Reading Response #3 "Of Lambs and Tygers"

        In the article “Of Lambs and Tygers: Joseph Crawford succumbs to the questioning spirit of Blake’s ‘Tyger’ rather than seeking to confine its meanings,” written by Joseph Crawford, the author attempts to discover any meaning out of “The Tyger” by asking more questions and relating the poem to its sister poem, “The Lamb.” He takes all of the currently asked questions of “The Tyger” and inputs background information from Blake’s mythology, especially “The Lamb.” Crawford continually goes over innocence and experience and its importance in Blake’s writing and in life. This contrast and comparison lie within both “The Lamb” and “The Tyger” with the latter being of experience and “The Lamb” representing innocence. Throughout the article, the author slowly put together an answer, not to his original question of whom, why, and how the tyger was made, but of what Blake wanted this battle of innocence and experience to represent. A first step to his conclusion occurred when he realized how unanswerable most, if not all, questions of “The Tyger” are. The poem lies in a web of confusion and doubt while questions range forever about its meaning; it “is lost in forests of the night” (Crawford 4). He realizes there won’t be answers to the poem because in the tyger’s world of experience and doubt, the questioner spirit will always conflict with any possible guesses at the meaning of “The Tyger.”
         The important revelation of not being able to find answers in “The Tyger’s” world becomes a gateway to understanding the point of these two poems. As the author delves further into Blake’s different writings for possible explanations, an important question is revisited and never truly answered. This question as he stated was,” Is there one god for the lamb and one for the tyger or are they the same god, seen from the perspectives of innocence and experience, respectively?” (Crawford 4). The second part of this quote was the most significant part of the quote as it questioned whether or not perspectives could be the reason for such a gap of how God is seen. I see it as more realistic for there to be one god being seen from different views rather than polytheism for the differences of the innocent and experienced. This is because there are already many views in the world today on how faith and experience are seen, as well as how God is viewed and perspectives seem like the more reasonable outcome from this question. The perspectives of humans, especially when applied to the vast difference of innocence and experience, make the world what it stands to be today. Crawford finally attained a more distinct answer to the thousands of questions about “The Tyger” from looking into Blake’s other poems when one of the poems states,” It is right it should be so/Man was made for Joy and Woe/And when this we rightly know/Thro the world we safely go” (Blake, “Auguries of Innocence”, lines 55-58). Blake is trying to show the views of innocence and experience, with “The Lamb” and “The Tyger” still representing these different views. In this quote he says we must learn to live with both a balance of innocence and experience, “Joy and Woe.” The child meek and mild from “The Lamb” was innocent and responded to all questions with clear, concise answers, but these answers were not doubted for possible error or a different interpretation which could lead to mistakes. “The Tyger,” mixed with its web of doubt and questioning, never showed an answer to questions because there was no faith or innocence in its world so it led to a never ending string of doubt, spiraling into nothing. When combined, Blake attempts to show us that this is the way to achieve balance; in this way, humans will not try to purge one’s self of neither innocence nor experience and rather combine and live with both. Then we can attempt to reach the goal of enlightenment that Blake has set before us. I see Blake’s reasoning on innocence and experience as vital to our existence since it remains a continuous lesson that many never understand. It took forms from interpretations into different stories over time because of how important it is to live with that innocence of a child full of faith, like a lamb, and with the questioning experience of an adult, like a tyger; once again like joy and woe. 

Scars

Running back and forth, being controlled by the strings that connect through my soul into his deceiving hands. I’m only a puppet in his mind, that he can use and abuse for his own gratification. He pulls each string with such force that I become numb, I become disconnected from reality. He forces his knife across my wooden arm, and thrashes his hand across my disoriented face. I feel nothing, I show no emotions. After all I am nothing but a toy to him, nothing but a puppet in this world. I tried screaming for help, it was silent. I felt alone, no one could hear me, no one would listen.

I learn to live half alive and I begin to kill myself slowly. I fall deeper and deeper into an illusion, my grave. I believe that he is punishing me for my own imperfections, I believe I deserve it. I become strapped down by the label he has embedded into me. He is my master.

 He cut my strings for torture, he enjoyed watching me squirm and struggle to my feet. He knew that I could not stand on my own without his control.

I become a prisoner of his mind. He took something from me that I will never be able to regain. I no longer have any strength. I fall into my make shift grave and begin to decay into the earth. I shed one last tear, a bloody tear. It rolls down my innocent skin and penetrates the soil. I begin to rise from the dead. I watch as I leave my dead corpse lying in the dirt. He watches in shock as my strings detach and I become human again.

 I try to run and break free, but there is no escaping my damaged body. But I escape him. He is no longer my master. I begin to recover and the injuries he has produced begin to scar over, but he refuses to let me heal.

