Blake :: essays research papers

A rebel all of his life, Blake was in one case arrested on a trumped up charge of sedition. Of course, he was a pure(a) sympathizer with the forces of revolution, both in America and France. He was a face-to-face friend of Thomas Paine and made the American War of Independence and French Revolution offices of his grand mythology in his America A fortune telling and Europe A Prophecy.Blake is frequently referred to as a mystic, but this is non really accurate. He deliberately wrote in the style of the Hebrew prophets and apocalyptical keeprs. He envisioned his whole kit and caboodle as expressions of prophecy, following in the footsteps (or, to a greater extent 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 age" above, the frontispiece to Europe a Prophecy) are actually patsys made from copper plates, which he etched i n a method he claimed was revealed 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 base that would later be cultivated by the Pre-Raphaelites. His work is for the most spokesperson 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 note for studentsSince we began The William Blake varlet in 1994, we have received hundreds of emails from students asking (sometimes demanding in very rude language) that we can 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 schoolroom assignments. On occassion these emails have been so insulting that we have considered closing the site.The William Blake Page is NOT intended to re coif the library. The Internet is a great place to research where to buy your next car or what they are wear this year in Paris. But it not the best place to disclose literary criticism. For one thing anyone can post anything here, without benefit of editors or any other kind of check or balance to defend reasonable accuracy.