THE TYGER

"The Tyger" by William Blake was written in 1794, it was included in Songs of Experience. The poem starts off with Blake asking a feared tiger what kind of exquisite being created it: “What immortal hand or eye/ Could frame thy fearful symmetry?” Every stanza asks similar questions, all of which branch from the original one. From which part of the universe could the tiger’s smouldering eyes have come, and who would have been brave enough to fondle that fire? What sort of visible presence, and what kind of evil creations, would have been needed to “twist the sinews” of the tiger’s heart? Blake ponders how once that heart “began to beat,” its creator would have had the perseverance to proceed with the task. Comparing God to a blacksmith. Welding and banging away at a piece of scrap, turning it into something fierce and beautiful. Could the same fearless artist also conjure up the lamb?

This piece isn't solely talking about the creations of God. It's more about the characteristics of himself. The reason Blake included both a tiger and a lamb was to show the two sides of God. The tiger represents the strong willed, almost ferocious judge. The people of Earth fear God and his powers. The sheep represents the saviour and nurturer side. Both characteristics are necessary  to gain the trust and loyalty of the people. A kick in the rear to get them motivated and a sweet treat for them to be ambitious for. Every person will face both the tiger and the lamb throughout their life. Challenging situations will attack the souls along with the serene moments of peace. On that day at the Golden Gate, a person will face God. That person will have either a perception of a loving, caring lamb or a ruthless tiger. This all depends on the relationships that person held in their mortal form. Relationships to nature, god and humanity are all determining factors of the way God relieves them from their body. In conclusion, God is complex. He has his own Ying and Yang persona. Blake knew that secret when many others had to wait till judgement day to finally meet their tiger.

Video:  The Tyger' By William Blake. By, Robert Nichol. United Kingdom, 10 April 2008. AdioProductions. 31 December 2010. <youtube.com>

"Faith, I have none." By, Taylor Rice

You see that sunset? Bring it to me. Go forth and gallop nay, whisk, away. Travel as fast, and as far as you are able. I desire that sunset. His rays are soft. Spreading across the loam like a quilt of delight. It humbles me. Yet I am envious. I crave the last glimpse of warmth. Be my soldier and retrieve that for me. You will do such because you owe me. You owe me your life as I owe you mine. A payment that shall never fully be reached. As each day we live a bit longer. Laugh more joyfully. Love more vehement. How can we possibly terminate such a sensational thing? We musn't. We will strive to pursue this life to it's most profuse state of being. Extend you arms and embrace your brothers and sisters. Us, as people, are the most elegant creatures. We are simple, yet complex. No study will ever be able to evaluate the depth of our understanding for each other. In the end, we are all we have. When Mister sunshine vanishes into an abyss who will be there? Him. Her. Them. Us. We should take the time to appreciate each other. Help those in need. Spread bliss. That is the sunset. Take it. Yet not for thy self. Give it to everyone, and anyone you meet. Because when it's gone, it's gone. You'll feel guilty when you remember the sun you once had, then hear the stories of those who never even once had the opportunity to touch it. So, my dear friend, go obtain that sunset for me. I am in desperate need of it. As is the rest of the world. Do my bidding and you will be rewarded. Gratitude will be delivered in the most profound way.

Sweet Summer - "Prose Poem"

Oh sweet, sweet, Summer, my love. How I live in this world without love. School now begins, my prison begins as well. Without getting the love and affection from others is a tragic place to be. My heart aches and pounds deeply as I walked around the hallways while seeing people blowing kisses to their love ones. Nine months has passed by, school has ended, and I walked home as usual asking myself, “How come nobody loves me? Maybe its because I am hideous and short?” Well Faith must have brought us together because when I first saw you on the riverside, near the roaring waterfall. And as the bird sang and danced around the flowers upon your foot, you looked, smiled beautifully, and waved at me. Oh how you shine like the stars. “How come no one recognizes such a beautiful girl?” Maybe you had the same thought as me. We began to fall in love. How could love begin like this? We thought to ourselves as we sat under the apple tree holding hands, gazing at the mysterious dark sky and bright stars while making our wish. The wish to be together forever until the apple tree dies.You and I are now together, but we all know “Love will never last forever.” And what we all believe, came true. Two years passed by and the apple tree died alone in the winter. We never saw each other again. “This story is true I tell you,” I told the people in my class, but nobody believes me. “Why would a beautiful girl want to go out with someone that is ugly and short?” they asked. How I waited again for someone like you to shine upon my heart again as I waited deeply in pain, for a sign of joy in this awful forsaken world. Oh sweet, sweet, Summer, my only true love.

