Introduction
William Blake is one of the most significant poets of the Romanticism movement of the late 18th and early 19th Century in Europe. His work encapsulates three major styles of artist, visionary, and mystic. His work continues to intrigue and fascinate readers since. Blake was born on 28th November 1957 and died seventy years, later on, 12th August 1827. He lived largely in London except for the three years between 1800 and 1803, when he lived in Bognor, Sussex. Most of Blake’s poems can be found in two collections, Songs of Innocence (1789), and Songs of Experience (1794). In a broad sense, the collections examine human nature as well as society in optimistic as well as pessimistic terms. Blake believes that one needs to examine both sides to see the entire truth. Blake’s work can sometimes be difficult because he offers the reader his own visions and in his own terms. He draws on a highly powerful, but personal mythological system to write his poems. As a result, his works were regarded as controversial, perhaps because of his deranged train of thoughts or criticism of the church. Overall, his style forms narratives and is notably devoid of metaphors. He prefers to use symbols and leaves them to the reader to decide their meanings. This paper provides an analytical look at William Blake’s writing style and his major theme as well as their effectiveness.
William Blake’s poetry takes on a narrative style of writing. This method involves a sequential approach to storytelling within the poem (Douglas 60). To understand his narrative voice, one must follow the plot and analyze the speaker. This process also involves considering how Blake sketches his characters within the bounds of poetic style (Douglas 60). For example, William Blake uses a strong narrative voice in his poem The Chimney Sweeper. This poem is told by a chimney sweeper. The story he provides is chronological in nature because he starts by telling the reader a bit about himself before advancing the story by describing another chimney sweeper.
Similarly, The Little Black Boy, another of Blake’s narrative-style poems, is sequential in the description of events. The child narrator writes, “my mother bore me in the southern wild, I am black, but Oh! My soul is white” (Blake 15) This statement in the first stanza represents the author’s way of setting the context first, before proceeding to build his story. This story is a narration of how the black child grew in terms of knowing his identity and knowing God. He narrates how his mother taught him about the creator who lives in the East and is the giver of light and life to all creation. For example, the mother teaches him that God makes the sun shine and that their black skin protects them from burns. In his narrative style, Blake makes use of imagery and leaves the reader to contemplate on these images. The effect is that he manages to enrich his poem with deep aspects of the black boy’s life. For example, he uses light and dark imagery. He associates darkness with the lack of knowledge and light with enlightenment. In this description, he uses statements such as “black as if bereav’d of light” (Blake 15).
William Blake’s writing largely captures the Universalist theme of religion. He applies all culture in this big universal of religion. Undoubtedly, he is fascinated by religion as a form of literary allusion, yet exasperated with it as a means with which to suppress the natural desires of man (Harris 2). He believes that a person’s soul is not saved by faith in the religion, but by knowledge. He cherishes knowledge because he believes that it helps one to understand Christ (Harris 2). For example, in his book The Songs of Innocence, he gives the view of a God who is kind, merciful, and gentle. In this book, there are three major poems that underline his obsession with the Universalist theme of religion. These poems are The Chimney Sweeper, The Little Boy Lost, and The Little Boy Found.
In the poem The Chimney Sweeper, for example, he writes that an angel “opened the coffins and set them all free” (Blake 19) The children in this poem regard heaven as a great comfort as compared to the great agony that they undergo on earth. They know that when they arrive in heaven, they will be unburdened of their sorrows and pain. As such, Blake believes in positivity in human nature in overcoming the harsh realities manifested in earthly existence (Harris 2). An angel releases soot-covered boys from “coffins of black” and they dance away as if released from darkness (Blake 19). Blake describes the sky above them as blue and healthy and not black. In this regard, his writing is deeply influenced by religion because he creates a fantasy world for the child characters in his poem that may be likened to heaven. In this never-never land, their God is kind and merciful and is the only one who can free them from their miserable existence on earth.
