Earth's Answer

 

 

In this poem Blake is truly expressing how the human race has been exploiting and misusing Earth’s recourses. Earth is personified wonderfully; she of course is a woman. She begins to show her discontent with humans, and shares the pain she feels for being mistreated, as well as unappreciated. He lucidly describes it in the first stanza. The part where he says, “Earth raised up her head,” is almost trying to show that she is kind of ashamed to have let the abuse go on this long.

 

“Selfish father of men! Cruel, jealous, selfish fear!,” this one phrase could not be more accurate in describing exactly how people are, and the reasons why they feel the need to try to conquer everything around them. People fear the unknown, and get super worked up about things that are out of their control. They try to tame the untamable. Earth is one of those things we simply weren’t meant to conquer, although it doesn’t seem like we understand that. It was not too long ago that our ancestors walked this land and had a beautiful bond with it. They knew how fragile it is, and how horrible it would be if it was left in the wrong hands. However somewhere along the way civilization took over and greed did as well.

 

 “Brake this heavy chain, that does freeze my bones around! Selfish, vain…” Money and power was the only thing people began to care about.  Vainness played a big part in it as well. Simultaneously she wishes nothing more than for the hurting to end. To be free again is all that she asks for, so her rivers can run on their own course, and her trees can grow where the want. Towards the end of the poem it seems like even though she has been betrayed by the humans she still feels love for us and hopes we are able to realize that without her we literally cannot survive. Hopefully we still have the time needed to repair all the damaged we have inflicted upon her, and that we are still able to salvage our relationship with her.

The Revolutionary Visions Of William Blake (reading response #3)

Thomas J.J. Altizer’s article “The Revolutionary Visions Of William Blake” really goes along with the topic of our blog. He takes William Blake’s ideas about the Church and theology into great depth. As one reads through the article they begin to notice how great Blake’s mind was. He brings in the idea of, “Self-Annihilation of God”, which shows how radical he was. Altizer takes this idea and continues to develop if throughout the article. He tends to visit some of Blake’s other ideas, but continually goes back to this one. This idea was going so far against what was believed that it has to be studied for some time to understand it. Altizer is essentially writing in the same sense that our groups is, to read through Blake’s works, and try to interpret them the best he could. This can be a dangerous trail to walk on though, because if one were to speak against what was believed they could be looked down and disregarded. New ideas about old topics can be disregarded and thrown aside without having the article fully looked out. Change can be considered almost like a disease; people try to get rid of it as fast as they possibly can. This change can come in many forms, including ideas like this, “Here at the center of Blake’s most revolutionary vision, one calling forth himself God as Satan”. Ideas and visions like this can bring harsh judgment upon those who support them, but ideas like this have come from our most read and inspiring scholars. Altizer’s article really gets down to how big of a revolutionary Blake was. This main idea of “God becoming Satan” is so hard to comprehend that it is still discussed. He went against the religion and beliefs of the time in order to support what he believed. Altizer builds on Blake’s ideas and takes them farther by further explain their meaning, as well as using new references to gain more understanding. By taking Blake’s ideas further he really gives a deeper understanding into the mind and works of William Blake, which is what our blog group is attempting to do.

The ideas that Altizer bring up can go along and against what my interpretations of Blake are. A few of his interpretations about Blake’s individual poems can have a good impact, and can provide more depth to the argument about the content of the poem. The ideas, and mainly the one about The Marriage of Heaven and Hell I do not really agree with his interpretation. I believe that Blake was trying to change the way people believed, as well as what they believe. I do not agree with the way he phrases and goes on talking about God having be killed and become Satan. He brings up a valid point in changing the way people believe, but goes about it in too strong of a manner. If Altizer changed the ways he brought up Blake’s ideas, he would be easier to follow and trust in. By taking a softer approach he can slowly bring up the ideas and explain them, but instead he brings them straight into the article as Blake’s most revolutionary ideas. He needed to start explaining the idea before he brought it up. His use of reference was a good start to being able to understand what he was saying, but was still confusing. The article is mainly about the one super radical idea of the Christian God specifically having to die, or be “Self-Annihilated” and “Become Satan”. He does explain that by doing this and he would “Self-Annihilate Satan”. By bringing up this idea Altizer bring up a highly debated topic that raises a ton of questions. I believe that part of this idea can be considered relevant, because he is effectively trying to get rid of Satan. The way he goes about this does not help one try to understand the idea without seriously questioning the article and its relevancy. The idea that was originally brought up by Blake could seriously make someone question the way they believe, but it could also make others believe Blake was a crazy man that tried to make the people of his time disregard their belief system.

