The Revelation of Social Reality in the Poetry of William Blake
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54691/bcpep.v7i.2693Keywords:
William Blake; Social Reality; Romanticism; Poetry.Abstract
As one of the most outstanding representatives of the Pre-Romanticism poet in the 18th century English literature, William Blake lived through and witnessed an era of great political and social upheaval and transitional period: the American War of Independence, the French Revolution, and the Industrial Revolution which brought significant and essential impact on social and historical progress in England. Coming from the social injustices and the coverage of the dark side of industrial England, Blake caught the pulse of his times through his sharp and deep insight, condemned the oppression and exploitation derived from the authority, tyranny and church, and also called on the oppressed to shatter “the mind-forged manacles” come from the ruling class. In this paper, I want to introduce and interpret the revelation of social reality in the poetry of William Blake by analyzing some of Blake’s poems in terms of main ideas, rhetorical devices, and historical contexts which are underlay and concealed in his poetry deeply.
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References
Blake, William. The Laocoon[M], in Marylynn Johnson&John E. Grant (eds), Blake’s Poetry and Designs. New York&London: W.W. Norton & Co,1979.
Blake, William. The Book of Urizen [M]. Wales: Octavo, 2001.
Blake, William. Songs of Innocence and of Experience [M]. New York: Oxford University Press, 1974.
Fussell, Paul. Poetic Meter and Poetic Form [M]. New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc, 1979.
Ackroyd, Peter. Blake [M]. New York: Ballantine Books, 1997.
Heather, Glen. Vision and Disenchantment: Blake’s Song and Wordsworth’s Lyrical Ballads [M]. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1983.
Blake, William. The Mental Traveler [M]. Seattle: Washington Press, 1977.
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