Thursday, September 8, 2016
William Blake
Blake's image of "the eternal female" renders the Revolutionary ideas of liberty as being closely tied to femininity, and goes so far as to suggest that out of woman, the ideas of liberty and the destruction that accompanies it in the French Revolution were born out of her, "In her trembling hands, she took the new-born terror, howling."(7) In line 2, Blake mentions the coast of Albion, the object of a mythological story depicting the fall of primeval man, thus indicating that this "new-born fire"(8) will result in an advancement in the human experience, but the image of fire also indicates destruction born out of passion. Fire is also difficult to control. As the fire is falling from the sky, those on the earth are encouraged to look up to and welcome this change. Blake's image of the fire falling to the earth is characteristic of imagery that is traditionally considered to be evocative of serenity, or even holiness, yet, so much of this imagery is just the opposite. The last line of the poem, in which the speaker says, "For all that lives is holy," creates a paradoxical impression, because hardly any of the imagery throughout the poem evoked what I would think of as holy, serene, reflective, etc. Blake asserts that liberty is at stake, and that it may only be salvaged by the willingness to accept destruction and hardship, and that this hardship, like the liberty, is holy.
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I like how you pointed out that although none of the visual aspects in the reading would be considered holy, but it is the idea of Liberty that is. It is as if he is saying although this is going to be a big change, it is something we should be open to and excited about, like in number 12. Everyone stop what they are doing and look at this fire that is falling. It is as if he is calling for all the people to wake up and see what is going on the world!
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of the imagery in this poem, I found the juxtaposition of the pagan Greek Mythology with the more traditional Christian imagery quite interesting. Particularly how the King/aristocracy is paralleled with a Cronos-type figure, while the "newborn wonder" seems more Christ-like. If I'm correct in my interpretation, that would make the Eternal Female analogous to God. Thus, just as liberty and destruction are tied to femininity, so too would be godliness.
ReplyDeleteI really like what you interpreted here, referencing your analysis of Blake's use of fire being a destructive force rather than a creative one. However, I feel that on a certain level, fire here in the poem is ALSO used as a creative force and not just a destructive one, especially if one's reading of the poem likens fire to liberty. I keep thinking back and recalling that at some point in my middle school science class, my teacher mentioned once that fire breaks down plants and animals and gives back nutrients to the soil, making it richer and more suitable for more foliation to grow; in that sense, Liberty (and the metaphorical fire) could be seen as breaking down the old and using its pieces to build anew.
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting that liberty is related to femininity in this poem. During this time period, women didn't have many rights, so I wonder what made Blake write a woman as the mother of revolution. Also, the violence being associated with this "mother" is odd for this time period since women were seen as fragile creatures not capable of much of anything, let alone violence.
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