Blake+06

 by Alissa, Patrick and Rachel

= Poetry =

HOLY THURSDAY - Songs of Innocence
'Twas on a holy Thursday, their innocent faces clean, The children walking two and two, in red, and blue, and green: Grey-headed beadles walked before, with wands as white as snow, Till into the high dome of Paul's they like Thames waters flow.

O what a multitude they seemed, these flowers of London town! Seated in companies they sit, with radiance all their own. The hum of multitudes was there, but multitudes of lambs, Thousands of little boys and girls raising their innocent hands. Now like a mighty wind they raise to heaven the voice of song, Or like harmonious thunderings the seats of heaven among: Beneath them sit the aged men, wise guardians of the poor. Then cherish pity, lest you drive an angel from your door.

Analysis:
William Blake's Holy Thursday from his Songs of Innocence is filled with imagery of nature and society. In the first stanza, Blake uses lots of images of color to create images of the children's clothes and the churchmen. References to the "snow" and "Thames waters" serve to create a sense of nature in the first stanza. The entire poem is full of references to religion, like the mention of St Paul's cathedral in the 4th line of the first stanza. Blake also mentions that the children are like lambs in the third stanza, a reference to either Jesus Christ, as he is the Lamb of God, or possibly claiming that the children are foolish for continuing to practice a religion they don't understand, as sheep and lambs follow their leader. More reference to nature in the second stanza with flowers in the first line, lambs. Blake uses alliteration in line 3 stanza 1 with "wands" and "white." The rhyme scheme in the poem is AABB CCDD EEFF. The last stanza contains more imagery of nature in the last stanza, such as the "mighty wind" and "harmonious thunderings." The last line of the poem seems to contain a biblical reference to Job or Abraham, who showed kindness to strangers who were actually angels.

HOLY THURSDAY - Songs of Experience
Is this a holy thing to see In a rich and fruitful land, - Babes reduced to misery, Fed with cold and usurous hand?

Is that trembling cry a song? Can it be a song of joy? And so many children poor? It is a land of poverty!

And their sun does never shine, And their fields are bleak and bare, And their ways are filled with thorns, It is eternal winter there.

For where'er the sun does shine, And where'er the rain does fall, Babe can never hunger there, Nor poverty the mind appal.

Analysis:
In William Blake's Holy Thursday from his Song's of Experience he uses many images of nature throughout the poem. Like some other Romantic poets, Blake has a somber tone in which he describes the land and the poor people who inhabit it. He describes a dismal landscape of "eternal winter" in the third stanza. However, the second stanza seems to imply hope, as even the poor, weak child can cry a "song of joy." The first stanza seems to follow the ABAB rhyme scheme yet the remainder of the poem does not seem to follow any particular rhyme, however there is alliteration in the third stanza, with "bleak" and "bare," and the fourth stanza, "sun" and "shine." The poem seems to be a call for social reform, suggesting that even in the "rich and fruitful land" of England, poverty exists that hurts so many people.

Connections:
The two poems, sharing the same name, are very dissimilar. The Holy Thursday of the Songs of Innocence seems to convey a sense of power and awe while the Holy Thursday of the Songs of Experience is mournful. However, the poems are connected by the "song of joy" present in each. Although pessimism and unhappiness pervade the second, the children in both poems find reason to be joyous on Holy Thursday. The second poem seems to imply that the "wise guardians" in the third stanza of the first poem do not do enough for their poor charges, as the poor continue to suffer even with the riches of the country around their perpetual winter. Even though the landscapes of the poems differ considerably, the poems are very similar. While one is in the grand city of London and the other is in a desolate countryside, both depict the songs of joy from children on Holy Thrusday.

 Art

Infant Joy ==




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// Infant Joy // expresses the simple love for a newborn child. Only two days old, the infant radiates innocence, free of any societal corruption. This new bundle of life brings the prospect of hope and happiness. The baby and the mother each voice their thoughts in their respective stanzas. Both embrace the wondrous entrance of the child into life. The infant knows that he is full of future potential, and looks forward to welcoming joy into his life. Lines 1, 3, and 5 illustrate the child’s feelings. “I have no name… What shall I call thee? … Joy is my name.” The mother is simply overjoyed with the birth of her newborn, and smiles and sings her happiness at the miraculous introduction of a precious life. ======

The painting that William Blake complements the poem with creates a scene of tranquility and innocence. The mother carefully cradles the baby as a watchful angel blesses them. They all sit in a flower, a symbol of growth and life itself. The flower on the right seems to share some characteristics with the newborn; they both have the potential to grow into a beautiful blossom. The entire painting is filled with the acknowledgement of the beauty of life.

The scene is quite colorful, with wide use of reds, yellows, greens, and blues. It is extremely organic as well, utilizing curves and swirls to create a soft and lively picture. The outside edges of the painting have deeper shades of blue, to indicate that the child is a shining light in the center that illuminates the darkness of the rest of the world. Also important to note is that Blake bends the flowers and the leaves around the written poetry in the painting. The stems curve around the words, and extending leaves fill in any empty voids. All of these artistic techniques further enhance the outward display of the appreciation of life found in //Infant Joy//. 







