London with the engraver J. Bezaire (from 1771), attended the Academy of Arts (1778), and was influenced by J. Flaxman. In the work of Blake, who illustrated his own poems with watercolors and engravings (Songs of Ignorance, 1789; Songs of Knowledge, 1794; The Book of Job, 1818-1825; Dante’s Divine Comedy, 1825-1827 and other works), the trends of romanticism in English art of the late 18th - first quarter of the 19th centuries were clearly reflected: the master’s attraction to visionary fiction, allegorism and mystical symbolism, appeal to a bold, almost arbitrary play of lines, and sharp compositional solutions.

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BLAKE William The Lovers Whirlwind. Francesca Da Rimini And Paolo...

Blake denies traditional composition and perspective; the exquisite linear forms of the painter’s works evoke the idea of other world. The style itself reflects the artist’s unique mystical vision of the world, in which reality and imagination merge together.

Engraver and book illustrator by profession, Blake expressed his talent in poetry and in mystical and symbolic paintings that were striking in their impact. Spiritual world seemed to William Blake more important than the material world, and a true artist was seen by him as a prophet endowed with the divine gift of insight into the essence of things. Blake lived in poverty and died unrecognized on August 12, 1827. Currently, William Blake is rightfully considered one of the great masters of English fine art and literature, one of the most brilliant and original painters of his time.

William Blake. Illustration for " Divine Comedy"Dante. "Hell"

William Blake. Illustration for Dante's "Divine Comedy". "Hell"

William Blake (eng. William Blake; November 28, 1757, London - August 12, 1827, London) - English poet and artist, mystic and visionary.

Now, almost two hundred years later, it has become obvious that the works of William Blake were not intended for his contemporaries. All his life he created, turning to his descendants, and apparently he himself was aware of this. Seeing the complete indifference of his contemporaries brought him considerable despair. “My works are better known in heaven than on earth,” - so he said, and continued to create, hoping for due respect and attention from his descendants. Today, looking back general view Based on his work, we can understand how much he was ahead of his generation, perhaps by a century, and perhaps more. Two centuries have passed since his life, one might say, two centuries of his oblivion, and only today William Blake becomes a real proper idol. For example, in Great Britain, his poem “Jerusalem” became almost the second national anthem, and in America, an exhibition of his paintings and engravings, held in 2001 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, was a great success. Today, Blake's books are published in huge numbers in many countries, including Russia, and they do not languish on the shelves. The number of translations is growing.

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Blake phenomenon

What attracts people about Blake is not only his creativity, but also his mysterious personality. He is attracted by his strange and extraordinary creative destiny. main feature his creative life was that Blake was neither a special poet, nor a special artist, nor a special philosopher. Moreover, his literary works very often run counter to the norms of literary in English, painting often contradicts generally accepted canons, and its philosophy is not always consistent and logical. However, if we take all his works together, they represent something grandiose, something bewitching and majestic. In general, his creative works represent a well-defined completeness; they are the result of a long, stubborn and deep search for a creative, talented soul. Blake can be appreciated primarily for the fact that he tried to penetrate many of the laws of this universe, to understand and teach spirituality itself.

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He did this by writing literary works (in poetry and prose), supplementing them with numerous illustrations for better assimilation. Such literary device, which combines philosophy, literature and painting, has never been seen before. He is special, and even after William Blake, few were capable of such creative asceticism (in particular, Kahlil Gibran is called a follower of William Blake’s techniques). However, it remains to be recognized that it is precisely this extraordinary method of creative self-expression that suits William Blake most effectively in order to express his prophetic ideas, to express his enlightened view of the purity of spirituality.

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Blake's works show us how deep and subtle the author's inner world was. It was completely different from the one in which the others live, which makes it clear what Blake himself is like and what his creative mission was. We clearly realize that a person who achieved such a level of self-expression was able to go beyond the usual conventional boundaries of human awareness, beyond the work of the senses and the mind. Only that person who is completely absorbed in the desire for spirituality, for its laws, for its existence is capable of such liberation from conventions and in-depth perception of reality. This is the level of William Blake's worldview. This raises a completely logical question: wasn’t he himself endowed with something special that allowed him to see the world with different eyes - more complex and diverse, wasn’t he at a higher level of human awareness, in other words, didn’t he really have a spiritual self-realization, to be able to create like that, to let the world around you pass through you like that?

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The purity of William Blake's spirituality, free from the shackles of rationalism and dry dogma, was not only his creative method, but also his way of thinking, his state, his inner essence. He was not a poet “for everyone” and, apparently, did not strive for this. He wrote for those who, like himself, were concerned with themes of spirituality. He believed in the divine destiny of the poet, in the fact that inspiration was given from above, he believed in his mission as a Prophet, called to open people's "eyes turned inward." Be that as it may, William Blake walked it to the end to light the way for those who would follow him. The result of his path was his works as guiding beacons for seekers who want to rise from inert and blind ideas, beliefs and conventions to the heights of Spirituality.

William Blake managed to create during his life great amount works in the field of painting and literature. Moreover, it should be noted that, unlike other artists of brush and word, his creative skills did not decline with age, but rather improved. By the end of his life, truly masterpieces of his work came out of his pen and brush, for example, the work “Lacoon” or illustrations for Dante’s “Divine Comedy”, where William Blake showed both the depth of literary thought and ease in mastering the brush, which was not observed in him previously.

In the history of world literature, William Blake is considered to be the first English romantic poet. What is striking is the unprecedented coloring of the author’s moods, his unpredictability and inability to understand and accommodate in us everything that he expressed. Sometimes rebellious moods slip through him, and then they turn into religious mysticism. His lyrical motifs are combined with figurative mythology and symbolism. His innocent, joyful perception of the world subsequently turns into a kind of mysticism of the collision of the forces of Good and Evil, Heaven and Hell. His mythological system is complex symbolic images and allegories remained misunderstood for a long time and were considered incapable of any decipherment. Only now are scientists beginning to get closer to the solution.

