Explore Blake's Chimney Sweeper poems from the Songs of Innocence and the Songs of Experience.
William Blake Essay Marc Rand In this essay I am going to explore Blake's Chimney Sweeper poems from the Songs of Innocence and the Songs of Experience. During this essay I will cover Blake's life and times and the way chimney sweepers get treated around that time and what Blake attempts to do about it. Blake was born on November 28 in the year 1757. His parents where strict but understanding. Blake's parents realised early in his life that Blake was gifted. He had an extremely active imagination and he often got visions. At only four years old he claimed he had seen God in one of these visions. Another time when he was with one of his friends he envisaged angels filling a tree. He horridly told his family what he saw but the response he got from his father was quite negative. His father threatened to whip him because he believed it was time for him to grow up. However his mother took Blake's side and when she asked him about it he stated that the angels took the form of his thoughts. This vision was stuck with him and was extremely influential in his life. Blake obviously had a gift for seeing things with his eyes and in his imagination. He used his artwork to express his experiences. When Blake turned ten years of age his parents decided to enrol him into a drawing school. Later on in his life Blake used his talent as an artist to become a apprentice engraver.
Comment on William Blake's themes, language and imagery
William Blake coursework. In this coursework I intend to comment on William Blake's themes, language and imagery, in his poetry. I will also discuss to what extent he can be regarded as relevant for contemporary readers. Blake, who was widely self-taught, was, however widely read. His poetry shows the influence of the German mystic Jakob Boehme, for example and of Emanuel Swedenborg. As a child, Blake wanted to become a painter, and by the age of 12 he was diligently collecting prints. He was also writing poetry: the lyric "How sweet I roam'd from Field to Field" is thought to have been written before he was 12. At the Royal Academy, Blake established friendships with such artists as John Flaxman and Henry Fuseli, whose work may of influenced them. The volume of Blake's poetry, published by Flaxman was a collection of Blake's youthful verse. Amid its traditional derivative elements are hints of his later innovative style and themes. As with all his poetry, this volume reached few contemporary readers. In 1789, unable to find a publisher for his Songs of Innocence, he and his wife engraved and printed them at home, and also produced The Book of Thel. Both these early works display stylistic and ideological characteristics that become more marked in Blake's later work. Blake's main pre-occupations and themes in his poetry are of religion, innocence, environment, and
In the Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience Blake conveys his thoughts and feelings about the treatment of the children of the poor
How does Blake convey his thoughts and feelings about the treatment of children of the poor in England of his day? In your answer, either make detailed use of one or two of his poems or range widely across the songs. In the Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience Blake conveys his thoughts and feelings about the treatment of the children of the poor by displaying how these children are the products of exploitation, how they are ill treated and ignored. Blake explains in his poems how society do not recognise, or more probably, refuse to recognise the abuse of children of the poor and would rather use them as victims in this harsh evolving capitalist world. Through many of the poems regarding children of the poor, Blake gives the children a voice. He is trying to say: We are human - not only human, but also spiritual and divine. In The Chimney Sweeper from Songs of Innocence Blake presents children of the poor who are not treated as if they are moral human beings, 'And my father sold me', they are treated as if they are objects; 'So your chimneys I sweep and in soot I sleep'. The narrator is not Blake himself; the poem is in fact spoken through the words of a little boy chimney sweeper, which allows the reader to feel closer and much more sympathetic towards the little boy. The matter of fact language, simple and childlike of the boy speaker explains why this poem
Gender, Authority and Dissent in English Mystical Writers - Is Margery Kempe a mystic?