The Ancient of Days

     


William Blake, an amazing poet and a talented artist had a vision in his visit to Lambeth of a human standing in Heaven. This idea led Blake to the creation of his most favorite piece of art, “The Ancient of Days” made in 1794. The art piece was so special to him, he putted his copy of the artwork for his friend Tatham when he attended his funeral. He and his wife painted this illustration through watercolors and putted the painting on the front cover of his book filled with his poems called "Europe, a Prophecy" which he published in 1794 as well. This painting has inspired todays music and arts.

In this image, there is an old, but strong white hair, beard man standing on top of an orange sphere which represents the sun and surrounding the sphere are dark clouds. From his hand, the old man is shining a beam of light from his hand. During his time, William Blake didn’t believe in other religions, so he made his own mythology. The man in the picture is commonly known in William Blake’s mythology as Urizen. In the mythology of William Blake, Urizen is reasons, laws, traditions, and is a cruel God, but in the William Blakes book “The Book of Urizen” ( similar to the Book of Genesis in the Bible), Urizen is represented as a human being and their reasons. He is usually imaged as a bearded old man; he sometime holds measurement tools. The measurement tools represents creation of the world which is technically God said in the Bible as well.

As an artist and a poet, Blake is talented at showing his opinions to the world through his artwork. His works were considered to be evil or possessed by demons during his time because he was against religions, but today his arts and poems are fascinating with amazing details.  “The Ancient of Days” is currently at the British Museum in London. His artwork may not have been well received during his lifetime, but today they are considered great masterpieces.William Blake is truly an artist.

THE SCHOOLBOY

I love to rise in a summer morn,
   When the birds sing on every tree;
The distant huntsman winds his horn,
   And the skylark sings with me:
O what sweet company!

But to go to school in a summer morn, -
   O it drives all joy away!
Under a cruel eye outworn,
   The little ones spend the day
   In sighing and dismay.

Ah then at times I drooping sit,
   And spend many an anxious hour;
Nor in my book can I take delight,
   Nor sit in learning's bower,
   Worn through with the dreary shower.

How can the bird that is born for joy
   Sit in a cage and sing?
How can a child, when fears annoy,
   But droop his tender wing,
   And forget his youthful spring!

O father and mother if buds are nipped,
   And blossoms blown away;
And if the tender plants are stripped
   Of their joy in the springing day,
   By sorrow and care's dismay, -

How shall the summer arise in joy,
   Or the summer fruits appear?
Or how shall we gather what griefs destroy,
   Or bless the mellowing year,
   When the blasts of winter appear?

The poem describes William Blake's dislike of science and structure. The beginning depicts a summer morning and just how peaceful nature actually is. The lines: "I love to rise in a summer morn, When the birds sing on every tree; The distant huntsman winds his horn, And the skylark sings with me," shows how Blake is infatuated with obtaining the ability to wake up with no limitations. It does not necessarily have to be a "summer" morning to wake up joyfully; society requires children to attend school during the fall, winter and spring seasons, consequently making summer the time of leisure, free expression and spiritual growth. Blake is ultimately comparing the time of summer to nature. Just like nature, summer holds endless possibilities. A person can go absolutely wild, but it will be natural. Blake wants people to have a much larger understanding of who they actually are. Humans are an organic matter, they belong out on Earth. Being thankful for what they have. Enjoying, loving, praising their surroundings. This poem isn't just about the drag of school days. It's about society, industrialization, social evolution. Day by day we go to school and retain more "knowledge" in our minds yet we lose ourselves and set into a character provided by the establishment. True happiness can not be reached if the soul is bound by responsibilities and expectations.

Blake strived for a blissful community. Even though school children are only allowed those few months to take advantage of the free world, they live it to the fullest. Children laugh, scream, imagine, create, destroy, invent and even revolutionize. There is so much that can be accomplished when the mind is not clouded with pointless questions and answers. Blake chose this metaphor to convey that we are able to make our entire life one whole "summer." With the mindset of spirituality and naturalism there is no reason why every moment can't be enjoyable. This message is so simple yet so hard to actually grasp. The world is so concerned about money and materials. To break out of the cycle would be frowned upon.