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Blake's Confession

It is believed that 1863 marked the beginning of the recognition of William Blake and the growth of interest in him. At this time, Alexander Gilchrist published a biography, The Life of Blake. Soon after, Blake's never-before-published early poems were published, establishing him as a lyric romantic poet. Blake's engravings, also previously unknown, were subsequently discovered and greatly influenced the development of the so-called Art Nouveau style. In 1893, Yeats, together with Ellis, published a three-volume, at that time the most complete edition of Blake's works, accompanying it short biography poet. However, real interest in Blake's work and personality began in the twentieth century.

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In 1966 it was published " Complete collection works of William Blake." Blake revealed himself to the world not only as an apocalyptic seer, as he was usually considered, but also as the author of witty epigrams and aphorisms, as an original thinker and critic, far ahead of his orthodox, ossified age.

As for Russia and the countries of the former USSR, the name of William Blake became known to the general public only in 1957, after the whole world celebrated the bicentenary of his birth. His works then began to appear both in periodicals and in separate collections. Blake was published relatively rarely, and much of his work was never translated into Russian. One can only hope that over time the entire legacy of his work will be translated.

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William Blake (William Blake) English poet, artist, philosopher. Born November 28, 1757 in London.

Biography of William Blake

William Blake was the second child in a large family of a knitwear merchant. My father's shop was on the first floor of the house where they lived.

He received his primary education from his mother, who taught him to write and read, and also managed to instill a love of literature. From childhood, William was instilled with a love for the works of the Renaissance, which he carried throughout his life.

His artistic abilities manifested themselves early and at the age of 10 his parents sent him to art school. And then art school– was hired as an apprentice in an engraving shop (1772).

By the age of twenty-one he had become a professional engraver, having spent seven years studying. During this period, Blake developed a keen interest in poetry. Later, the doors of the Royal Academy of Arts opened before William (1778), which he never managed to complete. Blake regarded this failure as an impetus for independent activity, and he began to make a living by making book engravings based on drawings by other artists.

Blake's work

In 1784, William Blake opened his own engraving shop. At that time in his life, he discovered the technology of “illuminated”, “decorative” printing - a new method of engraving for that time. Subsequently, he will decorate his poems with drawings made precisely in this technique.

In 1789, Blake completed work on the cycle of poems “Songs of Innocence,” which reflected his attraction to the divine theme. A year later, the book “The Marriage of Heaven and Hell” appears from his pen. And in 1793, five books by Blake were published at once: “Visions of the Daughters of Albion”, “America”, “Europe”, “The Gates of Paradise” and “The Book of Urizen”. Somewhat later, “Songs of Experience” appeared. This creative period of William Blake is often called “rebellious.” Having passed it, he will no longer deviate from religious dogma and beliefs in God. Disputes with the Almighty will remain only on the pages of his early works.

By the end of the 18th century, Blake's style was finally formed and became recognizable. His works, however, never find recognition among his contemporaries. Blake’s traditional education did not impose established canons and forms in art; perhaps this is where one should look for the origins of his creative freedom. Ignoring established foundations and using approaches in his works that run counter to established tradition determined Blake’s rejection by his contemporaries.

He often said to himself: “I am better known for my works in Heaven than on earth.” Despite this circumstance, William Blake did not give in to the temptation to quit writing. He continued to follow his path in art. Mozart bequeathed: “Music, even in the most terrible dramatic situations, must remain music”...Blake never deviated from this commandment of the Artist in his, albeit not so close to music, work. Since 1804, Blake has been working on engraving his poems. From now on, he illustrates all of his works. In 1822, Blake created a series of watercolor works illustrating the poem “Paradise Lost” by John Milton. The splendor of the work he did will only be appreciated years later.

Later he began illustrating Dante's Divine Comedy. This work will be Blake's last. He will not be destined to complete it. However, the images that have reached descendants amaze with the perfection of technique and purity of thought. Many call them the peak of Blake's creativity.

William Blake's earthly journey ended in 1827. He was buried like Mozart once was: in a common, poor man's grave. And the place of his burial was lost forever by the dictates of time.

There will be a lot of controversy about Blake's work, it will be said about his works that they are inspired by the devil, many of them will serve as food for an almost omnivorous fire... But, nevertheless, the name of Blake will gain immortality on an August day in 1827.

William Blake's legacy would, over time, be rediscovered by the Pre-Raphaelites. And it, combining an unbridled flight of creative imagination, innovative ideas, subtle symbolism, reminiscences of the great classics, will influence the art of the 19th-20th centuries. The work of Blake, who worked for poetry in life, inspired more than one generation of the art world. It remains a source of inspiration in our time, far from romanticism.

However, if we take all his works together, they represent something grandiose, something bewitching and majestic. Blake can be appreciated primarily for the fact that he tried to penetrate many of the laws of this universe, to understand and teach spirituality itself.

Antaeus, lowering Dante and Virgil into the final circle of Hell Hecate. Night of Joy Enitharmon Joyful Day or Dance of Albion

He is special, and even after William Blake, few were capable of such creative asceticism (in particular, Kahlil Gibran is called a follower of William Blake’s techniques).

However, it remains to be recognized that it is precisely this extraordinary method of creative self-expression that suits William Blake most effectively in order to express his prophetic ideas, to express his enlightened view of the purity of spirituality.

Blake's works show us how deep and subtle the author's inner world was. We clearly realize that a person who achieved such a level of self-expression was able to go beyond the usual conventional boundaries of human awareness, beyond the work of the senses and the mind. Only that person who is completely absorbed in the desire for spirituality, for its laws, for its existence is capable of such liberation from conventions and in-depth perception of reality. This is the level of William Blake's worldview.

This raises a completely logical question: wasn’t he himself endowed with something special that allowed him to see the world with different eyes - more complex and diverse, wasn’t he at a higher level of human awareness, in other words, didn’t he really have a spiritual self-realization, to be able to create like that, to let the world around you pass through you like that?

He was not a poet “for everyone” and, apparently, did not strive for this. He wrote for those who, like himself, were concerned with themes of spirituality.

