William Blake
A poison tree
I was angry with my friend
I told my wrath, my wrath did end
I was angry with my foe
I told it not, my wrath did grow
And I watered it in fears,
Night and morning with my tears,
And I sunned with smiles,
And soft deceitful wiles
And it grow both day and night,
Till it bore an apple bright
And my foe behind it shine,
And he knew that it was mine.
And into my garden stole
When the night had veiled the pole
In the morning glad I see
My foe outstretched beneath the tree.
In this simple but powerful poem, William Blake describes how a feeling of anger, which soon disappears if there is good will and friendship, can become deadly poison, if instead,
there is distrust and enmity. Using the metaphor of a poison tree, the poet creates a vivid picture of how such anger, hidden in the mind, grows daily by feeding on other harmful feelings ; such as fear , until it becomes capable of causing great destruction and wicked sense of pleasure in it.
William Blake was born on November 28, 1757 in London, Great Britain. Today Blake is regarded as one of the earliest and greatest figures of romanticism but in his own age, he was regarded as a mad and the fault of him was that he was a single-minded and unworldly human. He lived in poverty and died in neglect.
Since childhood, Blake developed a sense of mysticism in him. He would describe about his experiences or visions he saw in countryside. In these visions, he would see angels in a tree and sometime he would see prophet Ezekiel in a field. Interesting thing is that Prophet Ezekiel was born in sixth century BC. He was follower of Judaism and was one of them who wrote Old Testament. The prophet is also related to concept of Israel, a Jewish country. It's a distant but not an abnormal intimacy Blake would show towards. All along his life he wrote about ancient mystical world.
Another example from his life, which shows, his mental state, is related to death of his younger brother, Robert. When his father died in 1784 Blake started a printing shop in London, he took his brother Robert too. Robert died in 1787. Blake who has given his care and nursing to his brother was so touched and moved that he would see his brother's vision rising from ground to ceiling more often than once. One day Robert appeared to him and told him about the new methodology of engraving the texts and illustrations. Blake used this method for engravings in his books and called it "illuminated painting".
Most of the Blake’s works were decorated with the above kind of engraving. The first books in which he used the new kind of engravings were, There is no natural religion and All Religions are One published in 1788.
The various kinds of incidents in his life and mystical development of his mind made an unusual impact on his character. His poetry is clear reflection of this fact. Look into this piece of verse, which is one of the most famous poems composed by him; The Tiger. It was part of his book - Songs of experience (1794)
Tiger! Tiger! Burning bright
In the forests of the night,
In these lines, tiger is an imaginary character. It is a mixture of humanity’s lust and cruelty. The poet asks the god, which are you the same creator who has created the lamb and this tiger both. His poem is full of such metaphors that indicate towards divinity and supernatural powers.
In 1793, Blake and his wife went to southern part of London called Lambeth where they lived for seven years. He spent these years in writing some prophetic books. Again, the same spiritual and philosophic ideas were developed and transformed into poetry by him. Blake loved to be there among these divine whisperings. These seven years were best part of his literary life because he wrote a series of majestic books. These are America, A prophecy (1793); Europe, A prophecy (1794); The book of Urizen (1794); The book of Ahania; The book of Los, The song of Los (1795).
These prophetic books are description of an imaginary cosmic fight between conflicting forces - reason (Urizen) and imagination (Los). The Christian and Jewish mythological concepts have been readily used in these books to present picturesque depiction of cosmic forces.
From 1800 to 1803, Blake lived happily in a seaside cottage in Sussex provided by his patron. Soon he felt his patron intolerable, moreover his wife's health deteriorated. Therefore, he came back to London in 1803. Back in London, he wrote three epics, Jerusalem, Milton and Vale. But Blake's life from 1803 to 1820 was too difficult to bear. He had no work. He was not publishing poetry, as there were only few takes of his poetry and engravings.
In 1819, he met a new patron. His name was John Linnell. John introduced to group of young artist where Blake was revered as master. Blake too enjoyed this company. In 1821, John commissioned him to make watercolour paintings. Blake completed this work before his death. Critically these works were acclaimed as Blake’s best art. In 1825, another assignment of 102 paintings on Dante’s Divine Comedy was given to him but he could not complete this work.
The life he got in his last couple of years was one the he longed for whole of his life. He was working even in his 70th year. He died, as he wanted. He had brush in his hand while lying in bed. He died on August 12, 1827. Blake was buried in London where he spent biggest part of his life.
