M.A English (Literature and Linguistic)

1. William Blake’s Romanticism
William Blake is a romantic poet. The sparks of romanticismare vividly marked on
his poetry. The question arises whatis Romanticism ?
The answer is that it is a phenomenon characterized by reliance on the
imagination and subjectivity of approach, freedomof thoughtand expression, and
an idealization of nature. Itwas Schelling who first defined romanticismas
‘liberalism in literature’. Though romanticismofficially started by the Lyrical
Ballads jointly penned by Wordsworth and Coleridgein 1830, poets like William
Blake made cracks to classicismtowards the end of the18th century.
In Romanticism, a piece of work could become, as Blake described, “an
embodiment of the poet’s imagination and vision.” Many of the writers of the
Romantic period were highly influenced by the war between England and France
and the French Revolution. In the midst of all these changes, Blake too was
inspired to write againstthese ancient ideas. ‘All Religions Are One’, and ‘Thereis
No Natural Religion’ werecomposed in hopes of bringing change to the public’s
spiritual life. Blake felt that, unlike mostpeople, his spiritual life was varied, free
and dramatic. Blake’s poetry features many characteristics of the romantic spirit.
The romanticism of Blake consists in the importance he attached to imagination,
in his mysticismand symbolism, in his love of liberty, in his humanitarian
sympathies, in his idealization of childhood, in the pastoralsetting of many of his
poems, and in his lyricism. “Bring me my spear!O clouds, unfold!Bring me my
chariot of fire” The abovelines from, ‘Jerusalem’ amply justifies the point. “Poetry
fettered”, said Blake, “fetters the human race”.
In theory as well as practice, the Romantic Movement began with the smashing of
fetters. In his enthusiastic rage, Blake condemned the verse-forms which had
become traditional. He poured scorn upon all that he associated with classicismin
art and in criticism. “We do not wanteither Greek or Roman models if we are but
justand true to our own imaginations”, he said. The whole critical vocabulary of
neo-classicalcriticism had evidently disgusted him.
He could not endure it. The visions that Blake started seeing in his childhood and
which he kept seeing throughouthis life were doubtless a productof his ardent
imagination. His visions profoundly controlled both his poetry and his painting. Of
many of his poems he said that they weredictated to him by spirits. In this most
literal sensehe held that, inspiration could come to the aid of a poet. In a state of

2. inspiration, the poet made use of his imagination. “Human imagination is the
Divine Vision and Fruition”, he said. Energy and delight accompany this expression
of the Divine Vision.
All these views on the subjectof poetry spring fromthe intensely romantic nature
of Blake. Itis not merely the revolutionary spiritthat permeates his poetry. The
subjectof child is more crucial to his art. We see in Holy Thursday I: “These
flowers of London town! Seated in companies they sit with radiance all their own”
The child is here the symbolof the most delicate and courageous intuitions in the
human mind.
The elements of Romanticism are presentin these poems, some of them in the
highest degree, such as the senseof wonder, the contemplation of Nature
through fresh eyes, an intimate sympathy with the varieties of existence. Other
elements of Romanticism are found in a much less degree, such as the obsession
with the past, or the absorbing senseof self. Everything that the eyes of the child
see is bathed in a halo of mystery and beauty. The words in these poems are
perfectly adapted to the thought becausethey are as simple as possible, and the
thought itself is simple. Blake’s firststyle is in a way a juvenile formof
Romanticism.
The “Songs of Innocence” mostcompletely fulfill the definition of Romanticismas
“the renascence of wonder”. The world of Nature and man is the world of love
and beauty and innocence enjoyed by a happy child, or rather by a poet who
miraculously retains an unspoiled and inspired vision. Despite his strong emotions
and his unfamiliar ideas, Blake keeps his formwonderfully limpid and melodious.
Besides love for children, imagination plays a key role in his poetry as Tiger
embodies:
“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?”
Symbolically, this poem is an impassioned defenseof energy and imagination
which occupy a commanding position in Blake’s thinking. The tiger is Blake’s
symbolfor the “abundantlife”, and for regeneration.
The poem effectively conveys to us the splendid though terrifying qualities of the
tiger. The climax of the poem’s lyricismis reached in the lines which, though
somewhatcryptic, effectively produceand effect of wonder and amazement.
Blake was a great champion of liberty and had strong humanitarian sympathies.
This is another aspect of his Romanticism. Blake’s humanitarian sympathies are

3. seen in such poems of Experience as Holy Thursday, A Little Boy Lost, The
Chimney Sweeper, and aboveall London as in the following lines: “In every voice,
in every ban.
The mind-forg’d manacles I hear” In London, Blake attacks social injusticein its
various forms, as it shows itself in the chimney sweeper’s cry, thehapless soldier’s
sigh, and the youthful harlot’s curse. Heappears here as an enemy of whathe
calls “the-mind-forged manacles”.
Nor does, Blake show any mercy to the Church. The boy in Blake’s poetry finds
the church an inhospitable place, while the ale-house is warmand friendly
because the church imposes religious discipline like fasting and prayer. Pastoralist
too is feature of poetry.
The little pastoralpoem ‘The Shepherd’ has a delicate simplicity. Itcelebrates the
happiness of rural responsibility and trust. Noteworthy also is ‘The Echoing Green’
with its pictures queerness in a warmer hue, its delightful domesticity, and its
expressivemelody. Finally, it is established that Blake is a romantic poet. Blake is
one of the major Romantic poets, whoseverseand artwork becamepart of the
wider movement of Romanticism in late Eighteenth and early Nineteenth century
European Culture. His writing combines a variety of styles: he is at once an artist,
a lyric poet, a mystic and a visionary, and his work has fascinated, intrigued and
sometimes bewildered readers ever since.
For the nineteenth century reader Blake’s work posed a single question: was he
sane or mad? The poet Wordsworth, for example, commented that there “is no
doubt that this poor man was mad, but there is something in his madness which
interests me more than the sanity of Lord Byron and Walter Scott”. Blake’s useof
images, symbols, metaphors and revolutionary spiritcombined with simple
diction and spontaneous expression of thoughts and emotions make him a typical
romantic poet.