He believed in the divine destiny of the poet, in the fact that inspiration was given from above, he believed in his mission as a Prophet, called to open people's “eyes turned inward.” Be that as it may, William Blake walked it to the end to light the way for those who would follow him. The result of his path was his works as guiding beacons for seekers who want to rise from inert and blind ideas, beliefs and conventions to the heights of Spirituality.

Bibliography

Donald Ault (1974). Visionary Physics: Blake's Response to Newton. University of Chicago. ISBN 0-226-03225-6.
Jacob Bronowski (1972). William Blake and the Age of Revolution. Routledge and K. Paul. ISBN 0-7100-7277-5 (hardcover) ISBN 0-7100-7278-3 (pbk.)
Jacob Bronowski (1967). William Blake, 1757-1827; a man without a mask. Haskell House Publishers.
G.K. Chesterton (1920s). William Blake. House of Stratus ISBN 0-7551-0032-8.
S. Foster Damon (1979). A Blake Dictionary. Shambhala. ISBN 0-394-73688-5.
Northrop Frye (1947). Fearful Symmetry. Princeton Univ Press. ISBN 0-691-06165-3.
Peter Ackroyd (1995). Blake. Sinclair-Stevenson. ISBN 1-85619-278-4.
E.P. Thompson (1993). Witness against the Beast. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-22515-9.
Victor N. Paananens (1996). William Blake. Twayne Publishers. ISBN 0-8057-7053-4.
George Anthony Rosso Jr. (1993). Blake's Prophetic Workshop: A Study of The Four Zoas. Associated University Presses. ISBN 0-8387-5240-3.
G.E. Bentley Jr. (2001). The Stranger From Paradise: A Biography of William Blake. Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-08939-2.
David V. Erdman (1977). Blake: Prophet Against Empire: A Poet's Interpretation of the History of His Own Times. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-486-26719-9.
James King (1991). William Blake: His Life. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-07572-3.
W.J.T. Mitchell (1978). Blake's Composite Art: A Study of the Illuminated Poetry. Yale University Press. ISBN 0-691-01402-7.
Peter Marshall (1988). William Blake: Visionary Anarchist ISBN 0-900384-77-8
Dr. Malkin, A Father's Memories of his Child, (1806)
Alexander Gilchrist, Life and Works of William Blake, (1863, second edition, London, 1880)
Algernon Swinburne, William Blake: A Critical Essay, (London, 1868)
W. M. Rosetti (editor), Poetical Works of William Blake, (London, 1874)
Basil de Selincourt, William Blake, (London, 1909)
G. B. Russell, Engravings of William Blake, (1912)
B. Yeats, Ideas of Good and Evil, (1903), contains essays.
Joseph Viscomi (1993). Blake and the Idea of the Book, (Princeton UP). ISBN 0-691-06962-X.
David Weir (2003). Brahma in the West: William Blake and the Oriental Rennaissance, (SUNY Press)
Sheila A. Spector (2001). "Wonders Divine": the development of Blake's Kabbalistic myth, (Bucknell UP)
Jason Whittaker (1999). William Blake and the Myths of Britain, (Macmillan)
Irving Fiske (1951). "Bernard Shaw's Debt to William Blake." (Shaw Society)

The artist and philosopher William Blake created his works by addressing only future generations. He firmly knew that only his descendants would be able to appreciate his works. And now, at the turn of the 18th century - XIX centuries, will not find recognition among his contemporaries. He turned out to be right: all the secrets of his genius have not yet been revealed.

Life path

William Blake, with all his life, dim in external events, does not give much scope to biographers. He was born in London in 1757 into a poor family of a shopkeeper, and lived there all his life until his death, until he was seventy years old. William Blake received this to the fullest from the care and participation of his relatives, the admiration of a very narrow circle of his admirers and students. For some time he studied the craft of an engraver and subsequently earned money from this. The daily life that William Blake led was full of routine and mining. He was engaged in making engravings based on other people's originals, much less often - from his own. He created illustrations for Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and the Book of Job. Here is one of the illustrations to Dante's "Whirlwind of Lovers".

This is a powerful and terrible stream that would not occur to the common man in the street, to which the artist did not stoop. Therefore, when William Blake tried to establish himself as an artist, he was faced with a blank wall of misunderstanding. It was only twenty years after his death that he was “discovered” by the Pre-Raphaelites. The world and diverse creative heritage that William Blake left are still not fully understood. His spiritual biography is complex and filled with vivid events.

Poetry

One of the creative tasks that the poet solved throughout his life was the creation of a new mythological system, the so-called Bible of Hell. The most famous and perfect work of its kind is “Songs of Innocence and Experience.” It is pointless to consider each of his poems separately. They are interconnected by many subtle threads and acquire true meaning only in the context of the entire cycle.

Inner experiences

He had decades when he fell silent for long periods of time. This shows his painful and intense spiritual quest. His contemporaries did not understand him, but perhaps that is why his work was focused on his inner vision. And it was macro- and microcosmogonic, bold, fantastic, with an unusual play of lines and a sharp composition. This is how William Blake, whose paintings were not accepted by his contemporaries, amazes us now. He took them from the world he knew or saw before. This is the same Blake who saw infinity in the palm of his hand and eternity in one hour. "Newton" is one of his most famous paintings.

In it, the physicist is represented as the Great Architect of the Universe with one of the Masonic symbols in his hands. William Blake anticipated Dali, who would claim the title of the world's first artist in the field of quantum physics. No, Salvador Dali was too late.

Albion's past

England is ruled by its mythological past, William Blake believed. The paintings are written on the themes of the Celts and Druids, who had special knowledge and myths.

It is the memories of them, according to Blake, that can reveal previously hidden truths.

Illustrations for the Bible

When creating illustrations for the Bible, he does not depict shepherds or the baby Jesus, but sees Satan mystically. The Marriage of Heaven and Hell is one of his books written in imitation of the biblical books of prophecy. We see this in his paintings. What William Blake painted, "The Red Dragon" is a series of watercolor paintings created to illustrate the Bible, the book It's Big with seven heads and crowns on them. His tail “swept” a third of the stars from heaven to earth. These paintings depict the dragon in various scenes.

