DOCSLIB.ORG

Issues) and Begin with the Summer Issue

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Issues) and Begin with the Summer Issue AN ILLUSTRATED QUARTERLY VOLUME 30 NUMBER 4 SPRING 1997 &}UB AN ILLUSTRATED QUARTERLY VOLUME 30 NUMBER 4 SPRING 1997 CONTENTS Articles Blake in the Marketplace, 1996 by Robert N. Essick 100 William Blake and His Circle: A Checklist of Publications and Discoveries in 1996 by G. E. Bentley, Jr. With the Assistance ofKeiko Aoyama for Japanese Publications 121 CONTRIBUTORS SUBSCRIPTIONS are $50 for institutions, $25 for individuals. All subscriptions are by the volume (1 year, 4 issues) and begin with the summer issue. Subscription payments re• G. E. BENTLEY, JR., now retired from the University of ceived after the summer issue will be applied to the 4 is• Toronto, compiled this checklist at Durham University, put sues of the current volume. Foreign addresses (except it into final form in Beijing, and corrected the proofs at the Canada and Mexico) require an $8 per volume postal sur• Australian Defence Force Academy. He is now completing charge for surface, an $18 per volume surcharge for air a biography of William Blake. mail delivery. U.S. currency or international money or• der necessary. Make checks payable to Blake/An Illustrated ROBERT N. ESSICK, Professor of English, University of Cali• Quarterly. Address all subscription orders and related com• fornia, Riverside, has been writing sales reviews for this munications to Patricia Neill, Blake, Department of En• journal for 25 years. glish, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14627. BACK ISSUES are available at a reduced price. Address Patricia Neill for a list of issues and prices. EDITORS MANUSCRIPTS are welcome. Send two copies, typed and EDITORS: Morris Eaves and Morton D. Paley documented according to forms suggested in The MLA BIBLIOGRAPHER: G. E. Bentley, Jr. Style Manual, to either of the editors: Morris Eaves, Dept. REVIEW EDITOR: Nelson Hilton of English, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14627; ASSOCIATE EDITOR FOR GREAT BRITAIN: David Worrall Morton D. Paley, Dept. of English, University of Califor• nia, Berkeley, CA 94720-1030. PRODUCTION OFFICE: Patricia Neill, Department of English, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14627 INTERNATIONAL STANDARD SERIAL NUMBER: 0160-628x. Blake/ MANAGING EDITOR: Patricia Neill An Illustrated Quarterly is indexed in the Modern Language TELEPHONE 716/275-3820 Association's International Bibliography, the Modern Hu• FAX 716/442-5769 manities Research Association's Annual Bibliography of PRODUCTION OFFICE EMAIL: [email protected] English Language and Literature, The Romantic Movement: A Selective and Critical Bibliography (ed. David V. Erdman Morris Eaves, Department of English, University of Roch• et al.), American Humanities Index, Arts and Humanities ester, Rochester NY 14627 Citation Index, Current Contents and the Bibliog• Email: [email protected] raphy of the History of Art. Morton D. Paley, Department of English, University of California, Berkeley CA 94720-1030 © 1997 Copyright Morris Eaves and Morton D. Paley Email: [email protected] G. E. Bentley, Jr., 246 MacPherson Avenue, Toronto, COVER ILLUSTRATION: A tattoo based on Europe, pi. 1 ("The Ontario M4V 1A2. The University of Toronto declines to Ancient of Days") on the left leg of Charles A. Bufalino, forward mail. Riverside, California. Photo by Robert N. Essick, digitalized and enlarged by J. Sullivan, Sept. 1996. Nelson Hilton, Department of English, University of Geor• gia, Athens, GA 30602 Email: [email protected] David Worrall, St. Mary's College, Strawberry Hill, Waldegrave Road, Twickenham TW1 4SX England Email: [email protected] INFORMATION MAKE /AN ILLUSTRATED QUARTERLY is published under the spon• sorship of the Department of English, University of Roch• ester. ARTICLES lengthy Dark Figures in the Desired Country: Blake's Illus• trations to The Pilgrim's Progress (Berkeley: U of Califor• nia P, 1993). But matters of aesthetic quality, particularly Blake in the Marketplace, 1996 in comparison to other works by the same artist, and ques• tions of attribution can be killers in the marketplace. Fur• ther, one of the time-honored rules of auctioneering is to avoid offering at auction anything that has been recently BY ROBERT N. ESSICK and aggressively flogged to most potential bidders. For once, my predictions proved prescient: the bidding failed to reach he year started propitiously for the Blake market with the "reserve"—that is, the price below which the auction• Tthe early January sale of two drawings, An Encounter