The Divine Image

We, as humans, are linked with Mercy, Pity, Peace, and Love. First Blake says “All pray in their distress” We humans have to believe in something, and have a reason to live. We believe there is a higher power, an all-seeing being, who created us we call him God. And when we pray to God it seems like we’re always praying for these four things. In the second stanza he says that God too lives by Mercy, Pity, Peace, and Love. We were made to his image and so we in some way represent him, of course we are not his equal. Blake then describes us as Mercy, Pity, Peace, and Love its self.


Our heart gives mercy to those who hurt us. Always asking God to show mercy on us for the sins we commit, and when our day comes and we stand before him to be judged he understands we are sorry. We pity those who suffer. Starving kids in Africa, and in other third world countries, as God pities us for the unfair things some of us are put through. Millions of unfair things happen in our world day after day.

 Love is a big one, all we look for is someone to love us and under stand who we are. Many people say that real love is something unattainable. However sometimes people forget that there are many different forms of love, like the way parents love their children more than anything else in this world. People imagine that, that is the way God loves us too, because they say we are all children of God.




 “And Peace, the human dress,” when Blake states this he tells us how humans must show peace, or act peacefully towards each in order to live in harmony as God intends us to. Blake fundamentally says it is essential to live by these four things in order to feel happiness and reach our purpose. If we are able to transmit this to all kinds of people, even those who seem to not deserve it we will be closer to our God.

The Tyger

The Tyger is perceived as something great and mighty. The big question is who was powerful enough to create such an amazing beast. Some kind of eerie energy seems to surround him. There is also a sense of ancientness that comes along with The Tyger. His inner workings exposed showing him as a complex machine. He is seen as untouchable and unmovable, how did he come to be? There is a saying in Spanish “Mas sabe El Diablo por viejo que por ser Diablo,” This connects to Blake’s poem, because like the Tyger, the devil learns through hard experiences and that’s what makes him the way he is. They are not supposed to be made into a figure to follow, but something to learn from. The devil use to be one of God’s angels, however he fell from heaven. Maybe The Tyger just like the devil was made from God’s creation and turned into what he is now.  Or maybe he is a precisely engineered to fulfill a purpose.


“When the stars threw down their spears, and water’d heaven with their tears, did he smile his work to see? Did he who made The Lamb make thee?” Here Blake is explaining that something from the skies was capable of designing the Tyger, Later he says if it was possible that this same omnipotent being created The Lamb along with The Tyger. The Lamb is another poem Blake has written. In it he describes The Lamb in a similar format as he does The Tyger. However what do a fierce Tyger and an innocent Lamb have in common?  The Lamb is a symbol of pureness and innocence on the other side of the spectrum lays The Tyger. He is the symbol of old experience, and curruptness, but not necessarily the symbol of Evil. Ultimately Blake says that God is who invented both Lamb and Tyger. He creates them both to illustrate there cannot be good without there being evil, dark with no light, heaven without a hell. A person cannot fall into the extremes; he must have a midpoint in his life. Everything must have a balance.