Similarly, in the poem The Little Boy Lost, he presents the character of a young child that represents the innocent mind. This child gets lost in the forest. Blake provides an illustration at the top of this page to the little child being led by a spirit of some sort. He makes reference to a “vapor.” The religious nature of this poem is underlined when the boy shouts to his religious father. He shouts, “Father, father, where are you going” (Blake 21). These words are directed to his religious father who he seeks for direction. His tone underlines his distress, akin to the kind of distress that one would have when calling on to their priest. This priest moves too fast for the boy, leaving him behind to walk in the world alone. Perhaps this desperation represents’s Blake’s view regarding the futility of following earthly religious leaders instead of God himself. Blake’s view on religion takes an interesting turn when in The Little Boy Found, a sequel to The Little Boy Lost, he reconciles the negative portrayal of the priest presented previously.
In the poem The Little Boy Found, Blake explains that the boy who was lost in the previous poem/ story only got lost because he follows the “wandering light.” This wandering light is the author’s employment of imagery to represent the blinding ways of the church and religion. It underlines his lack of faith in earthly religious leaders and their congregations and his choice to recognize the creator directly (Blake 23). The author’s reference to God underlines his belief in a super being. In this poem, God hears the cries of the boy and comes to rescue him “as his father in white” (Blake 23)
Perhaps Blake’s obsession with the universality of the religion theme stems from his personal experiences and background. According to Martin (1), Blake had a childhood characterized by the state of innocence which makes the child unable to perceive evil in the world. However, his mother provided him with teachings on his origins and provided him with a profound outlook on religion and its impact on life. Blake is able to mirror these teachings and reflections of innocence through his many characters. He gives voice to the unspoken and those without a voice as shown by poems such as The Chimney Sweeper and The Little Boy Lost. Also, his life was marked by religious rites at different stages. Blake was baptized, married and buried under the rites of the Church of England. In spite of his background, however, it is still not clear where he stood in terms of personal faith/ some argue that he was an atheist, while others contend that he was agnostic. He makes many references to God and an omniscient, omnipresent and supernatural being (Eiko 2). His works point to a blatant disdain for the institution of religion. He mentions the errors of many religions such as Christianity (Eiko 2). He counterbalances his disregard for religion with references to nature. As such, he shows his belief in a natural power and not a mythological creator. He views religion as a paragon of tyranny. In his works, he features demons, angels, and gods that mirror the writing of Milton (Douglas 102).
Conclusion
William Blake is perhaps one of the most significant poets of the Romanticism era that lasted into the late 18th century and early 19th century. His work has continued to fascinate readers to date because of his poignant and direct way of poetry. He adopts a largely narrative style in writing, whereby he tells stories in a chronological manner. He also adopts a simplistic perspective on life but passes compelling messages. This style is evident in poems such as The Chimney Sweeper, The Little Boy Lost, and The Little Boy Found, all of which are told in a narrative style. William Blake’s works also represent an almost obsessive use of the Universalist theme of religion. He presents highly critical views on religious leaders as well as the church. He believes in the use of knowledge to interpret life, rather than the use of faith. In poems such as The Little Boy Lost and The Little Boy Found, Blake shows a blatant lack of faith in religious leaders. His obsession with this theme is rooted in his experiences as well as the background. Different accounts of Blake’s childhood point to strict teachings on the world, creation, and religion, which afford him the broad perspective he adopts in his work. Through his characters, Blake presents the innocence of youth. He gives voice to the voiceless, such as in The Chimney Sweep. He manages to underline positivity in human nature in the face of the hardships that exist in day-to-day living. Overall, William Blake’s writing style and dominant theme of religion present an interesting subject for analysis in literary circles.
Work Cited
Blake, William. Songs Of Innocence And Songs Of Experience. Champaign, Ill.: Project Gutenberg, 2007. Print.
Douglas, Carla. "Image And Poetry In Selected Early Works Of William Blake: Producing The Third Text." 1.2 (2012): 2-204. Print.
Eiko, Ando. "William Blake's Religious World." Mem.Muroran Inst. Tech 60.12 (2010): 1-8. Print.
Harris, Drew. "Analyzing William Blake's Poetry". Emmitsburg News Journal 3.2 (2016): 1-8. Print.
Martin, William J. "The Unspoken Voice In William Blake’S Songs Of Innocence And Experience". International Journal of Language and Literature 1.2 (2013): 1-7. Print.
