The prophetic books of the 18th-century English poet and artist William Blake are a series of lengthy, interrelated poetic works drawing upon Blake's own personal mythology. They have been described as forming "what is in proportion to its merits the least read body of poetry in the English language".[1] While Blake worked as a commercial illustrator, these books were ones that he produced, with his own engravings, as an extended and largely private project.
In these works, concluding with the epic Jerusalem: The Emanation of the Giant Albion, he elaborated a personal invented mythology (mythopoeia). The mythopoeia is largely Biblical in inspiration; apart from that, it has been extensively debated for both its political and religious content.
While The French Revolution from 1791 is not illustrated and is usually excluded from the list of prophetic books, David V. Erdman contends that the separation of this work from the corpus removes a key to the symbolism used by Blake.[2] Another work, Vala, or The Four Zoas (1797), begun while Blake was residing in Felpham, was abandoned in draft form; of this abandoning by Blake, Northrop Frye has commented that "[a]nyone who cares about poetry or painting must see in [Vala's] unfinished state a major cultural disaster".[3]
Critical receptionedit
The prophetic books have on occasion been dismissed as lacking in good sense. This position is now rarely held by scholars of English literature, Blake having been one of the major beneficiaries of critical fashion during the twentieth century. [citation needed]Northrop Frye and, following him, Harold Bloom have suggested that the difficulty of reading Blake's prophetic works can be overcome, and that the dismissive "mystical" tag applied to them is largely an obfuscation. "Mystical" as to the poetic language has been indeed the equivalent of "visionary" applied to the engravings.[citation needed]
Blake's prophetic books, having often been dismissed until recent times, have had a tortuous publication history, unlike his lyric poems, which have been regarded as more direct and relatively unproblematic.[citation needed]
The continental propheciesedit
The cycle of continental prophecies comprises America a Prophecy (1793), Europe a Prophecy (1794) and The Song of Los (1795), which is made up of sections Africa and Asia.
America a Prophecy is divided into a Preludium (which is part of the Orc myth) and A Prophecy, which has obvious political content devolving from the American Revolution.[citation needed] The first line of A Prophecy is repeated as the final line of Africa. On the other hand, Europe a Prophecy has an unnamed introductory section, a Preludium with Orc and Enitharmon, and A Prophecy with connections to the contemporary situation of wartime Europe. The Asia section of The Song of Los links onto the end of Europe a Prophecy (via the word "howl").[citation needed]
william, blake, prophetic, books, prophetic, books, 18th, century, english, poet, artist, william, blake, series, lengthy, interrelated, poetic, works, drawing, upon, blake, personal, mythology, they, have, been, described, forming, what, proportion, merits, l. The prophetic books of the 18th century English poet and artist William Blake are a series of lengthy interrelated poetic works drawing upon Blake s own personal mythology They have been described as forming what is in proportion to its merits the least read body of poetry in the English language 1 While Blake worked as a commercial illustrator these books were ones that he produced with his own engravings as an extended and largely private project A page from Milton A Poem in Two Books one of Blake s prophetic books Contents 1 Overview 1 1 Critical reception 2 The continental prophecies 3 The books 4 Notes 5 External linksOverview editIn these works concluding with the epic Jerusalem The Emanation of the Giant Albion he elaborated a personal invented mythology mythopoeia The mythopoeia is largely Biblical in inspiration apart from that it has been extensively debated for both its political and religious content While The French Revolution from 1791 is not illustrated and is usually excluded from the list of prophetic books David V Erdman contends that the separation of this work from the corpus removes a key to the symbolism used by Blake 2 Another work Vala or The Four Zoas 1797 begun while Blake was residing in Felpham was abandoned in draft form of this abandoning by Blake Northrop Frye has commented that a nyone who cares about poetry or painting must see in Vala s unfinished state a major cultural disaster 3 Critical reception edit The prophetic books have on occasion been dismissed as lacking in good sense This position is now rarely held by scholars of English literature Blake having been one of the major beneficiaries of critical fashion during the twentieth century citation needed Northrop Frye and following him Harold Bloom have suggested that the difficulty of reading Blake s prophetic works can be overcome and that the dismissive mystical tag applied to them is largely an obfuscation Mystical as to the poetic language has been indeed the equivalent of visionary applied to the engravings citation needed Blake s prophetic books having often been dismissed until recent times have had a tortuous publication history unlike his lyric poems which have been regarded as more direct and relatively unproblematic citation needed The continental prophecies editThe cycle of continental prophecies comprises America a Prophecy 1793 Europe a Prophecy 1794 and The Song of Los 1795 which is made up of sections Africa and Asia America a Prophecy is divided into a Preludium which is part of the Orc myth and A Prophecy which has obvious political content devolving from the American Revolution citation needed The first line of A Prophecy is repeated as the final line of Africa On the other hand Europe a Prophecy has an unnamed introductory section a Preludium with Orc and Enitharmon and A Prophecy with connections to the contemporary situation of wartime Europe The Asia section of The Song of Los links onto the end of Europe a Prophecy via the word howl citation needed The books editTiriel c 1789 The Book of Thel c 1789 America a Prophecy 1793 Europe a Prophecy 1794 Visions of the Daughters of Albion 1793 The Book of Urizen 1794 The Book of Ahania 1795 The Book of Los 1795 The Song of Los 1795 Vala or The Four Zoas begun 1797 unfinished abandoned c 1804 Milton A Poem in Two Books 1804 1810 Jerusalem The Emanation of the Giant Albion 1804 1820 Notes edit Frye Northrop and Denham Robert D Collected Works of Northrop Frye 2006 pp 11 12 Blake Prophet Against Empire third edition 1977 p 165 Frye Northrop Fearful Symmetry A Study of William Blake 1969 p 269 External links editBindman David 2001 William Blake The Complete Illuminated Books Thames amp Hudson ISBN 978 0 500 28245 8 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title William Blake 27s prophetic books amp oldid 1209249564, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