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// Infant Sorrow // was written by Blake as a counterpart to //Infant Joy//. The poem suggests that life brings not happiness, but pain and sorrow. This birth seemed to be unwanted by the depressed parents. Even the child says in Line 1, “My mother groan’d! my father wept.” Blake now calls more attention to the environment in which the baby is born. He hypothesizes that this baby will be sheltered by his parents for some time, until he grows older and fully experiences the emptiness and disappointment in life. Blake believes that society is corrupt and pointless, an unhealthy environment for any child to be raised in. As the poem concludes, the infant thought it best “To sulk upon my mother’s breast”, as if to enjoy the last few comforts in life that he would ever experience. =====

As opposed to //Infant Joy//, //Infant Sorrow// invokes a more depressing scene. The colors are much more faded, with more use of neutral tones. The organic curves of the other piece contrast the straighter and more definitive geometric lines used in //Infant Sorrow//. The infant cries out in despair as the weary mother half-heartedly tries to calm him down and comfort him. The ground seems to be littered with dirt, as if to represent the conditions of the environment in which the child would eventually be thrown into. Instead of being set outside, the scene in //Infant Sorrow// is trapped inside a depressing room, with more crowded conditions and enclosing curtains. No sign of life outside of the mother and her child can be seen. All of these characteristics of the painting contribute to Black’s emphasis that the future for the tiny infant will only be dark, depressing, and gloomy.

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A Negro Hung Alive by the Ribs to a Gallows

First off, some background about this piece-
 *  || This disturbing image was created for a book entitled, //Narrative of a Five-Years' Expedition against the Revolted Negroes of Surinam//. The author, Englishman John Gabriel Stedman, was hired by the Dutch to help quell slave uprisings in their South American colony. In his "narrative" he describes the plants and animals he encountered, as well as how he and fellow soldiers tortured runaway slaves who had been recaptured.

//A Negro Hung Alive by the Ribs to a Gallows// is based on a crude sketch by Stedman, engraved by the famous English poet and artist, William Blake. Its graphic depiction of a slave in Surinam hanging by a single rib illustrates the general lack of compassion whites had when dealing with enslaved Africans throughout the world. ||

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">This piece depicts the brutal hanging of a black man. The main focus is the man and also the gallows from which he is hanging. Other important items in the work are the skulls (both the one in the foreground and the two in the background), the other bones in the foreground, and the ship in the ocean. A majority of the painting is white, and the white negative space around the man and gallows draws attention to them. Most of the colors are muted and natural except for the dark brown of the mans skin and the blood. The sky isn't blue or grey, like a normal sky would be, but rather it is stark white.

The overall feeling of this piece is very gruesome. The postion of the man is distorted and unnatural, and it adds to the morbid feeling of death that the bones and skulls and blood create. His facial expression also adds to the horror, because his eyes are rolled back in his head and he has a look of pain. The bones are not realistic looking, at least not as realistic looking as the man, so for that reason I don't think they are supposed to be very gorey. The bones probably signify death in a more distant and unemotional sense, while the man signifies the pain and suffering of death. One other interesting piece of this work is the sky and water in the background. They are so neutral that they almost don't even exist. The sky is barely even a sky, it's more like a white background, and the water is just grey lines, they are no waves or texture or anything.

The focus of this painting is definitely the hanging man. The unsightly way he was killed shows a lack of compassion. The blankness of the sky and water add to the inhuman way the man was murdered, because the emptiness symbolizes the lack of compassion. The bones and skulls show that whoever killed this man has killed other before.

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<span style="display: block; font-size: 140%; color: rgb(128,128,128); font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; text-align: center;">The Ghost of a Flea



Again, some background information. This is a quote from Blakes friend and fellow painter, John Varley-


 * “I called on him one evening and found Blake more than usually excited. He told me he had seen a wonderful thing - the ghost of a flea! 'And did you make a drawing of him?' I inquired. 'No, indeed,' said he, 'I wish I had, but I shall, if he appears again!' He looked earnestly into the corner of the room, and said, 'there he is - reach me my things - I shall keep my eye on him. There he comes! his eager tongue whisking out of his mouth, a cup in his hand to hold blood and covered with a scaly skin of gold and green:' - as he described him so he drew him.”**

This painting uses a neutral color scheme too, but it is much dark the the colors in the previous work. The only colors used are browns, tans, black, olive green, and some yellow. The lines are organic, becuse they are creating the flea, which is a organic looking thing. The focus is on the flea, and the focus is created partially by the light coming from the left side of the piece. Shadow and shading is used alot, and it creates many of the lines and shapes of the painting.

It is very unrealistic, because the flea is depicted much like a man. The piece also has a whimsical feel, which is created by the mere idea of a flea ghost and by the depiction and position of the flea. The flea seems like a man because of the shading and form of the body, which is very muscular. In this work, the flea also has a creepy look, which is because of the bulging eyes and sticking out tounge.

When I first looked at this work, I thought the flea was on a stage. The background looks like theatre curtains, and the stars and spotlight also add to the illusion that he is on a stage. The stance of the the flea looks like he is performing a little dance, and the thing in his hand could be a tophat. But when I read the John Varley quote, it occured to me that the flea might just be in the corner of a room like he says, and the stance could be a coincidence.
 * My Opinion*

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