Anyone may learn to know and love William Blake. Small steps include reading, asking questions, making comments about posts made here (or anywhere else for that matter). We are ordinary people interested in Blake and anxious to meet and converse with any others. Tip: The primary text for Blake is on line. The url is Contents.

Sunday, December 27, 2009

TWOFOLD

Blake has given us a treasure of insight, experience, and imagery. The cost to him of producing it was enormous. The reward was the satisfaction of using his innate gifts in expressing his imagination. That he produced a body of work that nourishes us two hundred years after his death, expresses the joy and gratitude with which he exercised his gifts. I like to think that in his case, "Eternity is in love with the productions of time." Marriage of Heaven and Hell, Plate 7, (E36)

From George W. Digby, Symbol and Image in William Blake, Page 19:

"He had as it were two eyes, an eye for the verbal image as it is spoken and written, and an eye for the pictorial image. The inner truth that he apprehended was something other than either of these, not confined or explicit in either of them, but something which could be expressed or implied by their means. For truth, reality, is always beyond the formulation of both words and of pictorial images. Sometimes the pictorial symbol parallels or amplifies the written one; sometimes gives the contrasting aspect, or opposite and contrary point of view. But always this double mode of expression is focused on man's subtle and complex nature, his illusions, self-deceptions, conceits, and his contradictory and insatiable desires. This twofold artistic capacity, and his vision of the infinite which the coarseness and opaqueness of human nature unnecessarily obscures, makes the creative work of Blake in art and poetry such an incomparable source of wisdom."

As Blake wrote in The Four Zoas on Page 35 (E324):


"What is the price of Experience do men buy it for a song
Or wisdom for a dance in the street? No it is bought with the price
Of all that a man hath his house his wife his children
Wisdom is sold in the desolate market where none come to buy
And in the witherd field where the farmer plows for bread in vain"

5 comments:

  1. Good fill someone in on and this mail helped me alot in my college assignement. Gratefulness you on your information.

    ReplyDelete
  2. We are glad we were able to be of help with your assignment. We hope you will continue to read the blog and study Blake even though you finished your assignment.
    Thanks for commenting.
    Ellie

    ReplyDelete
  3. Easily I acquiesce in but I think the post should prepare more info then it has.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I will say more about this later.

    For now I suggest you click on 'Experience' in the Labels at the bottom of the post. That will take you to several other posts which may give more info.

    For exact info, ask a question, and we will try to answer.

    It is good to hear from you, Ellie

    ReplyDelete
  5. Today's post 'To Our Readers' may help with your study.

    Here is the URL:

    http://ramhornd.blogspot.com/2010/02/to-our-readers.html

    Ellie

    ReplyDelete