Blake+07

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 * The Art & Poetry of William Blake 

__ The Whirlwind of Lovers __



Background:** Blake painted this watercolor of the scene Canto V from Dante's //Inferno// in the Divine Comedy sometime between 1824 and 1827. In the scene, Dante meets an adulteress' spirit. After hearing the tale of Francesca da Rimini's adultery with Paola, Dante passes out in front of the poet Virgil, who has become his guide through the underworld. Although other images have been produced of this same scene because of its popularity, Blake had a unique take on it. The sinful lovers rise in swirls out of restless water, yet Francesca and Paola cuddle with a shining light above Virgil's head, possibly given salvation because of the strength of their love. The reddish-brown colors of the water and Dante's shirt are said to symbolize passion, while the bluish blacks in the sky and Virgil's shirt are said to symbolize imagination. [|Blake's unique take on Dante]

In this artwork there is a flowing movement of naked human forms that seem to rise out of a river or some other substance at the base of a cliff and then float, wisp-like into the sky. As the forms rise they go from distinct shapes into blurs, from separate souls they blend into one entity. Reddish tints at the base of the piece give the impression of heat, making the lighter tints and dark shaded bodies in the swirls appear like steam coming up off of water, almost as if the fires of Hell have been doused with water and the souls are finally freely rising to Heaven (or a better place in general). Although the eye is immediately drawn to the swirling figures, which appear nearer to the observer, it ends up focused on an orb of light. The star-like image is almost a geometric circle, however the truly organic lines are simply implied by the sharp contrast between the image’s extremely pale tints of yellowish-brown and the darker shades of the rest of the painting. Within this emphasized region, two forms huddle together like lovers. The suggestion gives way to the thought that love leads the way to Heaven/eternal life, because the star/ball of light guides the swirl of souls into the sky. Underneath, the ‘light’ blurs the face of a standing figure. This figure’s hands are also blurred, and its robes make it darker than all the other forms in the piece. Lack of clear facial features, hands, and a completely shrouded body skew everything that makes it ‘human’, creating an unknown and a fear of it. At its feet lies a body in robes of brown, a color that is lighter than the robes of the dark standing figure. This shows the figure laying face up to be more natural and susceptible than the more supernatural, potentially powerful, dark, standing figure. The arms of this body are spread on the ground submissively; exposed to peril, sin, and death. The general idea of this piece, when viewed as a whole, is that light (maybe heaven/God/people’s souls) and love prevail in spite of threats of darkness (perhaps Hell/Satan/sin).
 * Analysis:**

__ **Auguries of Innocence** __

Beats all the lies you can invent. It is right it should be so: Man was made for joy and woe; And when this we rightly know Through the world we safely go. Joy and woe are woven fine, A clothing for the soul divine." ** [|Click here for entire poem.]
 * "A truth that's told with bad intent



In this poem, William Blake begins with a stanza that says someone who essentially ‘stops to smell the roses’, or rather takes the time to simply absorb the world around them has life and happiness in their grasp. To become one with their surroundings he states the necessity of using imagination. If a person can imagine heaven in a flower he or she can use their imagination to find perfection anywhere. After the first four lines Blake goes on a rant about various unfortunate circumstances, all with negative end results, primarily the loss of innocence and thusly knowledge. In the lines “A robin redbreast in a cage/ Puts all heaven in a rage,” the free-flying harmless creature is taken out of its natural habitat. These lines symbolize how the loss of freedoms causes an imbalance in the world’s natural perfection, which is represented by heaven in this instance. Another stanza representative of the loss of innocence describes a boy hurting a defenseless wren and a man who bothered an ox. Those who act disrespectfully towards other creatures not only loose their innocence but become hated by fellow human beings. Belief in one’s own imagination is an idea strongly supported in this poem. According to Blake a child should not be taught doubt, but rather revered for their beliefs, because one who possesses both the innocence of childhood and the knowledge that accompanies age will conquer all evils. The theme of this poem is that innocence is necessary to be truly knowledgeable, open to the world as a whole, and to eliminate sin and ignorance.
 * Analysis:**

= = 1795/ca.1805 | Color print finished in pen and ink and watercolor on paper** In this color print, Blake depicts Sir Isaac Newton, the philosopher and mathematician. He is making a diagram on a scroll which appears to project from his head. Newton seems to be so absorbed in his work that he doesn’t take any notice of the underwater world around him. The rock upon which Newton is sitting appears to have a rough, intricate texture, which contrasts with the smoothness of Newton's skin and his diagram. Perhaps this contrast serves to illustrate the difference in complexity of nature's beauty compared to man's wisdom. The marvelous designs on the rock are situated behind Newton, so that if Newton were going to appreciate their beauty, he would have to turn away from his work. Newton is drawn naked, so it seems peculiar that he would be working on a mathematical diagram in such a natural state. He would fit better in the natural world if he were without his scroll. Blake criticized Newton for attempting to apply mathematical and scientific reason to the entire universe, therefore separating reason from imagination. Because Newton is enslaved by his reason, he is unable to appreciate the beauty of the world. [|Source]
 * __Newton__