Nature and Me (prose poem)

I sit staring into nature and all its entirety,  it continues to make my  mind be blown with its vast complexity. I can smell the flowers all day, and never smell the same thing twice. The amount of difference in nature makes all of my senses be overloaded at the same time. It then starts to rain, which on any normal day can make me sad, but out in nature it creates an aura of good feelings around my mind. It makes me feel like I am connected into this once untouched area of life. Everything around me is gaining life from the rain, and all I want to usually do is make it stop. How selfish of me to try and deprive the life from these creatures around me. The rain is wet, and cooling, almost a calming effect it has. The rain is clearing my mind as I sit staring into nature again. All day I just sit staring into the great unknown that has made my mind wonder so many things. Again and again my senses are overloaded with the info that makes my brain grow, the feeling of this can blast through the capacity that it can handle. It causes me to look deeper into my soul and contemplate the reason I am really in the middle of Nature. I came to get away from my work and stress, but as luck would have it I am now beginning to understand all of nature and its complexities. It teaches me more and more everyday, in every way, but hey it still takes my mind off of the mind numbing effort that awaits me when I arrive back from my ever important learning adventure into nature. And so I leave my humble abode that has provided me more questions than I had arrived with, but I still thank nature for showing me the unknown depths of my mind.

Community Blog

There are many good blogs out there, but you have to search to find one thats relevant. I found a blog that directly goes in the same direction as ours. The blog all about blake is good website where one can compare the different facts about Blake's life and works. When I visited it, there was a ton of good information that can people can learn from. It could be helpful to anyone from a new Blake fan, to an experienced poetry reader. The information there that can be accessed is helpful and insightful. They give a different perspective on stories that is offered on this blog. They have also chosen to do different stories, which can give one deeper insight into the revolutionary mind of William Blake.


The blog is also very well constructed and very easy to navigate. These are all good characteristics of a blog. It gives a very handy lists to other works that William Blake has done. I really like the way they have it organized. It is in a good order and everything that one is looking for can be found with ease. The blog will only continue to get better as more stuff is added to it. 


The authors have done a good job, but could be improved by adding more to the mix. With more authors editing the page one could get a greater perspective on the works and ideas that drove William Blake to write and engrave the way he did. The greater perspective the authors give, the greater the information is that can be attained from their blog. This blog has done a good job so far in helping one understand and review the works of William Blake. With a little more information it could become another great Blake blog.


Of the Blake blogs that I have viewed this is one of the better ones. When paired with more information about Blake it is one of the best Blake websites I have found. On a different note of the blog, I really enjoyed the prose poems that the authors have written. They provide a look into their minds, as well as provide some relief from the intense ideas of Blake.

The works of William Blake

William Blake is now regarded as one of the most influential poets, but he was not always viewed that way. He was born in London, England in 1757. He attended school until he was ten, but then finished his education at home with his mother. He later got married and started his writing and engraving career. He wrote against the beliefs in science and math, that were coming out at the time. He is now known as a romantic poet for his writing that he did throughout his life.


Blake had many views and ideas that went against the common belief, and for this he was looked down on by some of his peers. He had "revolutionary mindset" many people believe. He came up with his own version of Christian mythology. He changed how many people believed in the way God was viewed. He had  many ideas that made people question how well they believed. This still happens to this day, and some of his poems are so controversial and influential that establishments can get in trouble for making their students or employees read them.


I really enjoyed reading Blake for this reason. When pieces of work get banned it makes the read more interesting. It can make you look for a hidden massage in the piece of work that you would not usually try to find. William Blake became so famous after his death, as is the case with many poets and scholars. Because of the mindset that William Blake had when writing, he was able to create pieces of work that are studied all around the world almost two hundred years later. If an author can still have that big of a following that much later, there must be an important message hidden in the text. By knowing this it makes the works of Blake so much more interesting.


The way Blake writes creates a mixed emotion in most people. Many want to deny what he says right away, but others who read deeper and try to get a grasp on what he is saying can become so much wiser and more knowledgeable. By reading a lot of Blake ones skill to reveal these hidden meanings could become so great that they could take it to almost any other authors works and find it. Blake is a great place go start doing this because he hides meanings in text very well, and also very often.