Resurget William Blake
i
Editorial Note: This is the second of acts not, breeds pestilence"; "what read his "Songs of Innocence" and Verse." Of "The Tiger," Blake's most
a series of articles about writers of is now proved was once only imag- "Songs of Experience" we can see famous poem, Swinburne said that it
an older day. med"; "the eagle never lost so much why Swinburne eulogizes him, why was "a poem beyond praise for its
time as when he submitted to learn Shaw is always eager to castigate anifervent beauty and vigor of music."
(By Hardy Hoover) of the crow." Are these the thoughts English-speaking world which, until Blake, like Swinburne, created a lang-
A few of the chosen minds of the of a mad man? now, has refused to recognize Blake's uage of symbolism which, if on rare
Discussion of his lyrical gifts has genius. His verse is remarkable chief- occasions is vagne and ohscure, in or
Victorian era saw William Blake as been reserved until last because it is ly for its musical qualities, its lyricalgu s esnowhileBlks i-
the world is beginning to see him to- that part' of Blake which is receiving charm, novelty and freshness, its sym- tellect and systes of thinking re-
day. Those, who have taken tile the most attention. Anyone, who bolir depth of thought, put forth in a semble Walt Whitman's; the flow, the
trouble to understand him, respect wishes to stake a claim in an intel- form which a child can appreciate, rhythm and the music of his verse r-
him with a profundity whirs is sumz- lectual gold mine should procure a His child verse equals, if it does not mind one of Coleridge, Keats, and Poe
volume of Blake's poetry. When we excel, Stevenson's "Child's Garden of -Corinued on Page 3)
ing to those who see in him only an
eccentric, a mystic, and an unbalanced
visionary. Fifty years from now, in
the minds of all thinking people, Blake
will probably have attained a higher
position than Wordsworth now holds.
There are those who regard him as
one of the great teachers and super-
men of history. However that may
be, no one, who wishes to keep abreast
of contemporary thought and to an-
ticipate future thought, can well af-
ford to neglect him.
The events of Blake's life are in the
main uninteresting and give us little
clue to the man himself. "This mas
was born, lived, drank, and died."
His span of years was exactly three
score and ten (1757-1827). He was
born and lived most of his life in
London. By trade he was an en-
graver. Biographers and critics dif-
fer as to the relative merits of his
art (for his engraving was art) and
his poetry. There are some who
award him pre-eminence only as an
engraver. Certain. it is that his en-
gravings are remarkable for their
vivid imaginativeness, their powerful
and, strange originality. These he
did, not only forsome of the works of
prominent contemporary poets, Blair
and Young, but for his own mystical
and philosophical works.
Little is known of Blake's personal
characteristics. He was exceedingly
generon', a hard worker, a kind man.
He was subject to the visitations of
revelations and heavenly visions
whose authenticity he never doubted.
Inspiration played a large part in his
life. In his own time, when he was
considered at all, he was regarded
as mad. Excepting the professional
reputation as an engraver, he achieved
,no fame or distinction during his life-
time
We are not here concerned with Evening gowns which convey beauti-
Blake's restatiso as a commsercial fully and originally the freshness and
craftsman. We are interested in him
as a thinker and as a lyrical poet. And charm of youth
since he blended the two so skill-
fully, and since he was such an orig-
inal and earnest thinker, it is small
wonder that his efforts were taken for
madness. For instance "I walked the'2 0$
other evening to the end of the heath
and touched the sky with my finger."
This was the reaction of a mystic to
philosophical cant about "the. vast-
ness of space." Hosiery, gloves, underwear - all
Mysticism is the key to Blake. One
almost intuits him rther than under-
stands him. He was born a mystic accessores for smart formal aire.
and continued so. As a child he
screamed because he said he saw God
put his face to the window Another '
time he saw a tree filled with bright
and dazzling angels. His philosophy,
in a word, is that the earth is not a
reality but the shadow of God, that
spirit is the only reality, that sim-
plicity and childlike intuition enable
s Is reach thin reality where sience
and osil u ikl rlabeIstG oodyear's
and rationsalism fail. It is not
r toaim Pi.I s ntonly possible but likely probable that
"the world is yet to ring with his
ideas." Here are a few of his say-
ings from his greatest work "The Mar-
riage of Heaven and Hell": "No bird
soars too high if he soars with his
aswn wings"; "he who desires but
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