eer will not sell the lot (a price that may be lower, but by in Heaven and a sheet of two recto/verso preliminary de• custom should not be higher, than the low estimate of signs for Commins's Elegy. These works, all previously re• £260,000). However, immediately after the auction two col• produced in this journal and thus not repeated here, were lectors—one English, one American—expressed consid• exchanged from one private owner to another through the erable interest in the Bunyan designs at a price somewhat New York dealer Salander-O'Reilly Galleries. The market less than the low estimate. A brief post-auction bidding then went flat. Very flat. The usual run of books with Blake's skirmish ensued. The anonymous English collector won. copy engravings turned up in dealers' catalogues at their There are, of course, a few other matters to report, mostly normal rate, but nothing appeared through the spring and under the category of Blake's paintings and drawings. In• summer to excite more ambitious collectors. The fall deed, I have nothing at all to list under the illuminated brought forth a richer harvest. On 14 November, Sotheby's books. I have as well several retrospective listings, includ• in London offered, in a single lot, Blake's 28 water colors ing a colored copy of Young's Night Thoughts and a major from the Frick Collection illustrating John Bunyan's water color by Blake. My apologies for being so tardy in Pilgrim's Progress (Butlin #829.1-19, 21-29)—see illus. 1-4. reporting the whereabouts of these works. The lot also included a late water color illustration of the The year of all sales and catalogues in the following lists first temptation from Milton's Paradise Regained (Butlin is 1996 unless indicated otherwise. The auction houses add #546)—see illus. 5. Thus, the entire Frick holdings of Blake their purchaser's surcharge to the hammer price in their were placed on the market as a collection with a published price lists. These net amounts are given here, following the estimate of £260,000-340,000. As far as I can determine, official price lists. The value added tax levied against the this was the largest deaccession of works by Blake from any buyer's surcharge in England is not included. Late 1996 sales institutional collection. My own pre-sale prediction (I keep will be covered in the 1997 review. I am grateful for help in trying to be a Blakean prophet, in spite of a poor track compiling this review to E. B. Bentley, G. E. Bentley, Jr., record) was decidedly negative: the lot would surely be David Bindman, Roger Cucksey (Newport Museum and bought-in (i.e., not sold). My reasons were several. Art Gallery), Detlef Dorrbecker (who supplied me with his Sotheby's had been trying, on behalf of the Frick, to sell own list of 1996 Blake sales, from which I have stolen shame• the water colors privately for about two years (promises of lessly), Morris Eaves, Sandra Ericson (Muhlenberg Col• confidentiality prevented me from reporting this in earlier lege), Jenijoy La Belle, Thomas V. Lange, Nick Lott, Kim- sales reviews). Every potential Blake collector was contacted. berly Orlijan, Giles Peppiatt of Bonhams, Lawrence All said no. The major reason for the negative response was, Salander, William L. Schneider, Grant F. Scott, Miriam I believe, the low quality of the work. Just compare Blake's Stewart (Harvard University Art Museums), and John Milton or Job designs with the Bunyan series from a Windle. Once again, Patricia Neill's editorial assistance and connoisseur's perspective; the results are depressing. I sus• John Sullivan's electronic imaging have been invaluable. pect that Blake was feeling the effects of his fatal illness when he was sketching the Bunyan illustrations c. 1824-27. A shaky hand, awkward figures, poorly-balanced composi• Abbreviations tions. In spite of these problems, one Blake collector with the means to make an impact on the market was enthusi• BBA Bloomsbury Book Auctions, London astic at first glance. He was then shown Butlin's entry on Bentley G. E. Bentley, Jr., Blake Books (Oxford: the series; passion turned to disappointment in a matter of Clarendon Press, 1977). Plate numbers and copy seconds. As Butlin points out, there are very good reasons designations for Blake's illuminated books follow to think that much of the coloring was supplied by Mrs. Bentley. Blake, perhaps after her husband's death. These sorts of is• Butlin Martin Butlin, The Paintings and Drawings of sues seem to have no effect on literary scholars writing William Blake, 2 vols. (New Haven: Yale UP, about the meaning of the designs—witness Gerda Norvig's 1981). cat. catalogue or sales list issued by a dealer 100 Blake/An Illustrated Quarterly Spring 1997 (usually followed by a number or letter designation) or auction house (followed by the day and month of sale) CE Christie's East, New York CL Christie's, London CNY Christie's, New York CSK Christie's, South Kensington illus. the item or part thereof is reproduced in the catalogue pl(s). plate(s) SL Sotheby's, London SNY Sotheby's, New York st(s). state(s) of an engraving, etching, or lithograph Swann Swann Galleries, auctioneers, New York # auction lot or catalogue item number Illuminated Books Nothing to report.