Blake Poems
William Blake, who lived from 1757 to1827, was a deeply religious man who originally trained as an artist, studying first painting and then engraving. He believed that he had received visions of angels in which he held conversations with the angels. He had other visions as well, both of monks and of other historical figures (The Literature Network). His sense of mystery about religion is evident in his poems, which reflect religious beliefs of the day that both good and bad were present in the world. His poem "The Lamb" represents the spiritual good in the world, while his poem "The Tyger" (or "The Tiger") reflects his belief that dark and dangerous entities also walk the Earth.
In these two poems, Blake shows that he sees a clear distinction between good and evil. This is interesting given that he took up engraving as a trade, because engraving involves positive and negative space: the metal is either there, or not there. There are no real shades of gray in engraving, and any impression of a shade of gray is an illusion created by black and white from negative and positive space on a piece of metal. His poems "The Lamb" and "The tyger," placed side by side, show just such extremes. He describes the lamb in the sweetest of terms:
"Does thou know who made thee,
Gave thee life, and bid thee feed
By the stream and o'er the mead;
Gave thee clothing of delight,
Softest...
" Because he believed that that creation followed a cosmic catastrophe and a fall of spiritual beings into matter, Blake discusses Gnosticism, a multi-faceted religious movement that has run parallel to mainstream Christianity (Friedlander, 1999). Unlike most other Gnosticizers, Blake sees the world as a wonderful place, but one that would ultimately give way to a restored universe. For Blake, the purpose of creation is as a place for personal growth,
While the tiger may be a dangerous creature, it is still one of beauty, much like our own society. We encounter dangerous situations and beautiful scenes on a daily basis. In short, there is danger but there is also beauty. It is also interesting to observe how the end of "the Tiger" is much like the beginning. The poet writes: Tyger, Tyger burning bright In the forests of the night What immortal
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Death of the Ball Turret Gunner by Randall Jarrell Without knowing that a ball turret is small place in a B-17, we would not understand the central metaphor analogizing the mother's womb to the ball turret, which is essential to understanding that the poem is about the contrast between the warmth of a mother's love and the cold dehumanizing treatment of the "State" where he is just another soldier. Common Ground
Most individuals fail to appreciate life to the fullest because they concentrate on being remembered as some of the greatest humans who ever lives. This makes it difficult for them to enjoy the simple pleasures in life, considering that they waste most of their time trying to put across ideas that are appealing to the masses. While many did not manage to produce ideas that survived more than them, others
With a dull, dead throb of syllables that virtually reaches out and grabs the auditor, Owens writes: "If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood / Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs, / Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud/of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues, / My friend, you would not tell with / such high zest / to children ardent for some desperate glory, / the
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