William Blakes Contrary States

1 Pages 303 Words

William Blake’s Theory of Contrary States
BY: DELORES JOHNSON

William Blake was a talented poet. Many fans and critics alike think him one of the greatest poets of his time. It will be my duty and my pleasure to try a new approach to his writings and some insight to his poems. Of all his poetry that I have read I find the most contrast within the two collections of lyric poems called Songs of Innocence and Experience (1789-1794). These poems represent how Blake felt about “the two states of the human soul.”
The poems in these collections were meant to contrast each other to reflect that. “Without contraries there is no progression” was often heard from his lips.
I agree with that sentiment. I m a college student and as such I am going down an enlighten road. I truly believe that there is a constant struggle between the bourgeois and the proletariat. I believe that there is some evidence of Blake being aware of this struggle as demonstrated in the poems “Holy Thursday” and “The Chimney Sweeper”. These poems display ironic views and an overly trusting attitude towards the government.
Blake was a controversial poet who often stirred up the political pots of his time.
In fact I think that it was his hope to awaken some sympathy within the dormant hearts of the affluent people within his society, to the plight of the common man. So in this essay my goal is to show that Blake was a spiritual man, a man of sympathy and a natural love towards children. Yet I will still be able to uncover with my research why Blake was so avid a believer in man’s contrary soul....