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • William Blake's Songs of Innocence and of Experience: from Innocence to Experience to Wise Innocence Robert W
    Eastern Illinois University The Keep Masters Theses Student Theses & Publications 1977 William Blake's Songs of Innocence and of Experience: From Innocence to Experience to Wise Innocence Robert W. Winkleblack Eastern Illinois University This research is a product of the graduate program in English at Eastern Illinois University. Find out more about the program. Recommended Citation Winkleblack, Robert W., "William Blake's Songs of Innocence and of Experience: From Innocence to Experience to Wise Innocence" (1977). Masters Theses. 3328. https://thekeep.eiu.edu/theses/3328 This is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Theses & Publications at The Keep. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses by an authorized administrator of The Keep. For more information, please contact [email protected]. PAPER CERTIFICATE #2 TO: Graduate Degree Candidates who have written formal theses. SUBJECT: Permission to reproduce theses. The University Library is receiving a number of requests from other institutions asking permission to reproduce dissertations for inclusion in their library holdings. Although no copyright laws are involved, we feel that professional courtesy demands that permission be obtained from the author before we allow theses to be copied. Please sign one of the following statements: Booth Library of Eastern Illinois University has my permission to lend my thesis to a reputable college or university for the purpose of copying it for inclusion in that institution's library or research holdings. �S"Date J /_'117 Author I respectfully request Booth Library of Eastern Illinois University not allow my thesis be reproduced because ��--��- Date Author pdm WILLIAM BLAKE'S SONGS OF INNOCENCE AND OF EXPERIENCE: - FROM INNOCENCE TO EXPERIENCE TO WISE INNOCENCE (TITLE) BY Robert W .
    [Show full text]
  • The Mental Traveller”: Man’S Eternal Journey
    ARTICLE “The Mental Traveller”: Man’s Eternal Journey Izak Bouwer, Paul McNally Blake/An Illustrated Quarterly, Volume 12, Issue 3, Winter 1978-79, pp. 184- 192 184 "THE MENTAL TRAVELLER": MAN'S ETERNAL JOURNEY The spiritual States of the Soul are all Eternal Distinguish between the man, & his present State (Jerusalem 52, El 98, K681) IZAK BOUWER & PAUL McNALLY he Mental Traveller" describes a cycle in Traveller" portrays the successive states through which two figures, one male and one female, which Man passes on his eternal journey, as deter- T grow from infancy to old age and back to mined by the complementary interplay of two prin- infancy again. Each grows younger as the other grows ciples in him: the Spiritual, expressed through his older, so that each is oldest when the other is at imaginative faculty, and the Natural, expressed 5 the point of birth. This curious round of change through his earthly nature. This theme of Man's becomes understandable when we realize that the eternal journey was of profound importance to Blake, figures personify two complementary principles. How- and inspires his entire mythology, so that the poem ever, the interpretation of these principles and of emerges as a compact counterpart to his major work, their cycle of change has proved to be puzzling and and a summary of his spiritual vision. controversial. Of two main critical traditions, the earlier represents the cycle as essentially proto- It was Blake's conviction that "Mental Things typical of cyclic process, and in particular of are alone Real" {VLJ, E555, K617), and he considered historical cycles.2 Such a generalizing approach is it his great task to "open the Eternal Worlds, to out of character for Blake, and the cyclic processes open the immortal Eyes / Of Man inwards into the of history are certainly within the grasp of "cold Worlds of Thought: into Eternity ..." {Jerusalem Earth wanderers," while this cycle is explicitly said 5:18-19, E146, K623).
