What have you understood, from reading the poems of William Blake?

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What have you understood, from reading the poems of William Blake?

William Blake is referred to as many things, including poet, engraver, painter and mystic, but perhaps he is most famous for his poetry. He was born in London in 1757 and between the ages of 10 and 14, he attended a drawing school in Strand after this, he began a six year apprenticeship in the art of engraving. Between 1778 and 1789, Blake was a student at the Royal Academy School and began to make a living as an engraver. He married Catherine Boucher in 1782 they had no children. In 1783 Blake's first poems, Poetical Sketches appeared. Blake began to make the acquaintance of several writers and artists including some political radicals such as Tom Paine and William Godwin inspired by the early democratic and egalitarian ideals of the French Revolution, he soon began to write profusely himself. By the time of his death in 1827, Blake had produced a large number of drawings, engravings, poems and articles of prose. Sadly, he receives more credit for his work today than he did during his lifetime when he was often looked upon as being slightly mad he was certainly an individual - a highly talented one.

Blake began writing this collection of poems in about 1790 whilst living in Lambeth, London. These years were productive years for Blake and pretty successful. The collection was first issued as one volume in 1794. The Songs are in the style of church songs. In Songs of Innocence the language is simple and repetitive the lines are kept short and the rhymes are obvious. The rhythms contrast. Childlike vision is put across through Blake's clever use of speakers with their changing perspectives and questions. The poems tell particular states of being and ways of seeing which the author is not saying are the whole truth. The poems have a joyful quality but they contain a well knowledge of sorrow. Songs of Experience compare strongly with the compassion of the above. These poems show the unkindness and cruelty under the surface of people and the strength and imagination of man struggling against the “mind-forged handcuffs" of belief, “reason”, and law. The two sets of poems are designed to show different states, different ways of seeing. They are Blake's way of representing the different ways in which people actually experience the world.

The Tyger is poem is from songs of experience. I think that this poem is best read and compared with the poem Lamb from songs of innocence. The reason I think this is Blake asks the question "Did He who made the lamb make thee?" This suggests that readers are meant to compare the two poems. I think that this Blake wrote this poem at a violent time in history, when England had attacked France soon after the French Revolution. This revolution began in the hope of freeing ordinary men from cruelty and the wild power of kings. It was meant to bring freedom and equality for ordinary people. In the poem Blake says “Tyger, Burning bright”. He is saying that the Tyger itself is dangerous but beautiful. I think that this poem is filled with questions. Perhaps Blake intends the poem to be less than easy to understand because he, too, had lots of questions he couldn't answer. The first question hints that this poem is not really about nature despite its title, "...What immortal hand or eye could frame thy fearful symmetry?” Blake makes use of rhetorical questioning. However, unlike in "The Lamb," no answer to the questions is provided to the reader. The series of questions leads to doubt forming in the reader's mind as to whether the creator is truly as good as once thought. I think he asks to main questions. The first is that he asking how God could think about making such an animal “Could frame thy fearful symmetry”. I think that the second question is very similar to the first. I think that the second question being asked is how God dare make such a dangerous animal “Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?” he starts the poem of with the word could and ends it with the word dare. The reason I think this is because he starts of talking about the features of the Tyger “Burnt the fire of thine eyes?” and when he gets to the end and looks over the points he thinking how dare God make such a creature.

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The poem maintains a rhythm of four beats to a line throughout and a regular “aabb..." rhyming pattern, as well as common examples of alliteration and verse. This makes the poem easy to get to children and adults alike. There is a lot of repetition in the poem: the word “Tiger." is repeated in the opening line, and the first stanza is repeated (with a slight change) at the end of the poem the words “What?”, “dare" and " dread" make quite a few appearances. The repetition of these words and the questioning creates a sense of fear and wonder.

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