 He visits my new life and threatens me with words and a single bullet. I hide in fear, I become afraid. Afraid of any man that crosses my path, forever I am changed. He took away the respect that I had for myself, and the trust I had for others. He took away my life. But each day I try to recover my missing pieces that I left behind in the struggle to break free, in belief that I once will be whole. I know that I will always be connected to him through the scars he engraved in my skin. However, these scars symbolize a battle that I fought, and all that battle left behind was a story to tell.

Reading Response #3 "An Interpretation of Blake's, 'A Divine Image.'"

Stephen A. Larrabee’s, “An Interpretation of Blake’s, ‘A Divine Image,’” shares his thoughts on the meaning of the poem. Larrabee separates the second stanza of “A Divine Image” and analysis each line. Larrabee believes that the first line meant, when man becomes involved with secrecy it disrupts the peace and causes war. He considered that the second line meant, man no longer creates love but plans ways of torture which creates terror. Larrabee suggests that the third line meant that the fear of others and change created jealousy, which sealed over the emotions of the human face. Only pity could destroy jealousy and unseal the emotions of the face, but man lacks pity. Larrabee reveals that the final line of the poem states that the human heart conceals cruelty, and that it can be portrayed through actions, thoughts, and deeds throughout the body. Larrabee believes “A Divine Image” has a direct contrast with Blake’s earlier poem, “The Divine Image,” by which “A Divine Image” shows the Satanist characteristics of humans rather than the divine or true characteristics. He shares how Blake’s, “Songs of Innocence and Experience,” connects the two poems by “A Divine Image” being experience, and “The Divine Image” being innocence. In the poem, “A Divine Image,” Larrabee suggests that the meaning of this poem meant that humans became influenced of the God Urizen or Reason. Being under this influence Larrabee proposes that humans build off of experience. In contrast Larrabee declares that in “The Divine Image” the moral of the poem meant humans stand created by the image of God and that innocence within man shapes man itself. Larrabee discusses how Blake believed that humans should develop characterization by Mercy, Pity, Love, and Peace, rather than Secrecy, Jealousy, Terror, and Cruelty when he states, “The ideals of ‘The Divine Image,’ he is convinced, shall ultimately overthrow the wordly reason of ‘A Divine Image’ (Larrabee 307, 308). Larabee explains Blake’s philosophy on his poetry in the sense that Blake wants humans to realize where reason has brought man so man can become the divine image.

William Blake’s poem, “A Divine Image,” described the human form as cruel and it seemed to mean the opposite of divine. The word divine relates to a God, so why would Blake title the poem, “A Divine Image,” if it did not mean that? “A Divine Image” showed four human characteristics that became influenced by experience. These four characteristics include Secrecy, Jealousy, Terror, and Cruelty. Blake tries to convey that humans have become Satanist by expressing these sins. The companion poem, “The Divine Image,” could compare to “A Divine Image,” because they both share a similar message. “The Divine Image,” consists of five stanzas rather than that of “A Divine Image,” which contains two stanzas that makes it have a larger significance to the meaning of the two poems. “The Divine Image” talks about the four virtues of delight: Mercy, Pity, Peace, and Love. These four virtues exist in God, but they also originate in man himself. Mercy is found in the heart, Pity in the face, Peace in the clothes, and Love as the human body. Thoughts, emotions, and actions that the human body creates show these four virtues. Larrabee discuses these same beliefs in his article as well. Blake describes these four virtues in both human and man to show that humans create God. Much like Larrabee, I believe that Blake expected that “The Divine Image” would overrule “A Divine Image” so humans would remain affected by the thoughts of innocence rather than experience. Blake placed “A Divine Image” in “Songs of Experience” to show where experience has brought mankind. He uses unpleasant language in this poem to make humans feel immoral and change the ways of reasoning and experience because God wants the human mind to stay innocent. Blake shows how an innocent mind reflects God within humans by creating the poem, “The Divine Image.” When observing the two titles one starts with the word, “A,” in comparison to the other title that starts with the word, “The.” “A Divine Image,” meant how man portrayed themselves as experienced, while “The Divine Image,” meant what the Divine Image should be, which would be God. Each poem has two opposite meanings but connects by the detail that Blake expressed that humans remain the Divine Image that they create themselves.

