Modernizing Blake

This essay analyzes what things separated William Blake from other Romantics, which caused him to be of great interest to his Modernist audience. He had many idiosyncratic qualities which separated him from traditional Romantics and these idiosyncrasies made him an important figure for the Modernists. His character, writing, and art are used to understand his differences from the Romantics and to see his similarities to the Modernists. This essay shows that his idiosyncrasies have caused him to be a pinnacle figure for many of the major Modernist writers and as a result he has become a key figure to the Modernists. In a sense, you can't read Modernist literature and not have a simple understanding of Blake.

MODERNIZING BLAKE By Paul L. Rackleff A Senior Honors Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of The University of Utah In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Honors Degree of Bachelor of Arts In English Approved: Vincent ecora Chair, Department of English Supervisor ~ Mark Matheson Department Honors Advisor May 2009 Abstract This essay analyzes what things separated William Blake from other of great interest to his Modernist audience. He Romantics, which caused him to be of had many idiosyncratic qualities which separated him from traditional Romantics and these idiosyncrasies made him an important figure for the Modernists. His character, writing, and art are used to understand his differences differences from the Romantics and to see his similarities to the Modernists. This essay shows that his idiosyncrasies have caused him to be a pinnacle figure for many of of the major Modernist writers and as a result he has become a key figure to the Modernists. In a sense, you can't read Modernist literature and not have a simple understanding of of Blake. 11 ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT 11 INTRODUCTION 1 WILLIAM BLAKE' BLAKE'SS RECEPTION BY THE ROMANTICS 2 FOR/ BLAKE, MODERNISTS AND THEIR USES FOR! 16 BLAKE'S USE OF SUBJECTIVITY AND FRAGMENTATION 22 CONCLUSION 32 WORKS CITED 34 BIBLIOGRAPHY 37 III iii 1 Introduction of the most For nearly two centuries William Blake has been considered one of influential Romanticist writers. Even though he was not well published during the Romantic period, he had been read by many of of the great Romanticist authors. Few doubted that he was a great poetical genius, but the peculiarity of of his writing differentiated of his Romantic contemporaries. Not until the emergence differentiated him from many of of Modernism, which was trying to separate itself of itself from Romanticism, did Blake receive the high critical acclaim that he now has. Modernists, such as W.B. Yeats, were the first scholars to annotate his works and published them on a massive scale. There was something peculiar about William Blake that had caused these people to want to closely of the leaders of of align themselves with him. This closeness is vividly seen with many of Moderns Modernism. Kathleen Raine noted this close alignment with Blake and the Modems when she said that "Yeats and Blake were working within the same tradition" (110) and Stanislaus Joyce when he said that "[Joyce's] gods were Blake and Dante" (33). What is it about William Blake that caused the Modernists to resurrect his work in order to help of their own movement? Throughout his life many people, lay the foundations of especially Romantics, had considered him to be an eccentric. There was something 2 about his idiosyncratic qualities that allowed the Modernists to find something drastically different different from other writers of of the period that related to their own time and their own literary goals. In this paper I will emphasize the idiosyncrasies of of William Blake that separated him from his contemporaries, and united him to the writers of of the Modernist movement. I will argue that these idiosyncrasies are the key factors in helping the Modernists to use him as one of of the most important influences for their writing. I will show the relationship between Blake and their writing, through expounding on many oftheir of their similarities, and by showing how his idiosyncrasies caused them to be attracted to him over other Romantic writers. I will expound on this through three sections that will explain William Blake's reception by the Romantics, Modernists uses for for Blake and William Blake's subjectivity and Fragmentation. Blake's use of Blake's of subjectivity Fragmentation. William Blake's Reception by the Romantics William Blake was an obscure poet whose work was not widely circulated or of his work and his published on a massive scale during his lifetime. The obscurity of of the weak reception by his contemporaries caused there to be few accounts of Romantics' opinions of of his work. Despite the fact that there are only a few direct records on the reception of of William Blake by the Romantics, there are many things that we can extract from Romantic writings. The few known Romantic responses to his work show that he was received as a mad genius. Those who initially encountered his writings thought they were done masterfully, but felt that something about them was 3 peculiar or idiosyncratic. This idiosyncratic