The first painting is “The Great Red Dragon and the Wife Clothed in the Sun.” It is interpreted approximately like this by different theologians. The wife is the Church, the light of Christ, and the sun above her is sacred. In agony, she gives birth to a child, whom the dragon intends to devour. But she manages to escape.

Out of rage, the dragon releases water, which should swallow both his wife and the earth.

He is incredibly scary and confident in his strength.

Some modern views on theology

These horrors can be looked at differently. The Church of Christ was created as a place of Love and Mercy. There was no devil in the original teaching. His idea paradoxically developed and gained strength during the Middle Ages, like the idea of Hell to control the souls of the flock. On the one hand, Heaven is a carrot, on the other, Hell is a stick to which the devil pushes a person. Thus, through the efforts of the Church, the Devil acquired extraordinary power. And now it is close to a museum. Few people think seriously about it.

But this in no way detracts from Blake's work. They suggest thinking about what is Good and what is Evil. He was a prophet and foresaw many things, including his own death.

At six o'clock in the evening on the day of his death, Blake felt her, promised his wife that he would always be with her, and died. So what was death for him?

BookJob. WilliamBlake

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BLAKE William The Lovers Whirlwind. Francesca Da Rimini And Paolo...

Blake rejects traditional composition and perspective; the exquisite linear forms of the painter’s works evoke an idea of the other world. The style itself reflects the artist’s unique mystical vision of the world, in which reality and imagination merge together.

An engraver and book illustrator by profession, Blake expressed his talent in poetry and in strikingly powerful mystical and symbolic paintings. The spiritual world seemed to William Blake to be more important than the material world, and a true artist was seen by him as a prophet endowed with the divine gift of insight into the essence of things. Blake lived in poverty and died unrecognized on August 12, 1827. Currently, William Blake is rightfully considered one of the great masters of English fine art and literature, one of the most brilliant and original painters of his time.

William Blake. Illustration for Dante's "Divine Comedy". "Hell"

William Blake. Beatrice talks to Dante from her chariot

William Blake. Illustration for Dante's "Divine Comedy". "Hell"

William Blake (eng. William Blake; November 28, 1757, London - August 12, 1827, London) - English poet and artist, mystic and visionary.

Now, almost two hundred years later, it has become obvious that the works of William Blake were not intended for his contemporaries. All his life he created, turning to his descendants, and apparently he himself was aware of this. Seeing the complete indifference of his contemporaries brought him considerable despair. “My works are better known in heaven than on earth,” - so he said, and continued to create, hoping for due respect and attention from his descendants. Today, taking a general look at his work, we can understand how much he was ahead of his generation, perhaps by a century, and perhaps more. Two centuries have passed since his life, one might say, two centuries of his oblivion, and only today William Blake becomes a real proper idol. For example, in Great Britain, his poem “Jerusalem” became almost the second national anthem, and in America, an exhibition of his paintings and engravings, held in 2001 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, was a great success. Today, Blake's books are published in huge numbers in many countries, including Russia, and they do not languish on the shelves. The number of translations is growing.

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Blake phenomenon

What attracts people about Blake is not only his creativity, but also his mysterious personality. He is attracted by his strange and extraordinary creative destiny. The main feature of his creative life was that Blake was neither a special poet, nor a special artist, nor a special philosopher. Moreover, his literary works very often run counter to the norms of the literary English language, his painting often contradicts generally accepted canons, and his philosophy is not always consistent and logical. However, if we take all his works together, they represent something grandiose, something bewitching and majestic. In general, his creative works represent a well-defined completeness; they are the result of a long, stubborn and deep search for a creative, talented soul. Blake can be appreciated primarily for the fact that he tried to penetrate many of the laws of this universe, to understand and teach spirituality itself.

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He did this by writing literary works (in poetry and prose), supplementing them with numerous illustrations for better assimilation. Such a literary device, combining philosophy, literature and painting, has never been seen before. He is special, and even after William Blake, few were capable of such creative asceticism (in particular, Kahlil Gibran is called a follower of William Blake’s techniques). However, it remains to be recognized that it is precisely this extraordinary method of creative self-expression that suits William Blake most effectively in order to express his prophetic ideas, to express his enlightened view of the purity of spirituality.

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During his life, William Blake managed to create a huge number of works in the field of painting and literature. Moreover, it should be noted that, unlike other artists of brush and word, his creative skills did not decline with age, but rather improved. By the end of his life, truly masterpieces of his work came out of his pen and brush, for example, the work “Lacoon” or illustrations for Dante’s “Divine Comedy”, where William Blake showed both the depth of literary thought and ease in mastering the brush, which was not observed in him previously.

In the history of world literature, William Blake is considered to be the first English romantic poet. What is striking is the unprecedented coloring of the author’s moods, his unpredictability and inability to understand and accommodate in us everything that he expressed. Sometimes rebellious moods slip through him, and then they turn into religious mysticism. His lyrical motifs are combined with figurative mythology and symbolism. His innocent, joyful perception of the world subsequently turns into a kind of mysticism of the collision of the forces of Good and Evil, Heaven and Hell. His mythological system of complex symbolic images and allegories remained misunderstood for a long time and was considered incapable of any deciphering. Only now are scientists beginning to get closer to the solution.

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Blake's Confession

It is believed that 1863 marked the beginning of the recognition of William Blake and the growth of interest in him. At this time, Alexander Gilchrist published a biography, The Life of Blake. Soon after, Blake's never-before-published early poems were published, establishing him as a lyric romantic poet. Blake's engravings, also previously unknown, were subsequently discovered and greatly influenced the development of the so-called Art Nouveau style. In 1893, Yeats, together with Ellis, published a three-volume, at that time the most complete edition of Blake's works, accompanied by a short biography of the poet. However, real interest in Blake's work and personality began in the twentieth century.

