William Blake Essays (525 words) - William Blake, Visual Arts

William Blake Biography William Blake was a 19th century writer and artist who is regarded as a seminal figure of the Romantic Age. His writings have influenced countless writers and artists through the ages, and he has been deemed both a major poet and an original thinker. Synopsis Born in 1757 in London, England, William Blake began writing at an early age and claimed to have had his first vision, of a tree full of angels, at age 10. He studied engraving and grew to love Gothic art, which he incorporated into his own unique works. A misunderstood poet, artist and visionary throughout much of his life, Blake found admirers late in life and has been vastly influential since his death in 1827. Early Years William Blake was born on November 28, 1757, in the Soho district of London, England. He only briefly attended school, being chiefly educated at home by his mother. The Bible had an early, profound influence on Blake, and it would remain a lifetime source of inspiration, colouring his life and works with intense spirituality. At an early age, Blake began experiencing visions, and his friend and journalist Henry Crabbe Robinson wrote that Blake saw God's head appear in a window when Blake was 4 years old. He also allegedly saw the prophet Ezekiel under a tree and had a vision of "a tree filled with angels." Blake's visions would have a lasting effect on the art and writings that he produced. Views and ideas For Blake, buildings, especially church buildings, often symbolised confinement, restriction and failure. Blake's religious beliefs stemmed from a long tradition in Britain ofChristian dissenters. This tradition was opposed to established religion, was suspicious of the monarchy and the role it played in religion and had long railed against corruption and abuse of power in the Church and Monarchy. He was a Christian. But not a normal Chiristian. His idea of God had a lot to do with imagination. For Blake, the Church and believing in God were not the same thing. The Church is political. God is not. One of the main messages in the Gospels is that each person can have direct contact with God. People don't need a Church to communicate with God. Through prayer, imagination, good deeds, etc, humans can communicate directly with God. The Church is a middle man. He believed that England had fallen and would be redeemed. This is expressed in his idea of the New Jerusalem.Blake's beliefs are c omplicated. Many people struggle to understand him. He was a 'mystic' poet. He created his own form of Christianity. It had much to do with the imagination. He lived in a time, like ours, when people were very taken with Science. He was a prophet in that he was reminding people to remember the worlds that are invisible, that we can not access through our minds, but only with our hearts. Blake's spiritual views where greatly influenced by Swedenbourg Famous poems and works poems The tyger, London, the lamb, the chimney sweeper, and did those feet in ancient... And the auguries of innocence Artwork The ancient of days, Nebuchad, the ghost of a flea, pity and Newton