Blake and the diversity of influences over his poetry

• Author: Blerina Jashari
• Pages: 93-100

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ustria

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lake and the diversit

y

of infl uences over his poetr

y

M

a. Blerina

J

ashari

Ab

str

a

ct

W

illiam Blake’s poetry

f

alls into three main categories. First, there are the lyrics, o

f

which the

m

ost important ones are the Songs of

I

nnocence and Songs of

E

xperience.

I

n this category we

fi nd the earlier poems included in the Poetical Sketches (1769-78), many of which are indeed

e

xperiments in which Blake partially imitates earlier writers such as Shakespeare and others.

Some manuscripts can be included in the fi rst category, such as ‘Pickering Manuscript’, ‘The

M

ental Traveller’, ‘The Crystal Cabinet’, which are essential to understand Blake’s developing

m

ythology.

I

n the second category or group of poems we have the short prophecies which include: “Tiriel”

(1789), “The Book of Thel” (1789), “The Marria

g

e of Heaven and Hell” (1790-1793), “The Visions

o

f

the Dau

g

hters o

f

A

lbion” (1793), “

A

merica” (1793), “The Book o

f

U

rizen” (1794), etc., which

b

uild up a mythology created by Blake in regard to the creation of the world and the nature o

f

God. These “short prophecy” books should be read in conjunction with the historical events

a

nd the background of the eighteenth century and the early years of the nineteenth century.

T

herefore, they are very complex works, which need to be read at mythological, historical and

p

sychological levels and above all as works of art in their own right.

I

n the third category or group of poems we have the long propheciesthat include “The Four

Z

oas” (1795-1804), “Milton” (1804-1808) and “Jerusalem”. Writing them in epic form, Blake

s

trove to provide an account of the human history from its beginnings to his day.

W

illiam Blake was widely infl uenced by the Swedish visionary and religious thinker,

E

manuel Swedenborg, by the German mystic Jakob Böhme, as well as the esoteric doctrine

of

R

o

s

i

cr

u

c

ia

n

i

sm 

1

, which had had its adherents in

E

n

g

land since Robert Fludd. Blake was

i

nfl uenced by mystical and magical ideas, and since Blake was himself a visionary, his ideas

o en times came in the form of clearly visualized encounters with angels, prophets or other

s

ymbolic characters. Blake’s poems and prophetic books, except for his fi rst volume of poems,

P

oetical Sketches, were etched by himself on copper plates with decorative designs. He was

a

n engraver by profession, and his work as a poet and prophet was li le known during his

li

f

e

t

i

m

e.

 

2

Ke

y

words

:

William Blake, diversity, poetry

.

I

ntr

oduc

t

io

n

Sp

eaking o

f

the im

p

act that Swedenborg had on Blake, W.B.

Y

eats in his

I

ntroduction

t

o

The Collected Poems o

f

William Blake

m

aintained that it must never be

f

orgo en

that whatever Blake borrowed

f

rom Swedenborg or Böhme,

f

rom m

y

stic or

 

1

Car

l

EdwinLind

g

re

n

m

aintains that “Rosicrucianism is a

p

hiloso

p

hical secret societ

y

which

h

o

lds

a

d

o

ctr

i

n

e

or

“built on esoteric truths of the ancient

p

ast”, which, “concealed from

t

he average man,

p

rovide insight into nature, the

p

h

y

sical universe and the s

p

iritual

rea

lm” –

,

J

ournal of Religion and Ps

y

chical Research, Volume 18, Number 3:141–48, 1995.

 

2

D

aiches

,

David

,

A

Critical History o

f

E

nglish Literatur

e

: The Romantics to Present Da

y

,

London Secker and Warburg, 1968,

p

. 862

.