Blake+10

=The William Blake Exhibit =

Sponsored by Nick, Tyler, and Anthony
=**Jacob's Ladder **=

[[image:http://www.members.shaw.ca/hermandooyeweerd/Images/blake_jacobsladder.jpg width="439" height="572"]]
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This painting, is based on the biblical story of Jacob's dream. To see the [|Bible passage] see this link. Passage is under Jacob's Dream at Bethel (lines 10 to 22). The Bible passage on which this painting is based tells of Jacob, who lays down to sleep after traveling for the day. He has a dream of a ladder extending from the Earth to Heaven, and angels "ascending and descending on it." The staircase and the angels are clearly depicted, and Jacob is in the foreground dreaming. This painting contains mostly organic and implied lines. It's a very natural painting and not geometric at all. The lines of the spiral staircase are somewhat diagonal and really catch the viewer’s eye. This watercolor uses complimentary colors. These colors, mainly orange and the blue, represent the heavens and earth respectively. These colors also produce contrast and high value. There is an implied line in between the starry sky and the rays of light that separates heaven and Earth. The emphasis of the painting is on the ladder in the center and the figures ascending and descending it. The movement in the painting follows the staircase up into the heavens.  =**The Argument **=

Rintrah roars & shakes his fires in the burden'd air; Hungry clouds swag on the deep Once meek, and in a perilous path, The just man kept his course along The vale of death. Roses are planted where thorns grow. And on the barren heath Sing the honey bees. Then the perilous path was planted: And a river, and a spring On every cliff and tomb; And on the bleached bones Red clay brought forth. Till the villain left the paths of ease, To walk in perilous paths, and drive The just man into barren climes. Now the sneaking serpent walks In mild humility. And the just man rages in the wilds Where lions roam. Rintrah roars & shakes his fires in the burden'd air; Hungry clouds swag on the deep.

[|Source]

In this poem, Blake details the path of a man through various obstacles. The poem begins with the man walking through a valley of death. However the valley is filled with roses and honey bees, directly contrasting with the implications of death. In the valley there lies a path. Blake uses the path as an allegory for life, with the cliffs and rivers representing obstacles that the man must face in his life. The red clay and bones represent the dead companions and family member's the man will lose as his life goes on. At this point the “villain” forces the man off the path and into an empty, desolate area. Thus the villain now walks the path, and the man is left lost in a primal state. The poem ends with the same lines as it begins with, indicating that the events of the poem are cyclical. The villain will become the man, and a new villain will take his place. I believe that Blake intended this poem to comment on the hardships that one goes through during his life, and the fact that history repeats itself.

The companion plate to the poem "The Argument" by William Blake is viewed above. The calm scene in this etching provides a stark contrast to the poem. Two people are relaxing in the background and a man is handing fruit to a woman in the foreground. This depiction clashes with the dreary and morbid content of the poem. Blake places colors with similar hues next to each other in the etching. In the background he uses light blue and red, and in the foreground he uses a light yellow for the woman and a light green for the man. The birds in the background imply movement, as do the horizontal tree branches blowing in the wind. The area occupied by the text also creates a lot of negative space. There is a definite lack of equality in the piece, with most of the emphasis being placed on the man and woman in the tree on the right side. Blake uses actual lines to outline and place emphasis on the shapes on the man, woman, and tree. The actual lines in the background draw attention to a dark misshapen tree, sharply contrasting with the light blue and red of the sky.

