William Blake威廉布莱克

WilliamBlakeWilliamBlake(28November1757–12August1827),Englishartist,mysticandpoetWilliamBlake(1757-1827)WilliamBlakewasborninLondon,England,thethirdsonofCatherinenéeWright(1723–1792)andJamesBlake(c.1723–1784)ahosierandhaberdasheronBroadStreetinGoldenSquare,Soho.YoungWilliamwaspronetofantasticvisions,includingseeingGod,andangelsinatree.HewouldlaterclaimthathehadregularconversationswithhisdeceasedbrotherRobert.ItwassoonapparentthatBlake’sinternalworldofimaginationwouldbeaprimemotivatorthroughouthislife.NotingsomethingspecialintheirsontheBlakeswerehighlysupportiveofandencouragedhisartisticcreativityandthusbeganhiseducationanddevelopmentasanartist.WilliamBlakeLargelyunrecognisedduringhislifetime,BlakeisnowconsideredaseminalfigureinthehistoryofboththepoetryandvisualartsoftheRomanticAge.HispropheticpoetryhasbeensaidtoformwhatisinproportiontoitsmeritstheleastreadbodyofpoetryintheEnglishlanguage.HisvisualartistryhasledonecontemporaryartcritictoproclaimhimfarandawaythegreatestartistBritainhaseverproduced.AlthoughhelivedinLondonhisentirelifeexceptforthreeyearsspentinFelphamheproducedadiverseandsymbolicallyrichcorpus,whichembracedtheimaginationasthebodyofGod,orHumanexistenceitself.Consideredmadbycontemporariesforhisidiosyncraticviews,Blakeisheldinhighregardbylatercriticsforhisexpressivenessandcreativity,andforthephilosophicalandmysticalundercurrentswithinhiswork.HispaintingsandpoetryhavebeencharacterisedaspartofboththeRomanticmovementandPre-Romantic,6foritslargeappearanceinthe18thcentury.ReverentoftheBiblebuthostiletotheChurchofEngland-indeed,toallformsoforganisedreligion-BlakewasinfluencedbytheidealsandambitionsoftheFrenchandAmericanrevolutions,7aswellasbysuchthinkersasJakobBöhmeandEmanuelSwedenborg.InfluencesBlakewasamongtheliteratiofLondon’sintellectualcirclethoughhewasoftenlabeledaneccentricorworse,insaneordemented.Hisworksdidnotgainmuchacclaimorcommercialsuccessuntillongafterhisdeath.Althoughhehadseveralpatronsoverthecourseofhislifeandproducedvoluminousworks,heoftenlivedinabjectpoverty.ThoughitishardtoclassifyBlake’sbodyofworkinonegenre,heheavilyinfluencedtheRomanticpoetswithrecurringthemesofgoodandevil,heavenandhell,knowledgeandinnocence,andexternalrealityversusinner.Goingagainstcommonconventionsofthetime,Blakebelievedinsexualandracialequalityandjusticeforall,rejectedtheOldTestament’steachingsinfavouroftheNew,andabhorredoppressioninallitsforms.SongsofInnocenceSongsofInnocence(1789):apoetrycollectionwrittenfromthechild’spointofview,ofinnocentwondermentandspontaneityinnaturalsettingswhichincludes“LittleBoyLost”,“LittleBoyFound”and“TheLamb”;Littlelamb,whomadethee?Dostthouknowwhomadethee?Gavetheelife,andbidtheefeedBythestreamando'erthemead;Gavetheeclothingofdelight,Softestclothing,woolly,bright;Gavetheesuchatendervoice,Makingallthevalesrejoice?Littlelamb,whomadethee?Dostthouknowwhomadethee?SongsofExperienceSongsofExperience(1794)containsmanypoemsinresponsetoonesfromInnocence,suggestingironiccontrastsasthechildmaturesandlearnsofsuchconceptsasfearandenvy.Forexample,to“TheLamb”comesthepredatory“TheTyger”;THETYGER(fromSongsOfExperience)ByWilliamBlakeTyger!Tyger!burningbrightIntheforestsofthenight,WhatimmortalhandoreyeCouldframethyfearfulsymmetry?InwhatdistantdeepsorskiesBurntthefireofthineeyes?Onwhatwingsdareheaspire?Whatthehanddaresiezethefire?THETYGERAndwhatshoulder,andwhatart,Couldtwistthesinewsofthyheart?Andwhenthyheartbegantobeat,Whatdreadhand?andwhatdreadfeet?Whatthehammer?whatthechain?Inwhatfurnacewasthybrain?Whattheanvil?whatdreadgraspDareitsdeadlyterrorsclasp?Whenthestarsthrewdowntheirspears,Andwateredheavenwiththeirtears,Didhesmilehisworktosee?DidhewhomadetheLambmakethee?Tyger!Tyger!burningbrightIntheforestsofthenight,WhatimmortalhandoreyeDareframethyfearfulsymmetry?TheTygerTheTygerisapoembytheEnglishpoetWilliamBlake.ItwaspublishedaspartofhiscollectionSongsofExperiencein1794(see1794inpoetry).ItisoneofBlake'sbest-knownandmostanalyzedpoems.TheCambridgeCompaniontoWilliamBlake(2003)callsitthemostanthologizedpoeminEnglish.TheTygerMostmodernanthologieshavekeptBlake'schoiceofthearchaicspellingtyger.Itwasacommonspellingofthewordatthetimebutwasalreadyslightlyarchaicwhenhewrotethepoem;hespelleditastigerelsewhere,andmanyofhispoeticeffectsdependedonsubtledifferencesofpunctuationandofspelling.Thus,hischoiceoftygerhasusuallybeeninterpretedasbeingforeffect,perhapstorenderanexoticoralienqualityofthebeast,orbecauseit'snotreallyaboutatigeratall,butametaphorTheTygerTheTygeristhesisterpoemtoTheLamb(fromSongsofInnocence),areflectionofsimilarideasfromadifferentperspective,butitfocusesmoreongoodnessthanevil.Thepoemalsopresentsadualitybetweenaestheticbeautyandprimalferocity.ThespeakerwonderswhetherthehandthatcreatedTheLambalsocreatedTheTyger”.Thepoem,togetherwithotherWilliamBlakepoetry,hasbeensettomusicbythegroupTangerineDream,andcanbefoundontheiralbumTygerfrom1987(re-released1992).TheTygerTounderstandTheTygerfully,youneedtoknowBlake'ssymbols.OneofthecentralthemesinhismajorworksisthatoftheCreatorasablacksmi