Response to "The Life of John Keats, A Romantic Poet"

John Keats really never seemed like an important romantic poet to me until just this morning, I stumbled on Period 7's "The Life of John Keats, A Romantic Poet." This blog immediately captured my interest with its appealing design and attractive colors. After starting to look through the initial blogs, the detailed analysis was evident in every one of them. Darian Washington, Nicole Brown, Andrew Torrey, and Kylie Hutchinson have eloquently translated the detailed scripts and poems of John Keats into an easily understandable, yet still obviously scholar worthy, summary of great poems such as "Isabella; or the Pot of Basil" or "Ode to a Nightingale." These poems became much easier to comprehend after reading this group's analysis and summary. A significantly important blog post to me was "When I Have Fears," detailed and analyzed by Kylie Hutchinson. This post stuck out to me because of how powerfully the poem and summary connected with Keats' writings and I feel it's very important for bloggers to write blogs and view poems as much alike the poet as possible. Fears impact our lives immensely as they shape our actions based on what we are and are not scared of doing, saying, or even thinking. Another point in the blog that makes it more useful to anyone who views it is the list of poems, all being direct links to that poem. This can make it easier for the viewer to access more of Keats' masterpieces and delve farther into his opinions. The stream of YouTube videos was a nice addition to the helpful information located on this blog. Darian Washington's "The Rose," was a lovely interpretation of the cruel, corrupted society in which we live. This stupendous poem related the overbearing detail of love with the harsher side of beauty. This beauty is the rose and its flaw is the thorn. This thorn represents the hard times of love, “like a storm” bearing on the world of one person. Overall, this blog and its authors make Keats’ work comprehendible and very entertaining to read to the masses.

The Greatest Keats blog ever!

Identity Theft

The world says I can do it, I wish I could agree. On the good days, I feel like I can achieve anything, create anything, and finally become the man I want to be. Those good days are rarer and rarer as time goes on. My own worst enemy is the mirror. Looking back I see the failed boy to his parents, his teachers, friends, her, and least importantly, himself. I know the truth of how I’m not the real me yet. Of how I cannot achieve, become, or state the things I want. Those days are gone when writing my name wasn’t a lie to anyone reading it. I lost myself, I do not know when or how, but I did.

What is left after I cannot even say I’m living for myself anymore? Let alone as myself. When will the world give a new meaning? How will I interpret it and through what? A girl? A sign? What if I don’t recognize it, am I lost after that?

These questions fill my head every day, continuing the onslaught of negativity I create for myself and those who surround me and don’t deserve it. I hope this day of revelation for me comes soon because my patience is thinning. Not the patience to wait for this change, but the patience for when that day comes; I will still have a chance and enough faith to accept the change and embrace it. I feel like that day is long coming though and every day it gets harder to put on the mask for everyone around me and look through that mirror and not tear apart its endless lie that it beholds.

Maybe, just maybe, the change will be gradual, and starting today I will become who I want to be and am supposed to be. I doubt it but who knows. But this dying hope reminds me of the oil miracle that Hanukah revolves around, yet I feel like I’m on that 8^th day, and my candle is about to go out. 

Reading Response 3 "Blake's The Chimney Sweeper"

  The article “Blake’s The Chimney Sweeper” by James Harrison explains how Blake’s poem “The Chimney Sweeper” is expressed in a way that makes it seem as though it could have been written by an innocent child. The way Blake writes is an art; it can make the reader feel as though it is completely realistic. According to Harrison this is what Blake wanted. Harrison states that “The meter is, in fact, such that we feel a child might have written the poem, or is at least reciting it. More than anything else, it is skillfully naïve of Blake. The way he exploits hymn-like measures in the preceding “Holy Thursday”, co-opting as it were a child to write or speak the poem for him, which convinces us of the authenticity of its innocent, non-ironic point of view.” Harrison explains in his writing that it’s necessary for the readers to believe the point of view Blake is writing from. The authenticity of this poem would be questioned and not taken seriously if written from a different point of view. Harrison stresses this point in his writing. He continuously praises Blake for how the poem is written. Harrison says “The secret of this poem lies in the extraordinary multiplicity of viewpoints and tones of voices. “ This means that the way Blake wrote the characters into the poem gives it more depth. This article helps explain why I chose William Blake for my blog project. The whole point of having a blog on Blake was to try and show the readers that he was a talented writer who knew how to capture an audience. The blog demonstrates how this is done by analyzing different pieces by Blake and figuring out their deeper meaning. Blake had a way of writing that could make it seems as though many different people were speaking in one poem. Harrison understands that and wrote a good article about it.