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In 1966, The Complete Works of William Blake was published. Blake revealed himself to the world not only as the apocalyptic seer that people used to consider him, but also as the author of witty epigrams and aphorisms, as an original thinker and critic, far ahead of his orthodox, rigid age.

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WILLIAM BLAKE

William Blake (1757-1827)

To the Evening Star

Thou fair-hair"d angel of the evening,
Now, while the sun rests on the mountains, light
Thy bright torch of love; thy radiant crown
Put on, and smile upon our evening bed!
Smile on our loves, and while thou drawest the
Blue curtains of the sky, scatter thy silver dew
On every flower that shuts its sweet eyes
In timely sleep. Let your west wind sleep on
The lake; speak silence with your glimmering eyes,
And wash the dusk with silver. Soon, full soon,
Dost thou withdraw; then the wolf rages wide,
And the lion glares thro" the dun forest:
The fleeces of our flocks are cover"d with
Thy sacred dew: protect them with thine influence.

Evening star.

O evening, golden-haired angel,
Now that the sun has set on the mountains,
Light the lantern of love; radiant crown
Putting it on, smile at us for an evening sleep!
And, pushing aside the blue curtains of the sky,
Scatter the silver dew in everyone
The flower that sleepily closes its eyes.
Let the breeze slumber on the lake;
Exude silence with the radiance of your gaze,
Wrap the evening in silver. After all, soon
You will leave; the wild wolf howls
And the lion will look through the thicket of the forest:
The fleece is covered with holy dew;
Protect him with your influence.

Love's Secret. William Blake.

Never seek to tell your love,
Love that never told can be;
For the gentle wind doth move
Silently, invisibly.

I told my love, I told my love,
I told her all my heart,
Trembling, cold, in ghastly fears,
Ah! She did depart!

Soon after she was gone from me,
A traveler came by,
Silently, invisibly:
He took her with a sigh.

The secret of love. Translation by Marshak.

Can't say it in words
All the love for your beloved.
The wind moves, gliding,
Quiet and invisible.

I said, I said everything
What was hidden in the soul.
Oh, my love is in tears,
She left in fear.

And a moment later
A traveler walking by
Quietly, insinuatingly, jokingly
He took possession of his beloved.

The secret of love. Translated by Savin.

About love only between the lines,
After all, love cannot be expressed;
A light breeze blows
Unnoticed and without words.

I told her about love
I opened my heart to the bottom,
Cold, trembling, afraid -
She left anyway!

Yes, my love is gone.
A man walking by
Unnoticed and without words,
Just sighing and taking him away forever.

In the forest of the night
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

In what distant depths or skies
Burnt the fire of thin eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand dare seize the fire?

And what shoulder, and what art,
Could twist the sinews of your heart?
And when your heart began to beat,
What dread hand? and what dread feet?

What's the hammer? what the chain?
In what furnace was your brain?
What the anvil? what dread grasps
Dare its deadly terrors clasp?

When the stars threw down their spears,
And watered heaven with their tears,
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the lamb make thee?

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

Tiger! Tiger! Unearthly
A reflection in the thicket of darkness at night,
Who is your immortal blacksmith?
Creator of terrible beauty?

In the abysses, in the heights, did it light up
That flash of stinging eyes?
Who soared there on wings?
Who held the fire in their hands?

What kind of master made a heart
From tight and powerful veins?
And I heard between the hands
Did his pulse suddenly start beating?

What kind of hammer? Whose chains?
Who baked your brain in the oven?
Who forged it? Squeezed in a vice
Horrible body parts?

And when from starry thunderstorms
The sky could not hold back its tears,
Did he smile at the beast?
Was the Lamb created by him?

Tiger! Tiger! Unearthly
A reflection in the thicket of darkness at night,
Who is your immortal blacksmith?
Creator of terrible beauty?

Silent, Silent Night

1Silent, silent Night
2Quench the holy light
3Of thy torches bright.

4For possess"d of Day
5Thousand spirits stray
6That sweet joys betray.

7Why should joys be sweet
8Used with deceit
9Nor with sorrows meet?

10But an honest joy
11Does itself destroy
12For a harlot coy.

Hush, Night, be silent.

Hush, Night, be silent,
Dim the rays
Your own lights.

Spirits of darkness scurry about
Soon the day will be crucified,
Joy will be betrayed.

Is joy bright?
If evil is in the hands,
Has the sadness gone?

Little world of joy
It’s not rock that will break
And the soul is a vice.

William Blake (1757-1827)
I Heard an Angel

1I heard an Angel singing
2When the day was springing,
3"Mercy, Pity, Peace
4Is the world's release."

5Thus he sung all day
6Over the new town hay,
7Till the sun went down
8And haycocks looked brown.

9I heard a Devil curse
10Over the heath and the furze,
11"Mercy could be no more,
12If there was nobody poor,

13And pity no more could be,
14If everyone were as happy as we."
15At his curse the sun went down,
16And the heavens gave a frown.

17Down pour"d the heavy rain
18Over the new reap"d grain ...
19And Miseries" increase
20Is Mercy, Pity, Peace.

The angel sang.

On a clear spring day
The beautiful angel sang:
"Mercy, Peace, Goodness -
Joy to the whole earth."

Sang all spring day
Over a haystack
And when the sun went down,
A shadow fell on the hay.

In heather and gorse
The two-horned devil grumbled:
"If everyone is rich,
No mercy needed.

Thankfully it's useless
If everyone is wonderful."
The sun has eclipsed here,
The sky became dark.

It rained heavily
For a bountiful harvest:
The cloud has turned
In Goodness, Peace, Mercy.

Jerusalem: England! awake! awake! awake!
(excerpt)

1England! awake! awake! awake!
2 Jerusalem your Sister calls!
3Why wilt thou sleep the sleep of death
4 And close her from thy ancient walls?

5Thy hills and valleys felt her feet
6 Gently upon their bosoms move:
7Thy gates beheld sweet Zion's ways:
8 Then there was a time of joy and love.

