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And Wordsworth's “Intimations Ode” Academic Forum 30 2012-13 4. Palka, B.P., An Introduction to Complex Function Theory , Springer-Verlag, New York, 1991. Conceptions of Innocence and Experience in Blake’s “The Book of Thel” and Wordsworth’s “Intimations Ode” Ashley Pitcock Mentor: Peggy Dunn Bailey, Ph.D. Chair and Professor of English Abstract Both William Blake’s “The Book of Thel” and William Wordsworth’s “Ode: Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood” explore the effects of leaving a perfect, enlightened world and entering the flawed domain of man while suggesting the pre-existence of the human soul. Wordsworth’s ode envisions the world as an imperfect, but worthwhile environment while Blake’s poem focuses on the dangers and pains that accompany it. The authors paint differing pictures of this world of experience by personifying nature, employing vivid imagery of the soul before and after its descent, and by using significant symbols in their respective epigraphs to reflect their overall views. These devices work together to provide the reader with a choice of how to handle this knowledge of the once divine, but now unkind, universe. Essay It is the “obstinate questionings / of sense and outward things” that constitute the bulk of human life in both William Blake’s “The Book of Thel” and William Wordsworth’s “Ode: Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood” (Wordsworth 9.141-42). Questioning the world in which they live, both authors explore the effects of leaving a perfect, enlightened world and entering the flawed domain of man while suggesting the pre-existence of the human soul. Wordsworth’s ode envisions the world as an imperfect, but worthwhile environment while Blake’s poem focuses on the dangers and pains that accompany it. The authors paint differing pictures of this world of experience by personifying nature, employing vivid imagery of the soul before and after its descent, and by using significant symbols in their respective epigraphs to reflect their overall views. These devices work together to provide the reader with a choice of how to handle this knowledge of the once divine, but now unkind, universe. A Romantic idea of nature as something not only alive, but also completely sentient is explored quite literally in Blake’s “The Book of Thel”. He uses personification to form a dialogue between the innocent yet unsatisfied Thel and the other inhabitants of the Vales of Har. Described as “small” and “lowly,” the Lilly answers Thel’s cries of dissatisfaction concerning her lack of purpose in life (Blake 1.1.17). The Lilly wants to help Thel, as do all of Blake’s personified natural elements, crawl out of her melancholia. The Lilly’s speech 5 Academic Forum 30 2012-13 originally emphasizes her weaknesses in life, stating “the gilded butterfly scarce perches on [her] head,” but shifts to a description of her strong relationship with God (Blake 1.1.18). She maintains a personal relationship with the Divine who “visited from heaven” and “spreads his hand” over the flower each morning (Blake 1.1.19). He heals and encourages the Lilly to move forward in life despite her supposed weaknesses. Blake’s creation of the Vales of Har serves as a metaphor for life before life: it represents what happens to a soul who has yet to be born. In this pre-existent world, the creatures can share a personal relationship with God unlike the one man can experience on Earth. God reassures the Lilly that she will be “clothed in light” and “fed with morning manna” (Blake 1.1.23). Blake uses the Lilly as an example of how the fair maiden, Thel, should be. The Lilly knows and accepts that her purpose in life is to “nourish the innocent lamb” and to “scatter” perfume across the land (Blake 2.1.5, 9). She “loves to dwell in lowly vales,” is happy with her life, and knows that God will take care of her (Blake 1.1.17). The Lilly does not understand Thel’s complaints about lacking substance in her life, and Thel struggles to comprehend how the Lilly can serve so many purposes. Thel feels “like a parting cloud” who is nothing more than a fleeting footnote to the world, but the Lilly is willing to sacrifice herself for others because it is her purpose (Blake 1.1.8). No part of the Lilly’s sacrifice will be in vain because she is all about giving back to the world. Blake paints the Lilly as the ideal: a person who completes her function in life and wants for nothing more. Thel’s conversation with the Lilly only serves to further her disconnect from the Vales of Har. She feels that she has no purpose, and so she questions what her life will mean in the