                I agree with Harrison on this subject. After reading “The Chimney Sweeper” (both Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience) I finally understood that Blake knew what he was doing. I was amazed that he could take the one poem “The Chimney Sweeper” and turn it into two different tales. Blake does this with multiple poems. One was from the view point of an innocent child, and one from an experienced child. However, I didn’t realize that this was such an accomplishment until I read Harrisons article. Harrison helped me to understand that the tone in a poem can make it flow together or clog it up and ruin it. Blake’s common theme throughout his poetry is that it has two sides. Most of his poems can be taken from an innocent side or one of experience. I began to discover that this occurred frequently once I took a deeper look into Blake’s poems. Harrison has a valid point that Blake’s writings could not be taken as seriously if it was written from a standard point of view. I have come to appreciate Blake’s writings more as I read them because I understand now that its not all about speed reading though it. With Blake I have to take my time and really try to comprehend with what is being said. Harrison helped me to understand that this is not a bad thing, like I originally thought it was. He helped me to understand that things can have more meaning if they are written from a more artistic point of view as Blake does. I’ve noticed throughout Blake’s writing that it seems as though he is making some words and things up this gives his writing an edgy and creative style that a lot of writers don’t have. I also don’t always understand what type of message he is trying to convey, but that is one of the things that makes him so popular. His poetry has lots of different interpretations and I learned this through researching him and reading James Harrison’s article, I feel like this article was beneficial to understanding why Blake wrote the way he did. Overall, William Blake was a talented poet who just takes some time to understand. Once there is that understanding there can be a greater appreciation for his writing.

Blogging Response to "The Best of Blake"

While looking through all of the blog names on Mr. Keen’s website I stumbled across a blog with the name, “The Best of Blake.” Out of all the blogs that I looked at, I thought this one had the most sophisticated and intriguing title. This blog is about the same poet I am researching for my blogging assignment, William Blake. I realized this blog could potentially help me, and my team members, with our blog assignment. I opened up this blog and I automatically liked their set up. It was very well organized and something that stood out the most was the welcome note at the top of the page. It gave a brief description on their blog and made William Blake sound interesting. This blog site had many videos that were interesting and unique. One video that I found most captivating was in a post called “William Blake is an Artist,” by Kendal Kern. This video showed all of Blake’s art work, and she gave a description of Blake’s life below the video. She gave some incredible insight on William Blake’s life, and she talked about how he became an artist and what inspired him. She wrote, “Many people believed he was a mad man, but later he became known as one of the greatest English Literature contributions of all time.” I thought it was interesting to hear about how people despised him, yet he was a huge part of the development English literature. Another thing that I thought was interesting about this post was that it talked about all of Blake’s interests. I never knew that Blake engraved most of his poetry. I thought this was extremely interesting because most poets wrote their poetry with pen and paper, this truly showed his artistry. This blog is very insightful and creative; it gives plenty of information about Blake as a person, an artist, and a poet. If someone never knew about William Blake, this blog would be a good place to go for information because it teaches you about Blake in a fun, original way, that helps someone engage in this topic, the topic of William Blake. 

 CLICK HERE to access this blog site.

William Blake's "The Divine Image"

"The Divine Image"

To Mercy, Pity, Peace, and Love

All pray in their distress;

And to these virtues of delight

Return their thankfulness.

For Mercy, Pity, Peace, and Love

Is God, our father dear,

And Mercy, Pity, Peace, and Love

Is Man, his child and care.

For Mercy has a human heart,

Pity a human face,

And Love, the human form divine,

And Peace, the human dress.

Then every man, of every clime,

That prays in his distress,

Prays to the human form divine,

Love, Mercy, Pity, Peace.

And all must love the human form,

In heathen, turk, or jew;

Where Mercy, Love, & Pity dwell

There God is dwelling too.

            In the poem, “The Divine Image,” by William Blake, Blake talks about the four virtues of delight in the first stanza. The four virtues are the virtues that make up God. Blake is saying how humans pray in these virtues, therefore we pray to God. In the second stanza Blake discusses the four virtues again but states that it is god, but also these virtues are similar to what is found in humans. Mercy is found in the heart, Pity in the face, Peace in the clothes, and Love as the human body. These four virtues can be shown through thoughts, emotions, and actions that the human body creates. Humans pray to God when they are in anguish, therefore are also praying to the divine form of mankind which is Love, Mercy, Pity, and Peace. In the last stanza Blake discusses how every man should love the divine form of humans because man believed in God, and that if this divine form lacks in humans that it will also lack in God. This poem is different than other poems found in, “Songs of Innocence” because it compares humans to God, when the other poems refer to God as the abundant ruler of mankind. This poem suggests that we pray to God because he is Mercy, Pity, Peace, and Love, rather than praying to god because he has compassionate abilities. Blake emphasizes the fact that we see Mercy, Pity, Peace, and Love in God as a whole, rather than individual values. When Blake compares the four virtues to human qualities it proposes that the four virtues are the human form divine. When Blake suggests this, he is saying humans are the creator of God and we pray to our godly form. This goes back to Blakes belief that we create our world from imagination and this imagination comes from Innocence, that is why this poem is part of “Songs of Innocence.” Having the knowledge of knowing that Blake combines both human and God to create the divine Image can be connected to Jesus Christ in the fact that Jesus was both man and God. This means that Jesus is the Divine Image.