9And now the time returns again:
10 Our souls exult, and London's towers
11Receive the Lamb of God to dwell
12 In England's green and pleasant bowers.

O England! hear! hear!
(excerpt)

O England! Hear! Hear!
Jerusalem is calling!
Why are you sleeping like death?
And don't you want to meet him?

His sacred heel
I set foot on your hills;
Zion entered your gates
In days of fun and love.

And again that time comes:
Our spirit flies over the towers
And the Lamb goes to England
Between hearths and ancient slabs.

Midge.

Oh, my little midge,
Why did I slam you?

And I, a passerby,
And any -
We are so similar
Everything is with you!

Like you, we live
Buzz bye
It won't kill us
Fate's hand.

If in thought there is life
And spirit and power,
And life without thought -
Decay and night

Am I alive?
Am I not living?
I'm a midge after all
Happy.

:::::.
William Blake

Oh, poor rose!
Invisible worm
Abandoned by the wind
Starless nights
I found you scarlet
Full of strength
And dark passion
Extinguished forever.
:::..

Song: Memory, hither come

1Memory, hither come,
2 And tune your merry notes;
3And, while upon the wind
4 Your music floats,

5I"ll pore upon the stream
6 Where sighing lovers dream,
7And fish for fancies as they pass
8 Within the watery glass.

9I"ll drink of the clear stream,
10 And hear the linnet's song;
11And there I"ll lie and dream
12 The day along:

13And, when night comes, I"ll go
14 To places fit for women,
15Walking along the darken"d valley
16 With silent Melancholy.

Song: Memory, come to me.

Memory, come to me
Bring on the days of fun;
And while on the wave
Music of the past days

I'll stand by the river
Where love lives
Where are the schools of magical fish -
On the surface of glassy waters.

I'll drink clean water,
I’ll listen to the birds ringing;
And I'll dive into dreams
For all day:

And at night I'll go far away,
Where there is sadness
Wandering along the shady alleys,
Silently, it’s sweeter to be sad.

PS. Written by Blake at age 14.

New Jerusalem. William Blake.

The New Jerusalem
by: William Blake

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 built 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 charm 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.

New Jerusalem.

And those feet in those days
Did they touch England's soil?
And the Lamb of God was visible
In the rich pastures far away?

And the rays of God's face
Did the hills fall on ours?
And bright Jerusalem
Arose in the midst of Satanic Darkness?

Oh give me my golden bow!
The arrows of desires burn me!
Give me the sword! Shine a ray of sunshine!
Give me the chariot from the fire!

My struggle will not give up my thoughts,
The hand is a weapon, bye
Jerusalem will not rise
In my country for all ages!

William Blake (1757-1827)
The Gray Monk
(excerpt)

1"I die, I die!" the Mother said,
2"My children die for lack of bread.
3What more has the merciless Tyrant said?"
4The Monk sat down on the stony bed.

5The blood red wound from the Gray Monk's side,
6His hands and feet were wounded wide,
7His body bend, his arms and knees
8Like to the roots of ancient trees.

9His eye was dry; no tears could flow:
10A hollow groan first spoke his woe.
11He trembled and shudder"d upon the bed;
12At length with a feeble cry he said:

13"When God commanded this hand to write
14In the studious hours of deep midnight,
15He told me the writing I wrote should prove
16The bane of all that on Earth I lov"d.

17My Brother starv"d between two walls,
18His Children"s cry my soul appalls;
19I mock"d at the rack and griding chain,
20My bent body mocks their torturing pain.

21Thy father drew his sword in the North,
22With his thousands strong he marched forth;
23Thy Brother has arm"d himself in steel
24To avenge the wrongs thy Children feel.

25But vain the Sword and vain the Bow,
26They never can work War"s overthrow.
27The Hermit's prayer and the Widow's tear
28Alone can free the World from fear.

29For a Tear is an intellectual thing,
30And a Sigh is the sword of an Angel King,
31And the bitter groan of the Martyr's woe
32Is an arrow from the Almighty's bow.

33The hand of Vengeance found the bed
34To which the Purple Tyrant fled;
35The iron hand crush"d the Tyrant"s head
36And became a Tyrant in his stead."

Gloomy Monk (excerpt).

“I’ll die, I’ll die!” said the mother,
“Without bread, children will die.
The tyrant's anger is our lot."
The monk sat down on a bed of stone.

His side was soaked with blood
And blood flowed from my arms and legs,
He was both wiry and clumsy,
Like the roots of thick oak forests.

He didn't shed a drop of tears,
Only a prolonged groan shook my chest.
He shuddered, trembled more violently
And, quietly crying out, he said to her:

"Lord, leading my hand
In the dead of night with your line
Ordained, inexorably:
Whom I love - woe to them.

My brother was killed by starvation,
His children are such a pitiful sight;
I'm not afraid of torture, I'm not afraid of chains
And the torment of the body is funny to me.

Your father took your regiment with him,
In the north he entered into battle;
Your brother, having dressed himself in armor,
He avenges your children like a lion.

But arrows or sword are in vain,
Wars cannot be stopped by weapons.
Saints' prayer, widow's cry -
This is fear, the true executioner.

In a human tear there are rays of the soul,
In a sigh - angels' swords.
The groaning of the most bitter torment -
The arrow that the Lord's bow sends.

Wherever the Tyrant seeks shelter,
Revenge and judgment will overtake him.
The Tyrant will die from terrible wounds
And a new Tyrant will appear.

William Blake (1757-1827)
Ah! Sun-flower

1Ah, Sun-flower! weary of time,
2Who countest the steps of the Sun,
3Seeking after that sweet golden climate
4Where the traveler's journey is done:

5Where the Youth pined away with desire,
6And the pale Virgin shrouded in snow
7Arise from their graves, and aspire
8Where my Sun-flower wishes to go.

Oh, sunflower!

Oh, sunflower! time friend,
The steps of the sun are tired singer,
Your gaze looks beyond the circle of the sun,
To where all wanderings end.