nature of Blake and his work was quickly ....he he appeared seen by Lady Caroline Lamb upon first meeting him. him. She said that" that".. gratified by talking to a person who comprehended his feelings. I can easily imagine that he seldom meets with anyone who enters into his views; for they are peculiar, and 178). For Lady Lamb it exalted above the common level of received opinions" (Beer 178). was obvious that there was something unique about William Blake that made him different than the rest of his contemporaries. The majority of people appear distinctly different of these who met Blake or encountered his work commented on his peculiarity. Many ofthese of Bernard Barton who told a friend that "[William Blake] is comments echo those of of flown, whither I know not, to Hades or a Mad House- but I must look on him as one of of our age" or Charles Lamb's observation that he was the most extraordinary persons of "a mad Wordsworth" (Beer 208). William Wordsworth himself himself had commented on Blake's poetry and said "There is no doubt this poor man was mad, but there is something in the madness of of this man that interests me more than the sanity of of Lord Byron and Scott" (Dover). (Dover). Wordsworth as were drawn to to the the Byron and Walter Walter Scott" Wordsworth was, was, as were many many others, others, drawn uniqueness the feeling feeling that of his his poetry, poetry, but but could could not not ignore ignore the that there there uniqueness and and high high quality quality of was was something something about about him him that that made made him him appear appear abnormal abnormal or or "mad" "mad" when when compared compared to to others different others of of their their time. time. Most Most people people felt felt that that his his writing writing encompassed encompassed an an entirely entirely different set full of characteristics characteristics than than the the rest rest of of the the Romantics, Romantics, and and thus thus did did not not receive receive full set of acceptance movement. acceptance into into the the movement. Samuel Coleridge, who really liked Blake's work, felt that there was something about Blake that set him apart from other writers. Coleridge felt that Blake was a mystic and refers to this after after he had read Blake's work. Coleridge had said, in regards to 4 of Genius---and Blake, that he was "a man of Genius—and I apprehend, a Swedenborgian---certainly, Swedenborgian—certainly, a mystic emphatically. You perhaps smile at my calling another poet, a mystic, but verily I am in the very mire of of commonplace commonsense compared with Mr. Blake, apo- or rather ana-calyptic poet, and painter!" (Ferber 189). Coleridge saw something drastically different if he was "in the different from himself. In comparison to Blake, he felt as if mire of of commonplace commonsense" and that Blake was a "genius" and a "mystic". The distinct idiosyncrasies of of William Blake had caused Coleridge, as well as many other people, to regard him as a mystic and an "ana-calyptic" writer. His works were darker than most Romantics' and he claimed that they were "visions of assert[ed] that he ha[d] ha[d] seen" (Beer 208). The fact that he claimed of his brain which he assert[ed] that he received his inspirations from revelations would have caused many people to discredit him as a lunatic, but the way he did this, would have caused many people to believe that he had been overtaken by the sublime. Contemporary readers would have easily associated Blake's works with the sublime, which had been described by Edmund Burke in his essay The The Origins of of our Ideas of of the Sublime and Beautiful. Burke tells us in his section titled obscurity that "To make anything very terrible, obscurity seems in general to be necessary" (Burke) and in his section called Of Of the Sublime that "Whatever is fitted in any sort to excite the ideas of of pain and danger, that is to say, whatever is in any sort terrible, or is conversant about terrible objects, or operates in a manner analogous to terror, is a source of of the sublime" (Burke). Blake's claims to receiving his poems by revelation fall into this definition of of the sublime. After completing his poem Milton, Blake said "I have written this poem from immediate Dictation twelve or sometimes twenty lines at a time without premeditation & & even 5 against my will" and "I may praise it, since I dare not pretend to be any other than the secretary; the authors are in Eternity" (Beer 212). 