 * __ The Divine Image & The Human Abstract __**

In "The Divine Image," Blake personifies Mercy, Pity, Peace, and Love, and names them the "virtues of delight" to which men pray. The speaker says that God is made up of these virtues, but that these virtues also characterize man. Therefore, when a person prays to these virtues, they are not only praying to God, but to the "human form divine." Since the virtues and God are connected to the human form divine, every person must respect this divine image as well as God. The divine image is basically man's mental creation of what God is. Mercy, Pity, Peace, and Love are the most ideal virtues of man, and so man pictures God as these things. In "The Human Abstract," the companion poem to "The Divine Image", Mercy, Pity, Peace, and Love are no longer positive virtues at all, but are negatively associated with poorness, unhappiness, fear, and selfishness. This poem illustrates the way in which the significant role of mental configurations in religion have a negative effect on man's perception of himself and of God. The speaker states that there would be no need for Pity and Mercy if there were no such things as poverty and unhappiness, and that Peace can only exist after fear. The description of the tree paints a picture of Mercy, Pity, Peace, and Love as a place for Cruelty to plan a tree of Humility, Mystery, and Deceit. From the roots of Humility grow the branches of Mystery and the fruit of Deceit. The poem uses this illustration to represent the experiences of the human mind. The tree is not natural, and therefore man's abstract reasoning is not natural either. [|Source] [|Source] __**
 * Analysis: **

The Sick Rose **__



The invisible worm, That flies in the night, In the howling storm,
 * O Rose, thou art sick!

Has found out thy bed Of crimson joy; And his dark secret love Does thy life destroy. [|poem source]

Analysis:**

__The Poem__-
 * In the first stanza Blake refers to a rose, a symbol of perfection, love, and beauty, as 'sick'. The sickness may describe a love gone bad or the fact that not even something beautiful lasts forever. Like the rose, the relationship was doomed by a force beyond the lovers' control. And like the invisible worm killing the rose, an evil creature slowly dismantled the flawless love. Some sources conclude that this 'worm' may actually be symbolic of the garden of Eden. As Satan had tempted Eve to abandon her love for Adam and loyalty to God, the worm threatens to mar the rose's perfection, and thus the lovers' perfect relationship. the worm may also represent a man and the dangerous manner in which the rose, or woman, sexually craves him. The two 'fly' in the night, rendered sightless by the darkness/their sins, blinded by love and sexual attraction. The next line about the storm gives the poem an ominous feeling and exemplifies the continuous dangers of the lovers' affair. The second stanza represents the fall of the lovers' relationship. Several words in this stanza point towards the idea that the relationship was an affair and that it was discovered. "Found out thy bed of crimson joy," may describe the cheaters' love bed, and crimson joy elaborates upon the love they felt, but also carries negative connotations of blood and deep, dark feelings. The two lines almost seem resentful and wistful at the same time. this may be because it was the danger of being caught that made their love such a joy. Remembering the moments takes away the new found pain for a short while. Of course the woman's love would be destroyed if the secret love was discovered because she would be labeled as dirty and impure. Like Blake's sick rose, the woman becomes imperfect, because of something that 'used' her. This poem is an example of the destruction and shame love and passion lead to--beauty's undoing.

__The Artwork__-
 * This painting uses organic lines to shape leaves, stems, and three roses, creating a piece that flows together around the poem. The watercolors give the painting a fuzzy, somewhat vague appearance, just like the eight-lined poem. Contrast between the light blues at the top of the artwork and the darker blues in the bottom left corner draw the observer's attention to the fully blossomed rose. The lighter colors are nearer to the smaller roses, which resemble girls sleeping on the thorny stems. This gives the top half of the poem an innocent and fresh look, yet the thorns show the constant threat of temptation that the 'roses' face. However, the emphasis is placed on the bloomed rose surrounded by darkness because it is the subject of the poem. The darker shades represent the peril of the rose. As it dies, beauty and innocence die with it. A woman leans out of this rose, arms outstretched, as if she wishes to fly away from her problems. Blake uses her attachment to the rose to display the loss of her innocence. The woman's beauty thus perishes with the rose. Blake creates a balance in his artwork by having two innocent 'roses' above his poem and one doomed 'rose' below it. The difference in the proximity the ground also shows the demise of the relationship and the negative way in which it is viewed. The innocents are located closer to heaven then the 'rose' who has sinned. this piece's unity allows the viewer to imagine the rose's decay; as it sinks downward it becomes dark and sinful.


 * The Meaning of a Rose:**
 * **RED **= love, beauty, perfection, & romance
 * PINK =grace, elegance admiration, appreciation, & joy
 * YELLOW = friendship & happiness
 * <span style="font-size: 130%; color: rgb(225,208,208); font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; background-color: rgb(6,4,4);">WHITE = purity, innocence, honor, reverence, & new beginnings
 * <span style="font-size: 130%; color: rgb(255,122,0); font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">ORANGE = desire, energy, & enthusiasm
 * <span style="font-size: 130%; color: rgb(230,143,188); font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">Lavender = enchantment & love at first sight
 * [|Roses for all occasions...]**