"The Crystal Cabinet" by William Blake

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"The Chimney Sweeper" (Experience) by William Blake

A little black thing among the snow:
Crying weep, weep, in notes of woe!
Where are thy father & mother? say?
They are both gone up to the church to pray.

Because I was happy upon the heath.
And smil'd among the winters snow:
They clothed me in the clothes of death.
And taught me to sing the notes of woe.

And because I am happy. & dance & sing.
They think they have done me no injury:
And are gone to praise God & his Priest & King,
Who made up a heaven of our misery.

In the “Experienced” version of the chimney sweeper the sinful narrator embraces in his attack: parents, church, God, priest, king and their conception of heaven. The tone is directly against the state and the church that overlooked such treatment of child slavery. This time the speaker does not free himself of his misery but is hardened and cynical, reduced to “a little black thing.” Again the poem relies on the imagery of light and dark, the boy is blackened by the cruelty of men and their sin is contrasted by the whiteness of the snow – sin against innocence. The statement of “weep weep in notes of woe” expresses his anguish and his misery. The poem shows the depth of the child sweeper’s experience and his awareness that there is no redemptive element within it. The child locates the cause of his predicament in his own happiness. He is left with an awareness of his innocence and with the capacity to access the world of innocence to a degree. His return to the lost world of innocence makes it possible for society to ignore its blame in the crime of the sweepers’ lives.

“And because I am happy & dance & sing

They think they have done me no injury.”

The last line of the poem highlights the central feature of the poem, the social conception of heaven: a “made up” paradise; a heaven constructed by the power of “God & His Priest & King”, and by the parents who have forced their child into a miserable and probably deadly occupation. In the song of experience the speaker has gained a grim understanding of his situation. Yet as Blake often convinces, this understanding or reasoning in an overwhelming way leads to sin and unhappiness. Compared to the innocent version of Blake’s chimney sweeper, such as the tiger and the lamb, Blake contrasts the two aspects of innocence and experience. Blake’s consistent approach to his views on the tragedy of reason opposed to  innocence always contains a poem with a major or minor connection to other poems he has written, whether they be written later or earlier in his life.

"The Chimney Sweeper" (Innocence) by William Blake

When my mother died I was very young,

And my father sold me while yet my tongue
Could scarcely cry 'weep! 'weep! 'weep! 'weep!
So your chimneys I sweep, and in soot I sleep.

There's little Tom Dacre, who cried when his head,
That curled like a lamb's back, was shaved: so I said,
"Hush, Tom! never mind it, for when your head's bare,
You know that the soot cannot spoil your white hair."

And so he was quiet; and that very night,
As Tom was a-sleeping, he had such a sight, - 
That thousands of sweepers, Dick, Joe, Ned, and Jack,
Were all of them locked up in coffins of black.

And by came an angel who had a bright key,
And he opened the coffins and set them all free;
Then down a green plain leaping, laughing, they run,
And wash in a river, and shine in the sun.

Then naked and white, all their bags left behind,
They rise upon clouds and sport in the wind;
And the angel told Tom, if he'd be a good boy,
He'd have God for his father, and never want joy.

And so Tom awoke; and we rose in the dark,
And got with our bags and our brushes to work.
Though the morning was cold, Tom was happy and warm;
So if all do their duty they need not fear harm. 

The innocent version of William Blake's "The Chimney Sweeper" details the harsh world of young English boys who became chimney sweepers before ever having a chance at living they're childhood or spending time in the blissful state of innocence. The narrator is still a new boy who maintains his faith of the world around him, emanating his innocence, and he shows this to a newer boy named Tom through simple kindness when he says,” ‘Hush, Tom! Never mind it, for when your head's bare, You know that the soot cannot spoil your white hair'"(Blake 2nd stanza, 4th line).  Later on when Tom has a dark dream of being trapped by this sin and soot, he and the other sweepers are released by an angel, letting them all go free. The next morning Tom had a calm, faithful state of mind. He had no fear of death or what was to come, due to his innocence,” Though the morning was cold, Tom was happy and warm; So if all do their duty they need not fear harm" (Blake 5th stanza, 4th line). Tom and the narrator's innocence were what gave them faith in their dreadful situation, pushing them on to wake up the next day and so on, because their hope and faith would not fail them. Blake's importance in the state of innocence is shown through this simple poem by merely giving examples of its affects into the lives of mankind. Rather than the other (experienced) version of the chimney sweeper, where sin and reason overpower faith in the narrator's mind; leading him into a downfall of negativity and sin. This creates more space from faith and God for the boy and those who listen to him. As the innocence that Tom and the narrator portray influentially alter their everyday lives, its importance becomes recognizably significant compared to the sinful, experienced state of mind, shown in the experienced version of the chimney sweeper. The reason for using the example of chimney boys in this poem was due to the fact that children start with innocence and are corrupted throughout life into experienced sin and reason, whether it be by society, education, parenting, or a bad experience. For these boys to still maintain that innocence and faith through this trying time, that is the goal of Blake’s work.