H242 - English Radicals and Writers, 1370-1420 Gender, Authority and Dissent in English Mystical Writers Is Margery Kempe a mystic? The Book of Margery Kempe certainly provoked an intense amount of controversy, not least in the present but in her own time as well; a debate that centred on her position as a mystic. This position entailed having true knowledge of God, to work towards a union with him where they would essentially become one. Margery Kempe, at the very least views herself to be one of God's vessels through which He can allow her to experience spiritual visions and feelings. It is in her book that Kempe conveys through words what she considered to be the most significant of these experiences, in order that those who read them would derive 'great comfort and solace'. It is Kempe's 'individual and brilliant adaptation of what was originally a discipline for cloistered elites'1 that draws attention to her. Yet it is this individual voice, the style she uses, and her firm relationship with the market world that questions her experiences of higher contemplation. Certainly Kempe does not conform to the solitary life of a conventional mystic, much like Richard Rolle's statement of 'running off' into the woods, and at one point she is even "sorrowful and grieving" because she has no company. Yet she uses many of her interactions with others to confirm her position as
Compare and contrast Blake and Wordsworth's view of London William Wordsworth and William Blake both wrote popular poems about London
Compare and contrast Blake and Wordsworth's view of London William Wordsworth and William Blake both wrote popular poems about London, but their views of it were very different, this could be because of the way they grew up. Blake was brought up in the city and saw the more poverty-driven and polluted side to London whereas Wordsworth writes about the beauty and peaceful view of London. He may have seen this side because he was born and bred in the beautiful countryside in the North of England. Blake is walking down the dirty streets of the capital city and talks about the pain and emotion in the people he sees, "in every cry of every man". Blake considers the onlooker's emotions and the actual streets and dark side to the city compared to Wordsworth who focuses on the beauty and natural side to London. Blake blames all of the poverty and damage in London on the authorities and the "black'ning church," he thinks it's because of their lack of awareness and care to London's citizens that it has got this way. He uses logical and considered tone in the structure of "London." Wordsworth's sonnet is a very, romantic and optimistic poem about London. To Wordsworth, London is beautiful, as beautiful as the countryside or a more natural landscape; he doesn't see all of the urban buildings and busy streets. Unlike Blake, Wordsworth sees the natural splendour of the capital "the
Compare and Contrast 'The Lamb' and 'The Tyger' by William Blake
GCSE English Literature Pre-1914 Poetry Coursework Compare and Contrast 'The Lamb' and 'The Tyger' by William Blake When do we change? When do we change from being the innocent children God sent into the world, to the poisoned, corrupted ones that leave the earth? William Blake's 'Songs of Innocence and Experience examine these different states. He wanted to show the two contrary states in a human mind. The Lamb and the Tyger are just vehicles for Blake to express what he feels happens to people as they grow, develop and eventually become perverted by the world around them. Blake's background and occupation greatly influenced the style and content of his poems. He lived during the 18th Century when the church was beginning to lose its grip on British society; science was rising up against the church. Blake was part of a group known as the Romantics. He began to challenge the church believing that an individual could discover God without going to church. His poems 'The Lamb' and 'The Tyger' reflect this, as he is telling how God created these two animals and on another level how he created humanity. 'We are called by his name' (The Lamb) I think the message that Blake is trying to convey in this line is that it is God who calls us to discover him. He is saying that no one else has the power to tell you what to believe not even the church. God and the individual are the
In the poems "London" by William Blake and "Iguana Memory" by Grace Nichols there are many different ideas and themes which are expressed in different ways
"The kind of feelings and ideas explored in a poem are always determined by the poet's use of form" Examine the different ways poets explore ideas and feelings. In the poems "London" by William Blake and "Iguana Memory" by Grace Nichols there are many different ideas and themes which are expressed in different ways, however the form of the poem is not the only method used to convey these to the audience. In "London" Blake uses a conventional rhyme scheme throughout, there is an ABAB pattern. "...cry of every man....voice in every ban" By using this simple scheme the poem seems to be repetitive and regular. This may be used to illustrate London in terms of the city being quite dull and without life. This idea is also put across by use of adjectives and the other words used to describe the setting. "Every black'ning Church appals" "Runs in blood down Palace walls" Words such as this have negative connotations as blood is related to pain and violence. This depicts what life in London was like. Similarly Nichols uses descriptive words to express the idea of children and childlike thoughts. By doing this we as the reader can imagine what it was like for her, as a child, to see the iguana. "..rustling..." Also we gather the impression from the form of the poem that it was deliberate written by Nichols in the style of a child. For example there is no rhyme scheme, no
What can you learn from source A about the impact of the impact of the Beatles in 1960's?