end. Thel longs for the certainty that this simple flower possesses and yet cannot subjugate herself to a life without questions. Marjorie Levinson believes the conversation between Thel and the Lilly might take place in the girl’s head and that Thel “projects her answers into them” (Levinson 293). By having Thel answer her own questions, Levinson states that Thel is “hearing what it is that she knows,” and “glimpsing” what she does not (Levinson 293). This view of the dialogue could explain why it is that the Lilly’s speech so thoroughly depresses Thel; it is simply another example of her thinking too much. Blake’s crafty personification of this tiny flower presents the reader with a foil to Thel. The Lilly exemplifies blind devotion while Thel seeks impossible answers to life’s questions; thus, Thel’s discontent grows with every piece of knowledge she gains. Blake continues his personification of nature through his depictions of the “tender” Cloud and the matronly “Clod of Clay” (2.1.13). Blake creates an atmosphere of unity and togetherness throughout the Vales of Har and repeatedly highlights each individual creature’s unique relationship to God. The Cloud with his “golden head” and “bright form” attempts to answer Thel’s questions by describing his own place in the water cycle (Blake 3.2.5). The Cloud shows such optimism and faith because he knows that his disappearance leads not to death but “to tenfold life, to love, to peace, to raptures holy” (Blake 3.2.10-11). Thel worries that she will “fade away” and become nothing more that fodder for insects, but the Cloud tells her that she is not alone (Blake 3.2.21). Blake uses the Cloud to reaffirm a theme first purported by the Lilly: “Every thing that lives /Lives not alone, nor for itself” (3.2.26-7). In this fantastical realm of the Vales of Har, no creature is alone. A benevolent force connects them all, and that force is God. 6 Academic Forum 30 2012-13 This idea is further explained by Mother Nature, or as Blake calls her, the “Clod of Clay” (4.3.7). Responding to the pitiful cries of a lowly worm, the Clod of Clay scolds Thel for assuming that she is alone and declares “we live not for ourselves” (Blake 4.3.10). In the Vales of Har, there should be no individual. Every person, place, or thing serves a greater purpose and helps one another in very specific ways. Their innocence and ignorance feed off of more innocence and ignorance. Blake personifies nature as God’s wife who has “nuptial bands” around her chest (5.3.2). Nature is entwined with divinity and all living creatures are their children. The Clod of Clay tells Thel that she “cannot know” all of God’s truths but that she continues to “live and love” despite this fact (Blake 5.3.5-6). Mother Nature tries to get Thel to accept that living in ignorance is better than facing the incomprehensible. However, despite her views on the matter, the Clod of Clay cannot ignore the pained cries of her daughter Thel. She wants to teach, guide, and expose Thel to the world of experience. Blake uses the Clod of Clay to present an opportunity for Thel to glimpse the world of experience and yet remain connected to the world of innocence. The Clod of Clay shows motherly compassion and allows Thel to make up her own mind about the Earth by entering its gates and witnessing it firsthand. Blake’s paradise is one made up of pure innocence, selflessness, and joy, but it is one lacking insight or depth. By personifying nature in the pre-existent state, he paints a happier world that enjoys the privilege of direct interaction with God so unlike the one with which man is familiar. Wordsworth’s “Ode: Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood” also utilizes the personification of nature, but instead of alienating the world of experience it serves to bring out its inherent beauty. Wordsworth describes nature as something that once was “Apparelled in celestial light” (1.4). He goes on to describe nature using celebratory terms not to create a vision of paradise, as Blake’s poem does, but to prove how far the Earth is from perfection. He personifies the Rainbow and the Moon who delight in looking upon the heavens (Wordsworth 2.12-13). He lists multiple reasons why nature is so grand, so beautiful, and yet he feels that it is lacking something. While “The sunshine is a glorious birth,” these lovely descriptions do not even begin to describe the beautifulness of the land before life (Wordsworth 2.16). The birds sing “a joyous song” and the innocent lambs dance to “the tabor’s sound,” but the speaker, Wordsworth himself, has lost something incredibly valuable (3.19-21).
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