"Little Boy Lost" and "Little Boy Found"

The Little Boy Lost Songs of Innocence

“THE LITTLE BOY LOST”
"Father, father, where are you going?
   O do not walk so fast!
Speak, father, speak to your little boy,
   Or else I shall be lost.'
The night was dark, no father was there,
   The child was wet with dew;
The mire was deep, and the child did weep,
   And away the vapour flew."


The poem “The Little Boy Lost” by William Blake tells about a boy who has been led astray by his own father. It starts out saying “Father, father, where are we going?” the little boy is innocent and completely trusts his father, even though he doesn’t know where they are headed.  This is how most children act because they haven’t been corrupted by the world yet. They think everyone is a good and gentle human being.  Next in the poem it says

“O do not walk so fast!
Speak, father, speak to your little boy,
   Or else I shall be lost.”

The little boy begins calling out to his father in alarm to help him but the father’s attention is elsewhere. It appears as though he doesn’t care what happens to his little boy.  He has too much on his mind to take into account what might be happening to the young boy. It is also possible that the father in this story could be trying to give the boy life experience by abandoning him. The little boy would have to figure out his own way home, and learn important survival skills.  In the next line

“The night was dark, no father was there,
 The child was wet with dew;
The mire was deep, and the child did weep”

The child doesn’t realize his father abandoned him, but he started to weep because he thinks he got lost. He is forced to wonder through the wet dew trying to find the way back home. The innocent child doesn’t know what’s going on, he has never felt like this before; until now the child has always had the security of his father.

“THE LITTLE BOY FOUND”

“The little boy lost in the lonely fen,
   Led by the wandering light,
Began to cry, but God, ever nigh,
   Appeared like his father, in white.

He kissed the child, and by the hand led,
   And to his mother brought,
Who in sorrow pale, through the lonely dale,
   Her little boy weeping sought.”

The follow up poem to “The Little Boy Lost” tells about the boy receiving a little bit of hope. The “wandering light” is a symbol for the boy that everything will turn out alright. When the boy began to cry God stepped down to help the child find his way home. It is possible that the “wandering light” was some form of God or an Angel protecting the boy.  Blake demonstrates that the child is so innocent and inexperienced he can’t survive without someone to guide him.  In a way the child thinks of God as his real father so he is comforted by his presence. The child is returned home to his mother who is over joyed to have him home safely, and the father is not mentioned again.

Love's Secret

William Blake’s poem “Love’s Secret” seems short but to the point.  In this poem Blake tells about a young man who confessed his love for a women and she rejected him.  Blake's trying to convey that love is left better unsaid. He's saying that when telling a person of your love it can destroy it and leave it worthless. The wind in this poem symbolizes fate. It moves silently of its own accord and the people on earth have no real power over it.  The idea of love can scare people away; they may take it the wrong or think a relationship is moving too fast. I know in my personnel life that love doesn’t always seem like a safe thing to me. When opening your heart and loving someone, your giving them the power to crush you, which is what happened in this poem (this is why Blake says “never seek to tell thy love.”). In the second stanza the narrator describes telling his lover that he needs her with all of his heart.  In the poem the boy express's that he is “trembling, cold, in ghastly fears” while explaining himself to the girl. Meaning that the boy is scared to tell the girl how he feels, because he does not want that sort of rejection.
The man's worst fears came true. The woman didn't want to hear about this love, and left with another man. Commitment is scary for the women in this story. Perhaps, she had been in a relationship before and it didn’t end well leaving her fearing love. She doesn’t have a problem finding men, but she does have a problem holding on to them. She’s scared that if she lets herself get attached she will get hurt. This is not a fulfilling way to live a life. Love is risky, but that is one of the things that make its so rewarding once you find it. Blake doesn’t seem to believe this, he feels it would be better to just leave things the way they are then to take a chance and mess everything up. Blake views love as sacred and something that should not be talked about, because that can destroy its value.

To go to Love's Secret

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Blogging Response to "All about Blake"