    [Show full text]
  • Download the Catalogue
    Five Hundred Years of Fine, Fancy and Frivolous Bindings George bayntun Manvers Street • Bath • BA1 1JW • UK Tel: 01225 466000 • Fax: 01225 482122 Email: [email protected] www.georgebayntun.com BOUND BY BROCA 1. AINSWORTH (William Harrison). The Miser's Daughter: A Tale. 20 engraved plates by George Cruikshank. First Edition. Three volumes. 8vo. [198 x 120 x 66 mm]. vii, [i], 296 pp; iv, 291 pp; iv, 311 pp. Bound c.1900 by L. Broca (signed on the front endleaves) in half red goatskin, marbled paper sides, the spines divided into six panels with gilt compartments, lettered in the second and third and dated at the foot, the others tooled with a rose and leaves on a dotted background, marbled endleaves, top edges gilt. (The paper sides slightly rubbed). [ebc2209]. London: [by T. C. Savill for] Cunningham and Mortimer, 1842. £750 A fine copy in a very handsome binding. Lucien Broca was a Frenchman who came to London to work for Antoine Chatelin, and from 1876 to 1889 he was in partnership with Simon Kaufmann. From 1890 he appears under his own name in Shaftesbury Avenue, and in 1901 he was at Percy Street, calling himself an "Art Binder". He was recognised as a superb trade finisher, and Marianne Tidcombe has confirmed that he actually executed most of Sarah Prideaux's bindings from the mid-1890s. Circular leather bookplate of Alexander Lawson Duncan of Jordanstone House, Perthshire. STENCILLED CALF 2. AKENSIDE (Mark). The Poems. Fine mezzotint frontispiece portrait by Fisher after Pond. First Collected Edition. 4to. [300 x 240 x 42 mm].
    [Show full text]
  • William Blake's “The Little Vagabond” and Organized Religion
    International Journal of English Literature and Social Sciences, 5(2) Mar-Apr 2020 |Available online: https://ijels.com/ William Blake’s “The Little Vagabond” and Organized Religion Sun Shuting English Department, North China Electric Power University, China Abstract—This article is an analysis of William Blake’s poem “The Little Vagabond” from the angle of Blake’s views on organized religion. The article identifies three main themes of the poem; happiness, the sacred and the profane and assesses the tension between them. The article assesses the tension between these three in the poem to show Blake’s criticism of organized religion, later developed in his prophetic books. The little vagabond unwittingly identifies a dichotomy of organized religion in its inability to combine happiness with the sacred. Its strictures against happiness make happiness profane. As happiness is exiled to only keep company with the profane, the boy innocently suggests making the sacred the profane. Blake develops these ideas in molding his character of Urizon, the cold lawgiver, father of stern and somber organized religion. Keywords— Christianity, organized religion, Songs of Innocence and Experience, The Little Vagabond, William Blake. I. INTRODUCTION of the poems also hint at the vulnerability of Innocence and “The Little Vagabond” is a William Blake poem of 1794. It the dangerous encroachment of the world of Experience on appears in his Songs of Innocence and Experience, a its simple joys. These poems are usually accompanied by compendium of two poetry anthologies. This book illustrations of bucolic harmony. Experience corresponds appeared in two phases. At first Songs of Innocence to the Fallen world of division and hostility, which arises in appeared in 1789 on its own with Blake illuminating and the rule-governed, cold world of scientific objectivity.