960's coursework What can you learn from source A about the impact of the impact of the Beatles in 1960's? From source A, part of a description of the 1960's written by the actress Joanna Lumley in the 1990's, I can learn that the Beatles had a huge impact on Britain in the 1960's. Joanna Lumley says that when the Beatles were performing live in the famous pop show "juke box jury." "Instead of rush hour an extraordinary silence and emptiness had descended upon London, England, Britain." She describes the vast emptiness by saying "no one was to be seen at the flower stall, the newspaper stand." This shows the enormous impact the Beatles had because people rushed home just so they could catch a glimpse of them on television; Lumley also shows their impact on her personally when she describes the Beatles as the "fab four" and says they were "cool, hip, smart, lippy, charming and funny." Finally she shows just how much the Beatles had affected her life when she says, "it was heaven to be alive. However even though source A is useful it is not reliable as the language used is exaggerated as she says, "extraordinary silence and emptiness descended upon London, England, Britain." And "the nation held its breath." Furthermore some of the evidence could have been forgotten, as it is a 30-year-old memory. This source also shows the opinion of a young woman and at the time other age
How does H.G. Wells create a range of emotional responses in the reader in 'The Stolen Bacillus'
How does H.G. Wells create a range of emotional responses in the reader in 'The Stolen Bacillus' In 'The Stolen Bacillus', H.G. Wells creates a range of emotional responses in the reader in a number of ways. The story of the 'Stolen Bacillus' is one of surprise with a twist in the end of the tale. The reader is shocked at the 'morbid pleasure' the anarchist takes when he is first shown the cholera bacteria as they expect any normal person to be frightened or disgusted by the fatal disease. However, by far the greatest surprise in the story is the revelation that the bacteria were not cholera but a harmless disease known to turn people blue. The Bacteriologist had chased the Anarchist all over London and had seemed so anxious to retrieve the bacteria that the reader is shocked that he would go through so much trouble to get it back. Up until this point in the story the reader is still convinced that the glass tube contains cholera, however, when H.G. Wells writes 'a smile hung in the corner of his mouth', the reader is surprised. The Bacteriologist should be distraught at the release of cholera, however the reader is given the indication that the bacteria are harmless when the Bacteriologist simply smiles at the Anarchist. Although the story of 'The Stolen Bacillus' was not written in modern times, it still has elements of humour that the reader can recognise. The chase
Creative Writing about A Holiday in London
As I leave my sparse but adequately furnished hotel room to head off to meet my family I feel a buzz of excitement and nervous energy shoots through my body. I press the lift button and hear it shrieking and grinding as it approaches my floor. This does not seem safe but it is still more appealing than a descent down eight flights of stairs. I enter the lift, nervously press the ground floor button and after a moments hesitation it begins to sink sluggishly to the ground floor where I emerge into a warm, vibrant reception area. As I leave through the slowly rotating door I am instantly hit by a wave of noisy traffic and a haze of pollution. I hurry to the bus stop to meet my parents. I inquisitively ask what our plans are for the day and am shown a well-thumbed tourist guide of London proudly displaying the Monument. At the sound of high-pitched squeaking brakes I turn around sharply to see a bright red bus approaching with a cloud of black smoke belching out of its exhaust. The bus seems not to notice and lazily pulls up regardless. Hurriedly the crowd of people that has hastily gathered step onto the bus and search frantically for seats before the bus lurches forward and continues its usual journey towards the underground tube station. On arrival at our stop we almost fall out of the bus and spill into the station. We slot our tickets into the machine, push through the