An Analysis of the Themes of William Blake’s Poems

董千语

Introduction

William Blake， a phenomenal forerunner in the movement towards Romanticism， whose works are great landmarks in eighteenth century. For well over several centuries， its contemporary influence and posthumous resonance continue to cast a long shadow in light of survey courses conducted abroad by the likes of Alexander Gilchrist， Geoffrey Keynes and David V. Erdman. Alongside， some Chinese scholars commenced writing articles and books to introduce and promote Blake and his poems. William Blake： A Literary lifeby Liang Shiqiu， Talk About William Blakes Poems by BianZhilin both geared to explore the advanced thoughts and political views from Blake. Since then， the researches and studies about Blake entered a historic height， in which the research topics covered an extensive spectrum， ranging from the aspects of rhyme pattern， syntax and lexicology， to the exploration of emotions. Given the fact that William Blakes poems are noted for pure fancy， mysticism and incomprehensible contraries， it is undeniably a demanding and laborious task to fathom the themes of his poems correctly and accurately. For that reason， the analysis of the themes of Blakes poems still remains to be a little-explored area. For better or worse， a foray into the themes of Blakes poems can be perceived as an epic-making action in the following probing into the essence of English poems in the Pre-Romantic period. This thesis is aimed at， by the combination of historical background and concrete content rendering a further discussion on the themes of Blakes poems. Thus analyzed， the themes of William Blakes poems are three-fold， namely， sympathy for the suffering poor derived from the industrialization， a desire for social change and a harsh opposition to the rationalism.

Body

The British Empire developed apace during the first half of the 18th century， albeit， miscellaneous social issues began to loom large. The humanitarian spirit urged many poets to rise to deliver laments about the plight of the people. Blake， who lived in Lambeth in South London in the 1790s， and thus witnessed the effects of industrialization at first hand in adjacent boroughs， lamented what he called the ‘intricate wheels of industrialization as a ‘juggernaut beneath which was the suffering poor （Moore&Strachan; 168）. His visionary poem Jerusalam（1804-20） renders a heartfelt condemnation that the ‘arts of life was converted into the ‘arts of death， whats worse， the people were confined ‘in sorrowful drudgery to obtain a scanty pittance of bread（Blake 352）. Here we can feel the strong sympathy towards the poor by the exceptionally distinguished talent. Moreover， the poem London appears to be more profound in this thematic concern. Beginning with what Blake saw in his wandering around London and intensely finding out the root cause of all the suffering and wretchedness. Here Blake is ‘attributing all the social ills to society as the chief culprit and is feeling for all people he described in London——‘man， ‘infant， ‘chimney-sweeper and the ‘unfortunate soldier（Blake 198）. In the end， the tender-hearted poet did not lose sight of the horrible outcome spawned by the malign influence of industrialization， the hapless newborn with ‘prenatal blindness. Viewed in this way， the sympathy for the plight of the poor is underlined once again.

The French Revolution had a seismic impact on British society. Many people then were enthusiastic upholders of the revolution which was deemed as a rallying point for the first batch of Romantic poets represented by William Blake， at least in his early days. Inspired by the French Revolution， Blake， as a left-leaning poet took up his revolutionary stance in The Marriage of The Heaven and Hell， where he declared that ‘revolution is the preamble to the redemption of human soul（Wang 292） ， obviously in anticipation of a corresponding transformation in British society. In the meantime， such sentiments are clearly manifested in his prophecies——The French Revolution（1791）， Visions of the Daughters Albion（1793） and America a Prophecy（1793）. As its farthest reach， in 1794， Blake combined Songs of Innocence （1789） and Songs of Experience（1794） together. The purpose is less a clear statement about the acute responses to life through contrasting two different phases of human life with distinct states of human than an implication that the magnitude of a social change in the English society， namely， a thorough social transformation is the solely vehicle for social progression. Hence， its definitely safe to say that an desire for a social change is a primary part of the themes of Blakes poems.

The point that Blake is a pre-romanticist merits attention. He， indeed， was antagonistic to the rationalism espoused by those enlightenment thinkers in profound ways as other romanticists did. Blake was perceived as the loudest shout against the ‘filthy garments of rationalism in the Romantic era（Tan 133）. Just as Jane Moore observed that ‘If Blake was going to tilt at windmills they needed to be very tall ones indeed： sir Isaac Newton， John Locke and Vigil（168）. In his poem Milton （1804-8）， we can get a glimpse of his pointed and bald repudiation of Lock and Newton：

I come in Self-annihilation & the grandeur of Inspiration，

To cast off Rational Demonstration by Faith in the Saviour，

......

To cast off Locke & Newton from Albions covering，

To take off his filthy garments & clothe him with imagination，

......（Blake 649）

It is telling that Blake felt contempt for Newtonian thought and the natural philosophy of Locke by putting a premium on ‘the grandeur of Inspiration and ‘Imagination. Whats more， in The Four Zoas， we can find again a harsh protest against the rationalism and an exaltation of imagination. Here， we have the opposition of Urizen， the homophonic word of ‘your reason， and Orc representing humans imagination， with a fiasco of Urizen（Blake 498）. Accordingly， the theme of ‘the opposition to the rationalism is obviously revealed once again.

Conclusion

As mentioned above， the focal point of this paper is confined to three aspects of the themes of William Blakes poems——sympathy for the suffering poor， a desire for social change and a harsh opposition to the rationalism. It is obvious that these three aspects are not comprehensive for fully grasping all the themes of Blakes poems. Also， what is needed to be added that Blake is a pious Christian whose works are suffused with Gods mercy and love and a hatred for Anglicanism. Notwithstanding， he always held a critical attitude towards the corrupted church and religion in English society， he in no way believed that love and grace from God faded away. Blake established his ideal religion system in the form of literature conducive to peoples access to the salvation from which we can initiate another starting point of research.

Works Cited

[1]Blake，William. William Blake Selected Poetry[M]. New York： Penguin Group， 1988.

[2]Moore， Jane and John Strachan. Key Concepts in Romantic Literature. New York： Palgrave Macmillan， 2010.

[3]常耀信，英国文学简史[M].天津：南开大学出版社.2006：129-133.

[4]谭雨欣.從苦难到救赎：威廉·布莱克主要作品的主题研究[D].吉林：吉林大学.2016

[5]王珺.“A Brief Analysis on William Blakes London [J].海外英语， 2011：292-293.