    [Show full text]
  • Huguenot Merchants Settled in England 1644 Who Purchased Lincolnshire Estates in the 18Th Century, and Acquired Ayscough Estates by Marriage
    List of Parliamentary Families 51 Boucherett Origins: Huguenot merchants settled in England 1644 who purchased Lincolnshire estates in the 18th century, and acquired Ayscough estates by marriage. 1. Ayscough Boucherett – Great Grimsby 1796-1803 Seats: Stallingborough Hall, Lincolnshire (acq. by mar. c. 1700, sales from 1789, demolished first half 19th c.); Willingham Hall (House), Lincolnshire (acq. 18th c., built 1790, demolished c. 1962) Estates: Bateman 5834 (E) 7823; wealth in 1905 £38,500. Notes: Family extinct 1905 upon the death of Jessie Boucherett (in ODNB). BABINGTON Origins: Landowners at Bavington, Northumberland by 1274. William Babington had a spectacular legal career, Chief Justice of Common Pleas 1423-36. (Payling, Political Society in Lancastrian England, 36-39) Five MPs between 1399 and 1536, several kts of the shire. 1. Matthew Babington – Leicestershire 1660 2. Thomas Babington – Leicester 1685-87 1689-90 3. Philip Babington – Berwick-on-Tweed 1689-90 4. Thomas Babington – Leicester 1800-18 Seat: Rothley Temple (Temple Hall), Leicestershire (medieval, purch. c. 1550 and add. 1565, sold 1845, remod. later 19th c., hotel) Estates: Worth £2,000 pa in 1776. Notes: Four members of the family in ODNB. BACON [Frank] Bacon Origins: The first Bacon of note was son of a sheepreeve, although ancestors were recorded as early as 1286. He was a lawyer, MP 1542, Lord Keeper of the Great Seal 1558. Estates were purchased at the Dissolution. His brother was a London merchant. Eldest son created the first baronet 1611. Younger son Lord Chancellor 1618, created a viscount 1621. Eight further MPs in the 16th and 17th centuries, including kts of the shire for Norfolk and Suffolk.
    [Show full text]
  • Images of the Divine Vision in the Four Zoas
    Oberlin Digital Commons at Oberlin Honors Papers Student Work 1973 Nature, Reason, and Eternity: Images of the Divine Vision in The Four Zoas Cathy Shaw Oberlin College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.oberlin.edu/honors Part of the English Language and Literature Commons Repository Citation Shaw, Cathy, "Nature, Reason, and Eternity: Images of the Divine Vision in The Four Zoas" (1973). Honors Papers. 754. https://digitalcommons.oberlin.edu/honors/754 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Work at Digital Commons at Oberlin. It has been accepted for inclusion in Honors Papers by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons at Oberlin. For more information, please contact [email protected]. NATURE, nEASON, and ETERNITY: Images of the Divine Vision in The }1'our Zoas by Cathy Shaw English Honors }i;ssay April 26,1973 In The Four Zoas Blake wages mental ,/Ur against nature land mystery, reason and tyranny. As a dream in nine nights, the 1..Jorld of The Four Zoas illustrates an unreal world which nevertheless represents the real t-lorld to Albion, the dreamer. The dreamer is Blake's archetypal and eternal man; he has fallen asleep a~ong the floitlerS of Beulah. The t-lorld he dreams of is a product of his own physical laziness and mental lassitude. In this world, his faculties vie 'tvi th each other for pOi-vel' until the ascendence of Los, the imaginative shapeI'. Los heralds the apocalypse, Albion rem-Jakas, and the itwrld takes on once again its original eternal and infinite form.
