William Blake (1757-1827) was both a remarkable artist and poet. His early works compiled in Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience contain familiar poems. Less familiar are Blake's philospohical works and beliefs in the eternal nature of imagination. Blake defined this in the Vision of the Last Judgment as “the world of Eternity; it is the divine bosom into which we shall all go after the death of the vegetable body.” He rejected the idea of an external, rule-giving, God.
Blake’s Views on Scriptures
Blake stated that books of scripture such as the Old and New Testament and the religions of all nations derived from Poetic Genius and asserted that the source of Poetic Genius was man. Blake develops Christian virtue not as blindly following commandments, but developing imaginative mental activity leading to infinite possibilities. Blake believed that most men do not try to perceive the eternal, imaginative world but the potential is there.
Artist and Dreamer
Blake believed artists and dreamers are often the most spiritual individuals because their creative nature allows them to see this world of imagination. In a letter to Thomas Butts dated January 10th, Blake tells him: “I am under the directions of Messengers from Heaven Daily & Nightly: but the nature of such things is not, as some suppose, without trouble or care.” Blake tells Butts that normally he does not reveal how constantly he receives visions, but when questioned directly he does not disguise the truth In his religious world, the artist is truly a prophet.
Blake’s View of Apocalypse
One of Blake’s most distinctive religious views was that of the apocalypse. In Blake’s religious viewpoint, Christ does not atone for sins and save man; salvation requires imaginative regeneration of self. Blake portrays this in his poem Milton when he joins with the spirit of John Milton, who has smashed a whole in the sky. Through the power of imaginative thought, Blake is able to see Milton entering into his foot; the natural world becomes a sandal that Blake puts on for his walk forward in eternity.
Los, Creative Blacksmith
In this imaginative walk, Blake and Milton are joined in Felpham by Los, who is portrayed by Blake as a creative blacksmith. During this spirtual journey, Milton realizes that Satan is a symbol of his self-centered nature: “I in my selfhood am that Satan: I am that evil one.” Milton reflects that as a mortal, he worshipped both Urizen and Satan. Urizen symbolizes the laws and rules that try to suppress man’s natural desires and appetites. Satan is that part of human life that perceives men acting selfishly or cruelly.
Blake’s View of Satan and Jesus
In Blake’s religious philosophy, Satan is not the external tempter of scripture or Milton’s antagonist in a great heavenly war. Instead, when a man chooses to act in selfish ways, he is becoming Satan. Satan and Jesus are contraries. Satan is the evil force within man, whereas Jesus is the loving, sacrificing self. The struggle between these two forces is expressed succinctly in “The Marriage of Heaven and Hell”—“Good is Heaven. Evil is hell.” Blake does not use these terms in the traditional Christian sense of souls being divided into two regions. Instead, the self chooses to follow Satan or Jesus, to be in Heaven or Hell. Finding “Heaven” requires love and forgiveness.
Blake's Jerusalem
The epic poem Jerusalem also portrays Blake’s religious belief in imaginative forgiveness and regeneration. He personifies England as Albion, a being who is caught up in the world of appearance and nature characterized as both Vala and Babylon. Albion journeys to discover the truth about his imaginative, divine nature, learning about forgiveness and sacrifice. Blake’s emphasis on forgiveness permeates the work. This doctrine culminates in the scene when Albion learns from Jesus that not only must a man forgive, he must also be willing to show complete love and die for another: Jerusalem teaches that if men would become loving and self-sacrificing, what they would “see” would be loving, giving world.
For the poet Blake true Christianity joins imagination and his religious beliefs. In Jerusalem he states:“I know of no other Christianity and of no other gospel than the liberty both of body and mind to exercise the Divine Arts of Imagination….What are the Treasures of Heaven which we are to lay up for ourselves, are they any other than Mental." To Blake it is literally within the power of man to create the world—with imagination and selfless love, he believed man potentially could be and should be the center of the universe.
For an article by the author on another English poet William Wordsworth: Lake District English Poet
Vickie Christensen - Hello. I am Vickie Christensen, a freelance writer particularly interested in travel, literature, positive psychology, finance, and ...
