Blake :: essays research papers

A rebel all of his life, Blake was once arrested on a trumped up shake up of sedition. Of course, he was a complete sympathizer with the forces of revolution, both in America and France. He was a personal friend of Thomas Paine and made the American struggle of Independence and French Revolution parts of his grand mythology in his America A Prophecy and europium A Prophecy.Blake is frequently referred to as a mystic, scarcely this is not really accurate. He deliberately wrote in the style of the Hebrew prophets and apocalyptic writers. He envisi wizardd his works as expressions of prophecy, following in the footsteps (or, more than precisely strapping on the sandals) of Elijah and Milton. In fact, he clearly believed himself to be the living embodiment of the spirit of Milton.Most of Blakes paintings (such as "The Ancient of Days" above, the frontispiece to Europe a Prophecy) are actually prints made from copper plates, which he etched in a method he claimed was reveale d to him in a dream. He and his wife colored these prints with water colors. Thus each print is itself a unique work of art.As an artist Blake broke the ground that would later be elegant by the Pre-Raphaelites. His work is for the most part done on a very small scale. His illuminated works and engravings are all only inches in size, yet they are meticulous in detail. And each of them is, in a sense, merely a part of a titanic whole.A special stigmatize for studentsSince we began The William Blake Page in 1994, we have received hundreds of emails from students asking (sometimes demanding in very rude language) that we provide literary criticism on our site or else personally write back with an analysis of one or more poems or themes in Blakes work so that they can use it to fulfill one of their classroom assignments. On occassion these emails have been so insulting that we have considered closing the site.The William Blake Page is NOT intended to replace the library. The Interne t is a great place to investigate where to buy your next car or what they are wearing this year in Paris. But it not the best place to find literary criticism. For one thing anyone can post anything here, without benefit of editors or any other kind of check or balance to maintain reasonable accuracy.