    [Show full text]
  • Conservation Management Plan October 2008
    Penllergare Cadwraeth Cynllun Rheolaeth Hydref 2008 Conservation Management Plan October 2008 Ymddiriedolaeth Penllergare The Penllergare Trust Penllergare Cadwraeth Cynllun Rheolaeth Hydref 2008 Conservation Management Plan October 2008 Ymddiriedolaeth Penllergare The Penllergare Trust Penllergare Valley Woods PEN.060 __________________________________________________________________________________________ CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY • CRYNODEB GWEITHREDOL ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 1.0 INTRODUCTION 2.0 METHODOLOGY 3.0 SUMMARY HISTORY AND ANALYSIS 4.0 SITE CONTEXT 5.0 SIGNIFICANCE AND OBJECTIVES 6.0 GENERAL POLICIES AND PROPOSALS 7.0 AREA PROPOSALS FIGURES 1. Site Location and Context 2. Bowen’s and Yates’s county maps, 1729 and 1799 3. The Ordnance Survey Surveyor’s Drawing, 1813 4. The Ordnance Survey Old Series map, 1830 5. Tithe Map, 1838 6. The Garden 7. The Waterfall 8. The Upper Lake 9. The Valley 10. The Lower Lake 11. The Drive 12. The Quarry 13. The Orchid House 14. Fairy Land, The Shanty and Wigwam 15. Panorama of Penllergare 16. Ordnance Survey six-inch map, frst edition, 1875-8 17. Ordnance Survey 1:2500 map, second edition, 1898 18. Ordnance Survey 1:2500 map, third edition, 1916 19. Ordnance Survey 1:2500 map, fourth edition, 1936 20. Air Photograph, 1946 21. Ownership 22. Location of Sites and Monuments surveyed by Cambria Archaeology 23. Simplifed Ecological Habitats, 2002 __________________________________________________________________________________________ The Penllergare Trust 1 Nicholas Pearson Associates Ltd. Conservation
    [Show full text]
  • Blake's Mythic System
    TEMENOS ACADEMY ONLINE PAPERS SUMMER TERM 2020 1 WILLIAM BLAKE’S MYTHIC SYSTEM By DR SUSANNE SKLAR William Blake The Four Zoas (from Milton: A Poem) William Blake’s Mythic System Four Zoas – Four Emanations Los & Enitharmon Imagination Urizen & Ahania Reason Luvah & Vala Feeling Function Tharmas & Enion Basic Needs Four States of Being Ulro Generation Beulah Eden/Eternity Copyright © Susanne Sklar Temenos Academy, May 2020 1 William Blake’s Mythic System William Blake’s mythic system is designed to change the way we think and see, to lead us into a world where imagination and ferocious forgiveness are social structuring principles. Featuring Zoas, Emanations, and different states of being, Blake’s system evolved throughout his working life. This paper outlines the basic features of that system, as well as some sources influencing key concepts in his prophetic vision. Blake’s mythic system evolved between 1789 and 1820. In those 31 years, he created 13 illuminated books (S1)1, and a manuscript called Vala, or the Four Zoas (FZ). He never engraved that text, but his subsequent books – Milton (1804), and Jerusalem: The Emanation of the Giant Albion (1804-21) - assume that you know it, that you know about Blake’s characters and locations. Blake’s system is most fully formed in Jerusalem (J), his masterpiece, which, Blake tells us, was dictated to him by Jesus (S2). In its first scene he announces his purpose and he prays: I rest not from my great task! To open the Eternal Worlds, to open the immortal Eyes Of Man inwards into the Worlds of Thought, into Eternity Ever expanding in the Bosom of God, the Human Imagination.
    [Show full text]
  • Nanteos Estate Records, (GB 0210 NANTEOS)
    Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru = The National Library of Wales Cymorth chwilio | Finding Aid - Nanteos Estate Records, (GB 0210 NANTEOS) Cynhyrchir gan Access to Memory (AtoM) 2.3.0 Generated by Access to Memory (AtoM) 2.3.0 Argraffwyd: Mai 04, 2017 Printed: May 04, 2017 Wrth lunio'r disgrifiad hwn dilynwyd canllawiau ANW a seiliwyd ar ISAD(G) Ail Argraffiad; rheolau AACR2; ac LCSH This description follows NLW guidelines based on ISAD(G) Second Edition; AACR2; and LCSH https://archifau.llyfrgell.cymru/index.php/nanteos-estate-records archives.library .wales/index.php/nanteos-estate-records Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru = The National Library of Wales Allt Penglais Aberystwyth Ceredigion United Kingdom SY23 3BU 01970 632 800 01970 615 709 [email protected] www.llgc.org.uk Nanteos Estate Records, Tabl cynnwys | Table of contents Gwybodaeth grynodeb | Summary information .............................................................................................. 3 Hanes gweinyddol / Braslun bywgraffyddol | Administrative history | Biographical sketch ......................... 3 Natur a chynnwys | Scope and content .......................................................................................................... 4 Trefniant | Arrangement .................................................................................................................................. 5 Nodiadau | Notes ............................................................................................................................................. 5 Pwyntiau
    [Show full text]
  • Jerusalem” As City and Emanation: Places and People in Blake’S Poetry
    “JERUSALEM” AS CITY AND EMANATION: PLACES AND PEOPLE IN BLAKE’S POETRY C.C. BARFOOT The obvious place for an article such as this to start is with the lyric that everyone knows as “Blake’s ‘Jerusalem’”: And did those feet in ancient time Walk upon England’s mountains green? And was the holy Lamb of God On England’s pleasant pastures seen? And did the Countenance Divine Shine forth upon our clouded hills? And was Jerusalem builded here Among these dark Satanic Mills? Bring me my Bow of burning gold: Bring me my Arrows of desire: Bring me my Spear: O clouds unfold! Bring me my Chariot of fire. I will not cease from Mental Fight, Nor shall my Sword sleep in my hand, Till we have built Jerusalem In England’s green & pleasant Land.1 In Blake’s Preface to Milton, this is followed by a quotation from the Bible (Numbers xi 29): “Would to God that all the Lord’s people were prophets!” To which we can only say, Amen! – especially after one has paused to consider the ways that “Blake’s ‘Jerusalem’” as well as Blake’s Jerusalem (his concept and dramatization of “Jerusalem”) has been hijacked and abused by all sorts of people who have never cared to discover what he might have meant by the name and who would have been outraged if indeed they had ever found out. 1 William Blake, Milton, “Preface” (text as in Blake, Complete Writings, ed. Geoffrey Keynes, Oxford Standard Authors edn, Oxford, 1966, 480-81). 60 C.C.