212). Blake's statement is very obscure to the reader. The dictator ofthe of the poem is neither defined as an angel or demon, but only as an eternal being. Also, Blake claimed that this entity forced him to write the poem without giving him time for premeditation. The tone of of this statement creates the feeling that this being is "terrible" or fearful and that the experience wasn't pleasant. Blake's claims create a darkness around his poems that cause his audience to separate him from other Romantics. There are many stylistic differences differences that cause Wordsworth's Romanticism to conflict conflict with William Blake's own intentions for his poetry. Wordsworth has been considered one of of the founding Romantics and he went to extensive lengths to try and of the key principles of of Romanticism. In the explain what he believed were many of Preface to the Lyrical Lyrical Ballads, he tries to explain what he thinks are the poetical aims for Romanticism. In the Preface, Wordsworth tells his readers what intentional stylistic purposefully using to achieve his poetic goals as a writer: variations he is purposefully myself in these Poems was to chuse The principle object, then, which I proposed to myself incidents and situations from common life, and to relate or describe them, throughout, as far as was possible, in a selection of of language really used by men; and, at the same time, to throw over them a certain colouring of of imagination, whereby ordinary things should be presented to the mind in an unusual way; and further, and above all, to make these incidents and situations interesting by tracing in them, truly though not obviously, the primary laws of of our nature. (Kwasny 5) Wordsworth tells us that he intends for Romanticism to be written in common language of our nature, while about everyday incidents and situations that trace the primary laws of making them sound more imaginative through the diction. Wordsworth continues on to explain why he believes Romanticism should focus on the rural, rather than city life: 6 Low and rustic life was generally chosen, because in that condition, the essential ofthe passions of the heart find a better soil in which they can attain their maturity, are less restra\nt, and speak a plainer and more emphatic language; because in that under restraint, condition of of life our elementary feelings co-exist in a state of of greater simplicity, and consequently may be more accurately contemplated, and more forcibly communicated; because the manners of of rural life germinate from the elementary feelings; and from the necessary character of of rural occupations, are more easily comprehended; and are more durable; and lastly, because in that condition the passions of of men are incorporated with the beautiful of nature. beautiful and permanent forms of (Kwasny 6) belief about Romanticism, William Blake is not concerned Contrary to Wordsworth's belief with using nature and common, everyday occurrences to portray "the primary laws of of of society and its institutions rather our nature". Blake's poetry focuses on the strains of of many Romanticist than on an individual's humanity or emotions, which are the focus of writers. In his poetry, Blake is continually creating a criticism on the world in which he lives. There are times in which Wordsworth attempts to criticize society, such as in his Viaducts, and Railways, but social critiques poems Tables Turned and Steamboats, Viaducts, within his poetry are limited to a very few instances. In contrast to Wordsworth, the majority majority of of Blake's writings focus on critiquing the faults of of society and its institutions, such as religion, which would have been out of of focus when trying to attempt to analyze of our nature". the "primary laws of William Blake's poetry is much less concerned with primary human laws than the of poetry William Wordsworth or other Romantic writers. Blake's concerns are a cause of the social structure and the flaws of of the leading classes and the understanding we gain of our nature, since our reactions to from analyzing them would be the secondary laws of these experiences are caused by the effect effect of of being in society not from simply being alive. One example of of this conflict conflict is seen in Blake's poem Holy Thursday, in which he 7 criticizes the degradation of of poor children who take part in the "religious" ceremony. Blake asks the readers "Is this a holy thing to see / In a rich and fruitful fruitful land. / Babes reduc'd to misery, / Fed with cold and usurous hand? / Is that trembling cry a song? / of joy? / And so many children poor? / It is a land of of Can it be a song of poverty!' ..."(Blake "(Blake 75). What sparks the reader's emotions in this poem is the way poverty!.. afflicting the children by the corrupt system. This Blake shows the pain and injustice afflicting of our nature", but it's looking at the evil poem isn't looking at the "primary laws of of the evils permeating a corrupt system. This poem's purpose is to inform the reader of infecting the religious tradition of of Holy Thursday and indirectly the religious system as a whole, and he does this by pointing out the errors of the tradition by forcing the reader to think about it from a different, different, more critical, perspective. of understanding the natural human Blake's separation from other Romantics' goal of laws causes him to appear idiosyncratic among his fellow writers. Blake was concerned with issues that were completely contrary to most Romantic goals with their writing. He uses his stories to discuss social, ideological, and religious struggles of of his society. His creation of of critiquing social issues is far removed of a fictitious world as a means of from the common man that is written about by poets such as Wordsworth or Coleridge. of the idiosyncrasies of Kristi Haas identifies some of of William Blake when she tells about Blake's differences differences with Romantics: In comparison with other Romantic thinkers, Blake stood out as one who was very religious, who produced work in many genres, and who was rather strange, mysticaL mystical, of moral revolution for his era, since he believed and even mad. He called for a sort of Imperialism was an atrocity and that with monarchical power come corruption, abuse, and other evils. Art and reciprocal forgiveness, Blake maintained, would be ideal means for reform in their society. (Haas) 8 The issues that he is addressing in the text are greater social problems than Wordsworth or the majority majority of of Romanticists would have focused on. Blake's writings are not the of everyday life, but of thoughts of of a critical thinker, a prophet, or a philosopher. In these of belief of works Blake creates something that is completely contrary to Romanticism's belief speaking about the common man. of William Blake's works create unrealistic stories and characters that the Many of Book of reader can not relate to, because it is not able to be experienced. The First Book of Urizen. of attraction / Urizen. In chapter two verse one, Blake says "Earth was not: Nor globes of The will of of the Immortal expanded / Or contracted his all flexible senses. / Death was of Uri zen not, but eternal life sprung."(Blake 205). Blake is writing about the greatness of Urizen of an immortal God and and the power of of him as a God. People can understand the idea of the idea of of eternal life, but none have actually experienced it. Those are not mortal attributes and thus do not help to convey the experiences of of any man let alone a common man. The writings about the mythology of of Albion are solely fictitious and are unable to be experienced. The Romantics were trying to create a real experience for the reader through real emotions that had been experienced by the reader, but Blake creates something that is completely opposite and maintains his idiosyncratic nature. The story may teach us morals or critique society, similar to the way that the Romantic movement was trying to, but it doesn't have the ability to help us look further into who we are as humans. of revelation, his poetry itself In addition to his claims of itself contains a darkness for the reader. Blake uses the sublime throughout his works, but it is vividly seen through his mythologies. In these poems, he uses fictitious characters such as Ahania, Enion, Vala, 9 Enitharmon, Luvah, Urthona, Urizen, and Tharmas, who are abstract embodiments of of ideas such as reason and love. The creation of ofthese these mysterious god-like creatures causes the reader to have an obscure view of of the story and its characters, which of the reader to closely relate to the separates the reader and the text. The inability of of fear that the reader has, which is characters in Blake's story exacerbates the feeling of caused by the power and darkness of of the his characters. The art that accompanies William Blake's work shows Blake's emergence into the sublime. Many of of the Romantic's believed that the there was something inherently unpleasing about the sublime. It created terror in people and was not considered to be a means of of finding pleasure, because it was provoked by fear and pain. People quickly self preservation, but do not gain respond to the sublime due to their natural desire for self true pleasure from it. Edmond Burke wrote about the effects effects of of the sublime in his essay ofour Ideas of of The Sublime and and Beautiful: Philosophical Inquiry into the Origins of A Philosophical tum on pain and danger; they are The passions which belong to self-preservation self-preservation turn simply painful painful when their causes immediately affect affect us; they are delightful delightful when we have an idea of of pain and danger, without being actually in such circumstances; this delight I have not called pleasure, because it turns on pain, and because it is different different enough from any idea of of positive pleasure. Whatever excites this delight, I call sublime. The passions belonging to self-preservation self-preservation are the strongest of of all the passions. (Burke) William Blake's paintings and writings build upon the idea of of the sublime, which differentiates of his contemporaries. His works usually depict people differentiates him from many of flying, in agony, fear, pain, magical or dramatic situations, accompanied by angels, or monsters which emanates the feeling of of the terror commonly associated with the sublime. Few of of the illuminated works depict anything other than hyper-real objects that create fear within their readers. In Blake's Europe a Prophesy we encounter a text that 10 is dark and describes the creation of of a cruel harsh Godhead and world. He tells us "And of flesh. / Then was the serpent temple form'd. form'd. overwhelmed all except this finite wall of of infinite / Shut up in finite revolutions, and man became an angel; / heaven a Image of mighty circle turning: God a tyrant crown'd" (Blake 184). In this passage we see the description of of man as an angel and God as a tyrant, which is terrifying territying to the reader since it is a complete reversal of of the majority majority of of common religious