CLICK HERE FOR All about Blake

The blog “All about Blake” is one that was put together to cover the romantic poet William Blake. I chose this blog because it has a lot of similarities to the one my group is working on. I like how they have it set up with the different pictures, and a few videos. I feel that it gives more depth to the blog and makes it more appealing to look at. They do a good job of interpreting what Blake says through his poetry. An article that sticks out to me is “The Lamb and The Tyger” I like how they explained what it stood for. The audio reading of “The Tyger” gave me a better understanding because my mind was able to comprehend while I was listening to it instead of just speed reading through it like I normally do. It gives the viewer a good alternative to just reading. This was an excellent idea on their part.   I feel like these two poems express Blake’s main idea about innocence and experience very well which is important to understanding Blake's work. What I also like about this blog is how it put in a few poems that I wasn’t familiar with I think that this gives me a wider range of Blake’s poetry for my own blog and the other readers.
This blog is important to understanding the romantic poet William Blake because it gives an overall synopsis of him.  They have many of his popular poems on their blog each with a description that gives the reader a little more knowledge to what is going on in the poem. It is also a good glimpse into Blake’s mind. This blog teaches them that William Blake had a deep understanding of the world around him. He definitely sees it differently than a lot of other people in his time did and still do today. This shows that what he though back then is still valuable today. Blake has a confusing way of talking and these posts help clear that up. I think the posts that the blog has so far, made it easier to understand what Blake was trying to say.

"The Chimney Sweeper" Songs of Innocence vs. Songs of Experience

In  William Blake’s poem “The Chimeny Sweeper” Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience both show how the living, working, and general care of chimney sweepers was often over looked and not taken into consideration.  Most of the time, in this society the chimney sweepers were looked down upon, as if they were the soot they swept up. They would sleep in cold cellars in the soot that had just been swept, they were fed poorly, and their health was not a big deal to their masters. The chimney sweepers would clean chimneys in little to no clothing so that they would not have to be replaced. The children were hardly ever bathed. Most of the children that swept chimneys had health problems. The hard work of chimney sweeping would ruin their ankles and spines leaving them deformed looking, something society looked down upon. The chimney sweeper would die at a young age, either from the fire itself or from inhaling the smoke and it ruining their lungs.

In Songs of Innocence there are two boys, the narrator and Tom Dacre.  Tom is the more innocent of the two boys. This is shown when his curls are cut off he acts devastated and begins to cry. Then the speaker who is a little bit older says that’s it’s not a big deal because now the soot can’t dirty them. The speaker feels that it’s his duty to make the little boy feel as if he is safe; he has a sense of responsibility to him. Next in the poem little Tom Dacre has a dream about all the other chimney sweepers being locked up in black coffins, and an angel setting them free. In the dream, all the boys run off white, free of their soot and their baggage. At the end the angel tells Tom that if he was a good boy he would have God for his father and never want joy. This dream is a symbol of hope for Tom. It is interpreted that as long as he is obedient he will have a good after life. What Tom does not realize is that by his being obedient he is killing himself faster.
In Songs of Experience the message is a little clearer. The narrator knows that he is a victim. In the poem it says he is “clothed in clothes of death” meaning he knows he has an early death coming and that he is not welcome in society.  His parents think they have done nothing wrong by selling him to the chimney sweeper because he seems happy.  The chimney sweeper understands that he must deal with what was given to him even if it makes his life difficult. He knows that once he dies he will have a better life waiting for him.

To read "The Chimney Sweeper" Songs of Innocence

"The Chimney Sweeper" Songs of Innocence

To read the "The Chimney Sweeper"  Songs of Experence

"The Chimney Sweeper" Songs of Experience

Alone

I sit there and wait for something to happen, to be yelled at again. The sinking feeling in my stomach won’t stop; each breath making it heavier and heavier.

I am alone, depressed, rejected, betrayed.

How did I get to this point in life? It was so happy so bright with color, vibrant and exhilarating. I lived for each day loved every breath I was allowed. I was completely in love with my surroundings, never wanting a dull moment.

Until that night when it all went wrong...  It seemed harmless a drink here and there, sneaking around, a love that wasn’t approved of, but what’s the big deal its just a little white lie right?

Then something happens, a friend’s betrayal, you found out that you meant nothing to them because they are their number one priority. They come first and you.. Well you get thrown under the bus. The world comes crashing down, I can’t breathe, and I don’t want to live. The trust is gone, the friends are gone, and life becomes a chore rather than a privilege. What happens next…?

I don’t know. The thought goes through my head every day.

To not care anymore to be a “bad” kid, the alcoholic, the pot smoker, the easy girl, the pill popper.  These labels don’t matter anymore; life feels as if it is over. Pulling me down into a spiral that is black and seems as if it never will end. The eating stops, the weight starts to drop, people are worried. My head is spinning all day long with the “what ifs” I wish I could change it I want to go back. Every moment burns in my throat i wish it was possible.

The world feels as though it’s closing in, sucking my life with it as it goes. But there is no time machine nothing can change what happened.

I just want to feel normal again. The choice is clear. Life moves along and I need to
move along with it. An old friend returns and I can see the light once more. It flickers feebly in front of me daring me to reach out and grasp it. I did. Slowly, I come back to myself; it feels as though the heavy dark mist has lifted off. The light seems brighter. I can breathe normally most days now, I’ve slowly began to return to who I was before. The light and happy feelings return slowly once again, warm and welcoming like a summers day; life smells sweet, fresh, and new.