THE LITTLE BLACK BOY

My mother bore me in the southern wild,
   And I am black, but O my soul is white!
White as an angel is the English child,
   But I am black, as if bereaved of light.

My mother taught me underneath a tree,
   And, sitting down before the heat of day,
She took me on her lap and kissed me,
   And, pointing to the East, began to say:

'Look on the rising sun: there God does live,
   And gives His light, and gives His heat away,
And flowers and trees and beasts and men receive
   Comfort in morning, joy in the noonday.

'And we are put on earth a little space,
   That we may learn to bear the beams of love;
And these black bodies and this sunburnt face
   Are but a cloud, and like a shady grove.

'For, when our souls have learned the heat to bear,
   The cloud will vanish, we shall hear His voice,
Saying, "Come out from the grove, my love and care,
   And round my golden tent like lambs rejoice."'

Thus did my mother say, and kissed me,
And thus I say to little English boy.
When I from black, and he from white cloud free,
And round the tent of God like lambs we joy,

I'll shade him from the heat till he can bear

To lean in joy upon our Father's knee;

And then I'll stand and stroke his silver hair,

And be like him, and he will then love me.

William Blake poem “The Little Black Boy” tells a story of a black child from Africa learning about God through his Mother’s teachings. Her teachings tell the readers to live in comfort and joy, we should learn to accept God’s love. The story then moves on to the black boy passing his lessons to the English boy. The little black boy then made a promise to the English boy when they are in Heaven, he will teach him about God’s love.

In this poem, Blake deals with the suffering of the blacks and how white people discriminated them in the past because of their skin color. Blake also compares light to dark by using the two boys. Line 2 and line 3 is the comparison between the two boys and who they are. The black boy has no self understanding because he thinks every white boy is an angel because of their skin color (white) which is usually used to compare light, but as for the black boy, his skin is dark which makes him not as equal to the white boy. Therefore, the blacks are tend to be look down upon at because in many culture, black represents evil, and white represents good.

His mother represents love. She is concerned with her son about his self-esteem and persuades him to understand himself and commit to God’s love because God’s love is never ending just like her. Line 9 and 10 shows how God’s love is for everyone and how even though the black people are discriminated by white people, they receive God’s love like the rest. Also, in stanza 4, this shows black being closer to God because they are suffering. Stanza 4 connects with line 25 because the black boy "shades" the white boy with his body. This means that the English were distanced from God because of the way they treat black people. In conclusion, Blake wants the reader to know that we are all the same by having the story of the black boy being spread out just like Blake’s opinion.

The Great Red Dragon and The Beast From The Sea.

Beatrice

Blake took a large interest in Dante's The Divine Comedy, (TDC) he painted 100 pieces illustrating Dante's work. Beatrice, the woman wearing the crown on the chariot, was the love of Dante's life; before and after she passed away at the age of 25. She was featured in the afterlife as the main focus in TDC. Dante and Beatrice are finally reunited here, in the afterlife, they are once again conjoined. His lady love had always been looking out for him. She never left him truly alone. Dante looked forward to being reunited with Beatrice throughout his entire life. He became much closer to God in desperation to see her once again.

Blake took those raw passions and pieced them together in this complex illustration. Blake always held an immense lean towards sex and romance. He painted this with as much emotion as the lovers once experienced. He counteracted the pain of Dante with the innocent aspiration of that same man. William Blake captured the utter passion and romance between these lovers with the use of watercolors, Blake's preference in paints. The vision of pinks and blues seep in together to create a serene and joyous landscape.
Visions of heaven, hell and other afterlife venues always appeared to Blake, he had many different views on the subject of life. Here, he showed the couple in heaven. Angels surround Dante as he enters his new world. The griffin has been seen as the transporter or guardian, he too has been mentioned in great detail in TDC. Blake's interpretation of Dante's poem could not have been more spot on. He studied Dante's words to make sure he did not leave out any key factors.
William Blake was fascinated by the imagination and rebelled against the social norms. That proved true throughout each and every single one of his paintings. He outstepped the boundaries of human-like forms. He painted and wrote about creatures, experiences and feelings that most could see as mythical. To him, they became so very true. Living in his mindset fulfilled him in ways earthly habits could not.