    [Show full text]
  • "The Tyger": Genesis & Evolution in the Poetry of William Blake
    "The Tyger": Genesis & Evolution in the Poetry of William Blake Author(s): PAUL MINER Source: Criticism, Vol. 4, No. 1 (Winter 1962), pp. 59-73 Published by: Wayne State University Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/23091046 Accessed: 20-06-2016 19:39 UTC Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at http://about.jstor.org/terms JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Wayne State University Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Criticism This content downloaded from 128.143.23.241 on Mon, 20 Jun 2016 19:39:44 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms PAUL MINER* r" The TygerGenesis & Evolution in the Poetry of William Blake There is the Cave, the Rock, the Tree, the Lake of Udan Adan, The Forest and the Marsh and the Pits of bitumen deadly, The Rocks of solid fire, the Ice valleys, the Plains Of burning sand, the rivers, cataract & Lakes of Fire, The Islands of the fiery Lakes, the Trees of Malice, Revenge And black Anxiety, and the Cities of the Salamandrine men, (But whatever is visible to the Generated Man Is a Creation of mercy & love from the Satanic Void). (Jerusalem) One of the great poetic structures of the eighteenth century is William Blake's "The Tyger," a profound experiment in form and idea.
    [Show full text]
  • William Blake
    THE WORKS of WILLIAM BLAKE jSptfrolu, tmir dpritical KDITEO WITH LITHOORAPIIS OF THE ILLUSTRATED “ PROPHETIC BOOKS," AND A M8 M0 IH AND INTERPRETATION EDWIN JOHN ELLIS A ttlh n r n f “Miff »ii A rcatliit,** rfr* Asn WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS Author of ** The JVnnilerinfj* nf Ohin,** " The Crwutesi Kathleen," ifr. “ Hnng nin to the te»t Ami I Lh* m&ttor will iv-wnnl, which nmdnp** Would ftumlml from M Jfauttef /.V TUJIKE VOI.S. VOL 1 LONDON BERNARD QUARITCH, 15 PICCADILLY 1893 \ A lt R ig h t* k *M*rv*ifl & 0 WILLIAM LINNELL THIS WORK IS INSCRIBED. PREFACE. The reader must not expect to find in this account of Blake's myth, or this explanation of his symbolic writings, a substitute for Blake's own works. A paraphrase is given of most of the more difficult poems, but no single thread of interpretation can fully guide the explorer through the intricate paths of a symbolism where most of the figures of speech have a two-fold meaning, and some are employed systematically in a three­ fold, or even a four-fold sense. " Allegory addressed to the intellectual powers while it is altogether hidden from the corporeal understanding is my definition," writes Blake, "of the most sublime poetry." Letter to Butts from Felpham, July 6th, 1803. Such allegory fills the "Prophetic Books," yet it is not so hiddon from the corporeal understanding as its author supposed. An explanation, continuous throughout, if not complete for side issues, may be obtained from the enigma itself by the aid of ordinary industry.
    [Show full text]