=**The Number of the Beast is 666 **=



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This companionless painting by Blake depicts the apparent struggle between good and evil, heaven and hell, or God and the Devil. The painting uses leading lines such as the Devil's wings and the spine of the white figure to draw the viewers eyes into the middle of the piece, where the conflict takes place. Blake gives this piece depth by placing God in front of the Devil, having his arm cross the Devil's right leg to complete the allusion. This placement of the God closer to us has it appear as if he is protecting us from the Devil, which sits behind on a pile of rock. The Devil's apparent defiance of the God, shown by his upturned head to God's pointing hand, adds to the tension between the two halves of the painting.The two halves contain contrasting colors to delineate the vast difference between the two subjects. The Devil is mostly mute colors, dark reds and purples that tend to blend together and fade into the background. God, however, is stark white, almost appear to be glowing in the picture. Every muscle and bone in his body is detailed, giving him a clarity that the Devil lacks. Despite all these techniques Blake is using to separate the Devil and God, he also includes some small details that bring them together. He gave both figures tails, and curling horns, something that is normal for the Devil but not at all usual for God. God also carries a scepter that follows the color scheme of the Devil, containing the mute reds and yellows. This is the only colored item associated with God. This odd connection perhaps is Blake's way of expressing his own religious questions, that perhaps good and evil are not as different as we originally believe.

=The Union of the Soul with God =

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This work of Blake's is an excellent example of his Romantic philosophy. In contrast to the Age of Reason that spurned religion and focused more on the rational and measurable side of life, this etching physically and emotionally embraces religion. The painting uses very organic lines to visually blend the legs of the two figures together, and discerning between the two figures as you move lower on the painting becomes more and more difficult. The choice that Blake made to render this image in black and white instead of color, like most of his other works, also says something about the message he wanted it to convey. By not using color his work, Blake does not detract from the main premise of the soul blending with that of God. Religion often lauds humbleness, which Blake may be emphasizing by not using color. The shapes surrounding the main action in this scene also utilize leading organic lines that bring the eye up towards the heavens. These twisting figures surrounding the man and God are not easily identifiable. In place one can see parts of a face or what looks like a body part, but they blend so fluidly into their surroundings that drawing and conclusion about them is difficult. The reason for their depiction may be to symbolize the loosening grip that the human soul has on its own being. By having the only two recognizable figures in the scene be God and the man, he suggests that the most important part of any scenario is God.

=**On Another's Sorrow **=

Can I see another's woe, And not be in sorrow too? Can I see another's grief, And not seek for kind relief?

Can I see a falling tear, And not feel my sorrow's share? Can a father see his child Weep, nor be with sorrow filled?

Can a mother sit and hear An infant groan, an infant fear? No, no! never can it be! Never, never can it be!

And can He who smiles on all Hear the wren with sorrows small, Hear the small bird's grief and care, Hear the woes that infants bear --

And not sit beside the next, Pouring pity in their breast, And not sit the cradle near, Weeping tear on infant's tear?

And not sit both night and day, Wiping all our tears away? Oh no! never can it be! Never, never can it be!

He doth give his joy to all: He becomes an infant small, He becomes a man of woe, He doth feel the sorrow too.

Think not thou canst sigh a sigh, And thy Maker is not by: Think not thou canst weep a tear, And thy Maker is not year.

Oh He gives to us his joy, That our grief He may destroy: Till our grief is fled an gone He doth sit by us and moan. [|Source]

Throughout On Another's Sorrow, the question "Is it possible to see another person's sadness and not feel their griebf with them?" Blake evokes the senses of sight and sound to describe the sorrow of these people. With sight, he says "Can I see a falling tear,". An example of sound is "Can a mother sit and hear an infant groan, an infant fear?". Blake also uses repetition to answer the question posed in the first two stanzas, "No, no! never can it be! Never, never can it be!" He uses this similar phrase in stanza six, to answer his next question, if God can ever abandon one who is sorrowful. This poem is very religious in that it makes references to Jesus. The seventh stanza says how He gives happiness to all, and "becomes an infant small,". Blake goes on to describe how "He" grows up to be a sad man who feels sorrow. In the final stanza, Blake references to the death of Jesus on the cross in the line "That our grief he may destroy:". The Bible says that by dying on the cross Jesus destroyed our natural sin inherited from Adam and Eve. In summary, Blake asks if we can see another's sorrow and not feel it too. He describes a few scenes of sorrow for examples, and also asks if God can abandon us when we are sad. Blake describes how Jesus died on the cross for us, and in the end he answers his own questions, no one cannot ignore another's sorrow, and no, God will not abandon us.