Where are the Young Men, tormented by sensual fetters,
And the Maidens, dressed in a shroud of snow,
From the dark graves they rise and walk,
Where the Sunflower's call takes them.

William Blake.

Song: How sweet I roam"d from field to field

1How sweet I roam"d from field to field,
2 And tasted all the summer's pride,
3"Till I the prince of love beheld,
4 Who in the sunny beams did glide!

5He shew"d me lilies for my hair,
6 And blushing roses for my brow;
7He led me through his gardens fair,
8 Where all his golden pleasures grow.

9With sweet May dews my wings were wet,
10 And Ph?bus fir"d my vocal rage;
11He caught me in his silken net,
12 And shut me in his golden cage.

13He loves to sit and hear me sing,
14 Then, laughing, sports and plays with me;
15Then stretches out my golden wing,
16 And mocks my loss of liberty.

Song: I wandered in the summer, as if in a dream.

I wandered around in the summer, as if in a dream,
Bathing in grasses and streams,
And the prince of love appeared to me,
Sparkling in the sun!

He told me: “I will give you lilies,
I will decorate my forehead with roses";
He took me around the gardens,
Where everything shone and bloomed.

May has bound my wings with dew,
Phoebus gave me a voice to sing;
Caught in a silky net
And locked him in a golden cage.

He asks for love songs
Passionate about games and laughter,
And, touching my wings,
He teases me with freedom.

P.S Written by Blake at 14 years old.

The Clod and the Pebble

1"Love seeketh not itself to please,
2Nor for itself hat any care,
3But for another gives its ease,
4And builds a Heaven in Hell"s despair."

5So sung a little Clod of Clay
6Trodden with the cattle's feet,
7But a Pebble of the brook
8Warbled out these meters meet:

9"Love seeketh only self to please,
10To bind another to its delight,
11Joys in another"s loss of ease,
12And builds a Hell in Heaven"s despite."

Clay and stone.

Love doesn't need profit
And not being in herself is her joy,
She gives life to others,
And builds Heaven in the torments of Hell.

So the lump of clay sang, barely audible,
Trampled by a blind hoof,
But a stone from a stream in a rhyme
He was answered unforgotten.

Love only needs benefits,
Another's captivity is her need,
Her freedom and she
He will build Hell in the palace of Heaven.

Song: My silks and fine array

1My silks and fine array,
2 My smiles and languish"d air,
3By love are driv"n away;
4 And mournful lean Despair
5Brings me yew to deck my grave:
6 Such end true lovers have.

7His face is fair as heav"n,
8 When springing buds unfold;
9O why to him was"t giv"n,
10 Whose heart is wintry cold?
11His breast is love"s all worship"d tomb,
12Where all love's pilgrims come.

13Bring me an ax and spade,
14 Bring me a winding sheet;
15When I grave have made,
16 Let the winds and tempests beat:
17Then down I"ll lie, as cold as clay,
18True love doth pass away!

Song: Outfit, my silks.

Outfit, my silks,
Smile, languid look,
They faded without love;
Melancholy, sadness poison
The arrival of death is preparing:
The outcome of passionate love.

Like a god, handsome in face,
When spring blooms;
Oh, what's the heart in it
Hasn't it turned to ice?
Love's grave is this breast,
For whom there is only a path to love.

Oh give me the shroud
Shovel with axe;
How will I lie in the ground,
Strike lightning and thunder:
I am a lump of clay in the damp earth,
Love has gone with me!

The Divine Image

1To Mercy, Pity, Peace, and Love
2All pray in their distress;
3And to these virtues of delight
4Return their gratitude.

5For Mercy, Pity, Peace, and Love
6Is God, our father dear,
7And Mercy, Pity, Peace, and Love
8Is Man, his child and care.

9For Mercy has a human heart,
10Pity a human face,
11And Love, the human form divine,
12And Peace, the human dress.

13Then every man, of every climate,
14That prays in his distress,
15Prays to the human form divine,
16Love, Mercy, Pity, Peace.

17And all must love the human form,
18In heathen, Turk, or Jew;
19Where Mercy, Love, and Pity dwell
20There God is dwelling too.

Divine image.

Love and peace on earth
They all offer prayers;
For these lights in the darkness
We thank fate.

There is God - our own father,
Love and pity, mercy, peace
He has an earthly son.

My son has pity in his heart,
And Kindness and Light,
And there is Love, like God's message,
And Peace is the soul's covenant.

And a man, praying in trouble,
When he is small and sire,
Only with God does the connection return:
Love, Goodness and Peace.

And there is God's beauty in him,
Be it of any era;
Where is Peace, Love and Kindness -
God dwells there.

The Book of Urizen
(excerpt)

CHAPTER I
1

1Lo, a shadow of horror is risen
2In Eternity! Unknown, unprolific,
3Self-clos"d, all-repelling: what demon
4Hath form"d this abominable void,
5This soul-shudd"ring vacuum? Some said
6"It is Urizen." But unknown, abstracted,
7Brooding, secret, the dark power hid.

8Times on times he divided and measure"d
9Space by space in his nine darkness,
10Unseen, unknown; changes appear"d
11Like desolate mountains, rifted furious
12By the black winds of perturbation.

13For he strove in battles dire,
14In unseen conflicts with shapes
15Bred from his forsaken wilderness
16Of beast, bird, fish, serpent and element,
17Combustion, blast, vapor and cloud.

18Dark, revolving in silent activity:
19Unseen in tormenting passions:
20An activity unknown and horrible,
21A self-contemplating shadow,
22In enormous labors occupied.

23But Eternals beheld his vast forests;
24Age on ages he lay, clos"d, unknown,
25Brooding shut in the deep; all avoid
26The petrific, abominable chaos.

27His cold horrors silent, dark Urizen
28Prepar"d; his ten thousands of thunders,
29Rang"d in glow"d array, stretch out across
30The dread world; and the rolling of wheels,
31As of swelling seas, sound in his clouds,
32In his hills of stor"d snows, in his mountains
33Of hail and ice; voices of terror
34Are heard, like thunders of autumn
35When the cloud blazes over the harvests.

