Author's product rating: 
| Advantages: |
It's Blake, He's wonderful ! Fantastic Poems, Insightful, Prophetic, Meaningful, Cheap ! |
| Disadvantages: |
It takes a while to read them all, but well worth it ! |
| Recommend to potential buyers: |
yes |
I was shocked a few days ago when browsing the poetry I discovered there was no William Blake! This site is insane, I thought to myself… but upon several minutes of deep breathing and reflection I realised, ok, no big deal, I'll just make sure I damn well get it added! And I have to give a round of applause to Ciao for adding 3 categories under William Blake and the day after I suggested it too!
My first opinion was very general, and now they've added a category for his complete works.. I just can't let it stay empty and your poor poor Ciao children not have lots of detailed information! What kind of Blake obssessive would I be then?
So, here's my opinion on the "must reads" from Blake's complete works. There are hundreds and hundreds of titles in all, so obviously, I'm only going to pick the really spectacular ones.
Auguries of Innocence - a very thought provoking and moving poem, (very long too) which includes revalations on natural life, on religion and on mysticism. Blake starts the poem with a visionary statement "To see the world in a grain of sand, And a heaven in a flower, Hold infinity in the palm of your hand, And eternity in an hour." Which I find beautiful, and often think about. The poem goes on to talk about heaven and hell, and what makes a good person. It gives a great insight into the mind of an unrecognised genius.
The Marriage of Heaven and Hell - this is more of a long text than a poem in many ways, and ends with the lines "Truth can never be told so as to be understand, and not believed, enough! Or too much." But the poem as a whole is a wonderful testimony to Blake's character, and to his views of 18th century London and religion.
The Tyger - this is his most well known poem, quite short, and often disregarded as being more of a child's poem than a reflection on life… but it's still enjoyable, full of imagery, "In what distant deeps or skies, Burnt the fire of thine eyes." Respect for nature, "Tyger, Tyger.. What immortal hand or eye could frame thy fearful symetry?" and as always with Blake, and underlying question about religion and God "When the stars threw down their spears, and Watered heaven with their tears, Did he smile his work to see? Did he who made the lamb make thee?"
And then of course, there are the poems which are a little bit more telling about Blake's state of mind at times.
The Sick Rose - "His dark secrey love, Does thy life destroy." It's very hard to imagine what life for Blake must have been like, I find it quite over whelming at times, when reading poems such as these, which obviously show such a bitterness and dark brooding thoughts, a complete contrast to some of his other works.
I can't go on..there are too many, and I don't want this to turn into a book itself! Blake's complete works are more than worth purchasing, and you can get them from any bookshop or amazon.co.uk. You might want to purchase his works seperately, if so I advise getting the songs of Innocence and Experience first, (first published 1789, and 1794) as they really do need to be read together. The poems written in Innocence often have a corresponding poem in Experience which show how perspectives change by the way life treats you, for example, "The Lamb" and "The Tyger", or "Infant Joy" and "Infant Sorrow". Innocence is seen from the child's perspective, the sweetness of life before you realise the responsibility and hardship, whilst experience is what
William Blake saw as the harsh reality.
The really stunning thing about Blake's complete works is you can get a paperback version for less than £1 on amazon!! Just search for ISBN number 0486285170, and there it is. It contains the majority of his works and some nice comments by the editors also. You seriously cannot get better value for money than that! But if you are a true enthusiast (with a pocket full of cash) you should get "William Blake - The complete illuminated works" edited by David Bindman, and available from certain places (Amazon for sure) at around £30 in paperback, £40 in hardbook, but it's well worth it (I'll have an opinion out soon about his paintings, don't worry!) and also don't forget that any self respecting library will have a copy of William Blake's works, and if your library doesn't.. write a letter of complaint, right now, go on!
I hope this has been useful for both the dedicated Blake enthusiast, and the newbie to 18th century
poetry.