Blake's Poem, "The Tyger"

The Tyger

Tyger Tyger, burning bright,

In the forests of the night;

What immortal hand or eye,

Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

In what distant deeps or skies.

Burnt the fire of thine eyes?

On what wings dare he aspire?

What the hand, dare seize the fire?

And what shoulder, & what art,

Could twist the sinews of thy heart?

And when thy heart began to beat,

What dread hand? & what dread feet?

What the hammer? what the chain,

In what furnace was thy brain?

What the anvil? what dread grasp,

Dare its deadly terrors clasp!

When the stars threw down their spears

And water’d 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?

William Blake’s, “The Tyger,” exists as a poem of many unanswered questions. This poem starts with the speaker asking who could create such a creature, A Creature that subsists as both striking and frightening.  A tiger portrays both beauty and fear, and these two aspects do not usually complement each other in nature. The speaker wonders who could create such beauty in evil? No man can comprehend such a power. Each stanza in this poem seems to convey what the first stanza asks but gets into further detail as the poem progresses. The speaker wonders what kind of evil artistry and bodily presence could have, “twisted the sinews of thy heart?” The creator of this evil beast has kept the heart beating, but the unanswered question remains, who is this creator? And is this creator proud of his product as he watches the destruction the tiger generates? An answer starts to appear when the speaker suggests the creator of the Lamb created the Tiger as well. The creator of the Lamb is God, but the lamb is more of an innocent creature when compared to the Tiger. William Blake believed that nature reflects its creator, so how could God be a creator of evil, if the poem is suggesting that God created it? The tiger then symbolizes the existence of evil in the world, and that God does in fact create evil. The tiger was created to show how evil in the world is disrupting the beauty in nature. God wanted us to feel amazed at beauty, and the evil of the tiger, but realize how immoral it truly is. God was trying to shed light on this situation on earth, the situation of reason, so humans would come to realize that even though the earth may feel perfect with our sinful ways, it is immoral. This brings this poem back to, “Songs of Innocence and Experience,” in the sense that the evil of humans is the wicked reasoning we create on earth. In Blake’s point of view, God wants humans to understand that even though reason may seem moral, it is an evil work of art.

"Little Lamb, who made thee?"

The Lamb
by William Blake

         Little Lamb, who made thee?

         Dost thou know who made thee?

Gave thee life, and bid thee feed

By the stream and o'er the mead;

Gave thee clothing of delight,

Softest clothing, woolly, bright;

Gave thee such a tender voice,

Making all the vales rejoice?

  Little Lamb, who made thee?

   Dost thou know who made thee?

  Little Lamb, I'll tell thee,

 Little Lamb, I'll tell thee:

He is called by thy name,

For he calls himself a Lamb.

He is meek, and he is mild;

He became a little child.

  I a child, and thou a lamb.

   We are called by his name.

  Little Lamb, God bless thee!

   Little Lamb, God bless thee!

William Blake, “The Lamb” represents the children of the Lord. The Bible speaks of the Lord being our shepherd, such as in Psalms 23 which begins with “ The Lord is my shepherd”. The first paragraph of the poem involves a series of questions to the Lamb. With no replies from the Lamb, the Lamb has then identified his ignorance. For, if familiar with the Bible ignorance has a bond among all people. Even someone known as smart can also have ignorance for the simple reason of stopping with the facts. When doing so all other knowledge that could develop among people has created a gap among society. Innocence could also represent the first paragraph. For, the simple reason of all children having innocence. Since, this poem’s location sets in Blake’s, “Songs Of Innocence” the questions that cannot have an answer by the lamb, comes from the innocence of children and the unknowing. Once everyone stops at the facts these such answers go unrequited. Overall this poem brings up a question several times “Little Lamb, who made thee?”, and with innocence or ignorance this question may go unsolved. But, with the knowledge of the Bible the questions could indicate an answer of the Lord. Since, the Lord wants his children to have knowledge with limitations he gives the answer in the second paragraph. The answer found within stanzas 14-17 “For he calls himself a Lamb. …. He became a little child. I a child, and thou a Lamb.” identifies the Lord as the creator. These stanzas also represent the Lord sending his son down to earth to die for our sins. The Lord’s son, Jesus was born on earth so, therefore Jesus has identification as a little child and a Lamb, a Lamb because like everyone else has recognition as a child of God. The 17^th stanza states Jesus as a child and everybody else Lambs, Jesus a child for he has innocence and we Lambs because of our ignorance. In the last sentence Blake has written, “Little Lamb, God bless thee!” which indicates that no matter what we do God will watch over and take care of us all. Also that he will encourage us in all that we do. His blessing helps us to continue and to not give up for one way or another he will guide and help us through it all.