Urizen (excerpt).

Look, a terrible shadow is rising
In the Universe! Unknown, unfruitful,
Secretive, repulsive: what a spirit
Created this vile emptiness,
This soul-shaking vacuum? They say:
"Urizen." But unknown, abstract,
Painful, secret, dark force it's hidden from us.

From time to time he divided and measured
Countless spaces in their ninefold darkness,
Invisible, unknown; changes occurred
Like desert mountains that shook
Furious, dark whirlwinds of disturbance.

For he fought hard battles,
Entered into invisible conflicts with forms,
Born from his desert wildness
Animals, birds, fish, snakes and elements,
Combustion processes, explosions, vapors and clouds.

Dark, silent and active,
Torn apart by tormenting passions,
Events unknown and terrible,
Self-contemplating shadow
Busy with huge accomplishments.

But Eternity gazed upon his vast estates;
From time to time he rested, withdrawn, unknown,
Generating twilight in the depths; aside
From frozen, terrible chaos.
Dark Urizen was preparing his chilling, silent
Horror; his ten thousand lightnings,
Lined up in gloomy order, they prostrate
Over the trembling world; clang and rumble
The crowded swells sounded in his clouds,
In the hills of stored snow and in the mountains
Ice and hail; terrible voices
Were heard like autumn thunders,
When the clouds flash with lightning over the harvest.

William Blake (1757-1827)

Auguries of Innocence

1To see a world in a grain of sand
2And a heaven in a wild flower,
3Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
4And eternity in an hour.

5A robin redbreast in a cage
6Puts all Heaven in a rage.
7A dove house fill"d with doves and pigeons
8Shudders Hell thro" all its regions.
9A dog starv"d at his master"s gate
10Predicts the ruin of the state.
11A horse misus"d upon the road
12Calls to Heaven for human blood.
13Each outcry of the hunted hare
14A fiber from the brain does tear.
15A skylark wounded in the wing,
16A Cherubim does cease to sing.
17The game * clipp"d and arm"d for fight
18Does the rising Sun affright.
19Every wolf"s and lion"s howl
20Raises from Hell a human soul.

89He who respects the infant's faith
90Triumphs over Hell and Death.
91The child's toys and the old man's reasons
92Are the fruits of the two seasons.
93The questioner, who sits so sly,
94Shall never know how to reply.
95He who replies to words of doubt
96Doth put the light of Knowledge out.
97The strongest poison ever known
98Came from Caesar's laurel crown,
99Nought can deform the human race
100Like to the armour's iron brace.
101When gold and gems adorn the plow
102To peaceful arts shall Envy bow.
103A riddle or the cricket's cry
104Is to doubt a fit reply.
105The emmet"s inch and eagle"s mile
106Make lame Philosophy to smile.
107He who doubts from what he sees
108Will ne"er believe, do what you please.
109If the Sun and Moon should doubt,
110They"d immediately go out.
111To be in a passion you good may do,
112But no good if a passion is in you.
113The whore and gambler, by the state
114Licens"d, build that nation"s fate.
115The harlot's cry from street to street,
116Shall weave Old England's winding sheet.
117The winner"s shout, the loser"s curse,
118Dance before dead England"s hear.
119Every night and every morning
120Some to misery are born.
121Every morning and every night
122Some are born to sweet delight.
123Some are born to sweet delight,
124Some are born to endless night.
125We are led to believe a lie
126When we see not thro" the eye
127Which was born in a night to perish in a night,
128When the Soul slept in beams of light.
129God appears and God is light
130To those poor souls who dwell in night,
131But does a human form display
132To those who dwell in realms of day.

1.See the sky in a wildflower
2. In a small grain of sand there is infinity,
3. Hold the whole world in your hand
4.And fit eternity into a moment.

5. A song thrush caught in a net
6.Gives rise to the wrath of the Heavenly Stars.
7. Captive pigeon in a tight cage
8.Hell is shaking everywhere.
9.Hungry and homeless dog -
10.The country is a harbinger of storms and thunderstorms.
11. And the horse, tortured by lashes,
12.Broadcasts blood and flame to people.
13. Killed hare on the run,
14.Vessels in someone's brain are vomiting.
15. Is the bird wounded in the wing -
16.And the angel in the sky will shed tears.
17. Rooster, beaten to smithereens,
18. The Sun causes fear.
19. Will a lion or a wolf begin to moan -
20.And the human spirit will rise in Hell.

89.Who spares a child’s faith -
90.That Hell with Death will win.
91. The game of a baby, the thoughts of an old man -
92.Spring and autumn messengers.
93. A timid person in matters
94. The answer will never be found.
95.Who answers doubts -
96. Sheds light on knowledge and skills.

97. There is no stronger poison yet,
98.Than the poison of the laurel wreath.
99. All successes will turn to dust,
100.How the armor became rusty.
101. Decorate the plow with pearls -
102. Envy will suddenly surrender to art.
103.Cicada sound when moonlight -
104. Doubt about the correct answer.
105.Step of an ant, flight of an eagle
106. Lame knowledge will not understand.
107.Who does not believe in anything boldly -
108.Forget about him and do the job.
109. If the light were mired in doubts,
110.It would have gone out a long time ago.
111. It’s wonderful to be a guest of passion,
112.But being in her captivity is terrible.
113.When scams and fornication bloom,
114.They forge the country’s destiny.
115.The screams of a whore through the alleys
116.Name from ancient life perfume.
117.Are you lucky, poor fellow - sing
118.At the grave of England's native.
119. Day or night he gives birth,
120.Whom only happiness delights.
121. Night or day will give birth to the world
122.And unlucky for troubles.
123.Who is born into the world only for joy,
124.And who is for all the torments of hell.
125. Lies are attractive to us,
126. If we do not look through the eye,
127. That night I threw off the veil,
128.When the soul was still dozing.
129.God is light, its rays
130. Burning for those wandering in the night.
131. There is a human face
132.For those who abid in the light.