~Sharique
A poison tree
I was angry with my friend
I told my wrath, my wrath did end
I was angry with my foe
I told it not, my wrath did grow
And I watered it in fears,
Night and morning with my tears,
And I sunned with smiles,
And soft deceitful wiles
And it grow both day and night,
Till it bore an apple bright
And my foe behind it shine,
And he knew that it was mine.
And into my garden stole
When the night had veiled the pole
In the morning glad I see
My foe outstretched beneath the tree.
In this simple but powerful poem, William Blake describes how a feeling of anger, which soon disappears if there is good will and friendship, can become deadly poison, if instead,
there is distrust and enmity. Using the metaphor of a poison tree, the poet creates a vivid picture of how such anger, hidden in the mind, grows daily by feeding on other harmful feelings ; such as fear , until it becomes capable of causing great destruction and wicked sense of pleasure in it.
William Blake was born on November 28, 1757 in London, Great Britain. Today Blake is regarded as one of the earliest and greatest figures of romanticism but in his own age, he was regarded as a mad and the fault of him was that he was a single-minded and unworldly human. He lived in poverty and died in neglect.
Since childhood, Blake developed a sense of mysticism in him. He would describe about his experiences or visions he saw in countryside. In these visions, he would see angels in a tree and sometime he would see prophet Ezekiel in a field. Interesting thing is that Prophet Ezekiel was born in sixth century BC. He was follower of Judaism and was one of them who wrote Old Testament. The prophet is also related to concept of Israel, a Jewish country. It's a distant but not an abnormal intimacy Blake would show towards. All along his life he wrote about ancient mystical world.
Another example from his life, which shows, his mental state, is related to death of his younger brother, Robert. When his father died in 1784 Blake started a printing shop in London, he took his brother Robert too. Robert died in 1787. Blake who has given his care and nursing to his brother was so touched and moved that he would see his brother's vision rising from ground to ceiling more often than once. One day Robert appeared to him and told him about the new methodology of engraving the texts and illustrations. Blake used this method for engravings in his books and called it "illuminated painting".
Most of the Blake’s works were decorated with the above kind of engraving. The first books in which he used the new kind of engravings were, There is no natural religion and All Religions are One published in 1788.
The various kinds of incidents in his life and mystical development of his mind made an unusual impact on his character. His poetry is clear reflection of this fact. Look into this piece of verse, which is one of the most famous poems composed by him; The Tiger. It was part of his book - Songs of experience (1794)
Tiger! Tiger! Burning bright
In the forests of the night,
In these lines, tiger is an imaginary character. It is a mixture of humanity’s lust and cruelty. The poet asks the god, which are you the same creator who has created the lamb and this tiger both. His poem is full of such metaphors that indicate towards divinity and supernatural powers.
In 1793, Blake and his wife went to southern part of London called Lambeth where they lived for seven years. He spent these years in writing some prophetic books. Again, the same spiritual and philosophic ideas were developed and transformed into poetry by him. Blake loved to be there among these divine whisperings. These seven years were best part of his literary life because he wrote a series of majestic books. These are America, A prophecy (1793); Europe, A prophecy (1794); The book of Urizen (1794); The book of Ahania; The book of Los, The song of Los (1795).
These prophetic books are description of an imaginary cosmic fight between conflicting forces - reason (Urizen) and imagination (Los). The Christian and Jewish mythological concepts have been readily used in these books to present picturesque depiction of cosmic forces.
From 1800 to 1803, Blake lived happily in a seaside cottage in Sussex provided by his patron. Soon he felt his patron intolerable, moreover his wife's health deteriorated. Therefore, he came back to London in 1803. Back in London, he wrote three epics, Jerusalem, Milton and Vale. But Blake's life from 1803 to 1820 was too difficult to bear. He had no work. He was not publishing poetry, as there were only few takes of his poetry and engravings.
In 1819, he met a new patron. His name was John Linnell. John introduced to group of young artist where Blake was revered as master. Blake too enjoyed this company. In 1821, John commissioned him to make watercolour paintings. Blake completed this work before his death. Critically these works were acclaimed as Blake’s best art. In 1825, another assignment of 102 paintings on Dante’s Divine Comedy was given to him but he could not complete this work.
The life he got in his last couple of years was one the he longed for whole of his life. He was working even in his 70th year. He died, as he wanted. He had brush in his hand while lying in bed. He died on August 12, 1827. Blake was buried in London where he spent biggest part of his life.
~Sharique
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