William Blake religious symbols essay PDF

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“Blake was steeped in Christian tradition, as were many in his time. Bible reading and hymns were part of his childhood and his life. As a consequence, traditional and religious symbols were an integral part of his thinking about life, the world, himself.” To what extent do you agree with this view?...

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“Blake was steeped in Christian tradition, as were many in his time. Bible reading and hymns were part of his childhood and his life. As a consequence, traditional and religious symbols were an integral part of his thinking about life, the world, himself.” To what extent do you agree with this view? Throughout Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Experience, many traditional and religious symbols are explored, possibly due to the fact that Blake related to these the most, as a consequence of his childhood. This links to protest of many issues explored throughout, including: the power and oppressive nature of the church, vulnerability of children and the industrial revolution. Blake may have done this as readers of the late 1700s would recognise the religious and traditional symbols, therefore hopefully more susceptible to understanding the crucial and didactic elements in his poetry. Throughout the Songs of Innocence, traditional and religious symbols are explored, including in Introduction. At the beginning of the poem, the repetition of ‘piping’ could be an allusion to the Greek God Pan, who is the God of the wild and nature, typically seen playing a pipe. Blake may have referenced Pan to insinuate a pastoral backdrop to this poem. Furthermore, Pan is half human and half goat and it could be interpreted that Blake used this mythical, yet religious imagery to demonstrate to his readers that humans should be at harmony with nature, instead of destroying it through the industrial revolution. The theme of industrialisation is also mentioned in Holy Thursday, of Experience, as Blake describes many children in ‘poverty’. Additionally, Blake uses a wide range of religious imagery from the Bible in this poem, possibly so the readers of Geargian era would recognise these symbols and better understand his core messages. Both the ‘lamb’ and the ‘child’ are referenced during Introduction, conveying similar messages to the reader. It could be argued that the ‘lamb’ and the ‘child’ are both symbols of innocence and youth, not only in Christianity, however, also universally. One interpretation is that Blake was creating parallels between these two innocent symbols to reinforce their lack of experience. Although this poem is in Songs of Innocence, it does have undertones of a warning to the reader. Throughout Christianity and many other religions, the ‘lamb’ is portrayed as a sacrificial victim. It could be argued that through this religious symbol, Blake is inverting the idea of a meek and docile lamb to come with a warning of its vulnerability. This is fortified by the fact that in the New Testament of the Bible, King Herod ordered all male children under two years to be killed, which again highlights the vulnerability and weakness of children. This is underscored by the predictable and ordered ABAB rhyme scheme that could represent the easily controlled nature of children, as child exploitation was a significant concept that Blake protested against. One reason why Blake may have done this is to demonstrate the defenselessness of children in the Georgain era, due to child labour and exploitation, which he explores further in the Chimney Sweeper, Songs of Experience. This theme of exploitation by the ruling class or group is a key aspect of the social and political protest genre. Contrastingly, Introduction, Songs of Experience has overtones of desperation and gloom, spreading a message for the need of resurrection of humankind. The first traditional symbol mentioned is the ‘bard’, possibly inspired by the figure of the medieval bard, prominent throughout the 15th century. The bard is said to be a professional storyteller, which is demonstrated throughout this poem, due to its didactic nature. There is uncertainty around who the ‘bard’ represents. One interpretation is that the ‘bard’ could represent God, due to his omniscient nature. However, it could also be interpreted that Blake is the voice of the

bard, as he is prophetic and seems to have an overall understanding of the future of humankind. Both of these interpretations allows the reader to understand that the bard is all knowing and his message is of great importance. Also, a key reference to the Bible is included when the ‘bard’ states ‘O Earth, O Earth return’. The laments of the bard highlight the urgency of this message to save humankind and the direct address aligns this with a biblical prophecy. This quote is from Jeremiah 22:29 and could be interpreted as Blake believing that the world has been corrupted through the social constraints from institutions such as the church, which uses ‘holy fears’ to to scare people into submission. The rhyme follows an ABAAB pattern, possibly furthering the idea of the strict and regulative nature of religion, which is developed in the Human Abstract, Songs of Experience. Furthermore, widely known religious imagery from the Bible is also hinted at by Blake, through ‘the ancient trees’, which evokes images of the Garden of Eden, therefore Adam and Eve. This imagery portrays that Blake's poem is surrounding the Fall of humankind and gives the bard’s words authority and power. Furthermore, traditional imagery of the ‘soul’ is used, being metonymic for all of humankind. Blake states that ‘the lapsed soul… might control the starry pole’. One hand hand, Blake is expressing that humans could change their destiny, as the mind is very powerful. On the other hand, Blake could be referring to the fact that he believed God could reverse the human’s destruction of the earth. This is enhanced through the fact that the world is in a constrained state, trapped by the ‘floor’ and ‘shore’. Through this various imagery, it is evident that Blakes’ thought process about the world and about God are both heavily influenced by traditional and religious symbols. The Garden of Love explores a key theme of the power of the church through the use of traditional and religious imagery. One key religious symbol is the ‘chapel’. Not only does this correlate to the Blake’s opinions about the controlling nature of the church, however, also his disapproval of the industrial revolution. One possible interpretation is that nature was cleared to build this chapel, mirroring the church’s corruption of humans free will and natural thoughts. This is furthered through the fact that Blake ‘used to play on the green’. The church of the Georgian era imposed strict and repressive rules regarding sexuality. By destroying the green, which represents natural growth and fertility, Blake is suggesting that the church prohibits the display of raw human emotions and desires. Furthermore, the church displays ‘thou shalt not’, which originated from the Ten Commandments. This general statement is not specific about any rules, portraying the punitive side of religion, which instilled a sense of guilt in many people of this time. This portrays Blake’s critical views of the church, which he thought distorted the true message and used religion as a form of social control. This highlights the theme of power of the church and is widely explored throughout the genre of social and political protest. Moreover, ‘priests in black gowns’ is a traditional religious symbol, with the colour ‘black’ connoting to death. The internal rhyme with ‘gowns’ and ‘rounds’ could signal that the ‘priests’ and therefore the church had complete control over the people in the late 1700s. Also, the assonance of the ‘ou’ sound insinuates an ongoing cycle of the church corrupting people, that won’t be stopped unless something drastic is done. Finally, he states that the priests are ‘binding with briars my joys and desires’, another assonant internal rhyme. This could indicate the distorted teaching of the church, as it generates anguish, instead of instilling God’s love in the people. Furthermore, it is an allusion the Jesus’ crown of thorns when he was crucified, symbolising pain and humiliation, which is what the general public would have felt if they disobeyed the church in the late 18th century. This symbol is alluded to through the use of ‘thorns’ in Holy Thursday, Songs of Experience, which solidifies Blake’s core message. T.S Elliot stated that Blake’s

poems were ‘peculiar honesty...in a world too frightened to be honest’, which I definitely agree with, due to the fact that Blake wrote about his truths of the world and in the ways in which he saw society. Blake’s poetry criticised many well regarded institutions such as the church, which was heavily frowned upon at the time, however, from a modern perspective, the reader can see the absolute truth in his poetry. In conclusion, I agree to a very large extent that “traditional and religious symbols were an integral part of his thinking about life, the world, himself.” This is due to the fact that religious and traditional symbols appear often across Blake’s canon of poetry, not only referencing the Bible many times, however, natural imagery is included also, depicting Blake's appreciation of nature’s powers. Overall, it is important to acknowledge this, as it aids the reader in understanding Blakes’ integral messages of protesting against various important matters. Although this was not fully appreciated by the readers of his time, it has had an impact that resonates throughout modern literature....