beliefs. The "serpent temple" also clashes with the common idea of of Satan as a serpent. This creates a dark feeling that permeates the text and makes the reader feel sublimity. Blake's use of of the sublime separates him from other Romantics, because they were focused on creating works of of fear and pain. Romantics would reflect of pleasure, not of reflect on the sadness caused by aging, the loss of of the past, or many other things, but generally stayed away from visions of of extreme suffering suffering and dark fearful fearful images. They were romanticizing the sad and happy human emotions, but Blake was describing horrible scenes that would create fear in his audience. People who read his work would have felt the difference difference between his writing and that of of his contemporaries. of sublimity in the text by using dark colors and Blake's pictures support the feeling of demonic themes to make the reader feel dark and terrible nature of of the work. In Europe a Prophecy the text is accompanied by a page that is painted almost completely black except for two angels worshipping an evil looking winged gargoyle that is placed on a high throne (see figure 1). The picture shows a complete inversion of of traditional of a tyrant Christian ideals, which has been perverted to make the scene evil. The ideas of God strikes fear into the reader, but Blake furthers this by using obscure, unfamiliar images and characters that cause the reader to fear it more. If If the Romantic writer Figure 1 12 Edmund Burke was to annotate Blake's Mythologies there is no doubt that he would have repeated what he said about Milton's Paradise Lost: "In this description all is dark, uncertain, confused, terrible and sublime to the last degree" degree" (Burke). Blake's works, just as as Milton's, Milton's, creates the feeling of of the sublime sublime and and is is distinct distinct and and idiosyncratic among his contemporary writers. There were few, if any, writers of the Romantic period that had tried to delve into the sublime as deeply as William Blake had. The majority of his work is the product of the sublime and he uses it to invoke the emotions of of the reader. He does this by causing fear in his audience through his descriptions of of pain and suffering. suffering. William Wordsworth and William Blake disagreed about the extent to which the author should incorporate nature into his poetry. Prior to Romanticism in the Augustan era, literature was highly focused on the city, especially London, but Wordsworth and of nature and rural life. Wordsworth's poetry Romanticism focused on the experiences of commonly include pastoral elements that cause them to appear like he is worshiping nature. William Blake did not agree with Wordsworth's extreme focus on nature in his if Wordsworth's veneration of of nature was a significant significant flaw in his poetry and he felt as if poetry that weakens the audience's reaction to it. While annotating William of his thoughts about Wordsworth's 1815 poems, Blake scribbled in the margins some of Wordsworth's poetry: - Imagination The Divine Vision. I see in One Power alone makes a Poet — Continually &then Wordsworth the Natural Man rising up against the Spiritual Man Continually he is No Poet but instead a Heathen Philosopher Philosopher at Enmity against all true Poetry or Inspiration... Inspiration ... Natural objects always did & now do weaken, deaden and obliterate imagination in me. Wordsworth must know that what he writes valuable is not to be found in nature. (Phillip) 13 of Blake's poems are set in nature, but he excludes any praise or worship of of Many of nature itself. There is no doubt that Blake respected Wordsworth as a skilled poet, but he was at odds with his excessive praise of of nature. Blake felt that nature was not the place to enlighten, the reader, but was the place to limit their reception of of the poetry and to damage the poets ethos by making him a "Heathen Philosopher at enmity against all true poetry or inspiration". Blake believed that Wordsworth's poetry and ideology would be strengthened if of nature, and if he would abandon the continual veneration of submit to the "Divine Vision" which to him was the source that creates all true poets. William Wordsworth and William Blake were polar opposites in regard to the focus of of their poetry. Ideologically they were at odds with each other and their beliefs about what was important for contemporary poetry would have varied drastically. of the later Romantics in the same way that he had to Blake would respond to many of of the Later Romantics, such as Walt Whitman, continued to Wordsworth. Many of of this can be found in venerate nature just as Wordsworth had. One example of Grass. In this passage Whitman tells the reader of Whitman's Leaves of of Grass. of his deep love for nature and his desire to have it close to him: "The atmosphere is not a perfume, it has no taste of of the distillation, I/ it is odorless, I/ It is for my mouth forever, I am in love with it, I/1I will go to the bank by the wood and become undistinguished and I/ naked, I am mad for it to be in contact with me" (Whitman 25). William Blake would have felt that Whitman, as well as other zealous nature poets, would "weaken, deaden and obliterate imagination" (Philip) in the reader. To Blake, this would be a huge fault, just as with Wordsworth, in their poetry, which would lessen their poetic impact on them. Throughout the Romantic era, many poets, such as Wordsworth and Whitman, express 14 their passion for nature and their desire to be near it. Had Blake lived to the end of of the frustrated by the authors' focus on Romantic period, he would have felt continually frustrated of their society, which he felt nature rather than on the social and spiritual anxieties of were more important than nature. of Romantic poetry by the William Blake's poetry conflicts with Wordsworth's idea of way it arouses an emotional reaction from his audience. Wordsworth tells his audience in the Preface to the Lyrical Ballads that "it is proper that I should mention one other circumstance which distinguishes these Poems from the popular Poetry of of the day; it is this, that the feeling therein developed gives importance to the action and situation, and not the action and situation to the feeling" (Kwasny 8) Wordsworth is telling his audience that his poetry's purpose is to invoke an emotional response from the audience by the emotions experienced within the poem, not by the events within the poetry. belief about how a poem should gain its importance in Wordsworth demonstrates his belief his poem Tintern Abbey. In this poem Wordsworth describes a familiar place that overflow of of reflections and emotions that create the readers emotional invokes a overflow Of response: "Once again I see / These hedgerows-hardly hedgerows, little lines / Of of sportive wood run wild; these pastoral farms / Green to the very door; and wreaths of smoke / Sent up in silence from among the trees, / With some uncertain notice, as might Of vagrant dwellers in the houseless woods, / Or of of some hermit's cave, where seem, / Of by his fire / the hermit sits alone" (Wu 407). In this poem the narrator's emotions are stirred by seeing the hedgerows and the surrounding pastoral farms. His remembrance of of the surrounding scenery and be touched by of the land causes him to feel the power of its memories. When the reader encounters the narrator's emotions in the text, they are 15 15 impressed by them, not the fact that he is sitting on a hill above Tintem Tintern Abbey. Abbey. The readers react to the poem as if they were above Tintem Abbey and reflecting on their past experiences. It is Wordsworth's emotional reflection that validates the experience of the poem. Without his personal emotions, the poem would be pointless and the audience would not enjoy reading it. Wordsworth's personal reflections on the Tintern Abbey and the outlay of the land landscape show the reader what significance Tintem has for the narrator, which cause the reader to reflect on those same emotions that they have felt at times in their life. William Blake's poetry contrasts with Wordsworth's by the way the actions and of the poetry invokes the emotional response that validates the poem. The situations of of this is emotional source of his poetry is the actions within the poem. An example of when Blake creates an idealist view of of aspects in his society in Songs of ofInnocence and then creates a critique of of them in Songs of ofExperience. The reader feels an emotional reaction to Songs of of Experience, because of of the pain and misfortune that is caused by of events in the poems. One specific example of of this is his poem Holy the corruption of of Holy Thursday in Songs of ofInnocence, the narrator's Thursday. In the version of feelings about the children's innocence, the day's holiness, and the event's beauty, is what gives importance to the poem. This is very similar to Wordsworth's belief belief about the way to derive emotion from poetry. In contrast the version of of Holy Thursday in the Songs of ofExperience develops the poems importance from the actions that take place in the poem. The audience now realizes that the children are suffering suffering and that they shouldn't land"(Blake 75). The shouldn't be suffering, suffering, because they're in a "rich and fruitful fruitfulland"(Blake reader knows that the children shouldn't shouldn't be mistreated, and that it's society's fault that 16 16 these problems continue. Blake's critical analysis of society in his poems uses the actions of the events to stir the readers emotions, which differs drastically from from Wordsworth's belief belief of how Romantics should emotionally touch their readers. readers. As a result of Blake's method of giving importance to his poetry, there is little doubt that Wordsworth would have acknowledged this distinct difference difference between their writing styles and would have considered Blake's work significantly significantly different different from his own work and his ideal view of Romantic poetry. Modernists and their uses for Blake Modernism as a movement tries to escape familiarity, definition and genre. Around the late nineteenth century society had become more illusive and harder to define. As society and culture began to move at a more rapid rate of of change people began to question many traditional beliefs. Literature followed this ideological freedom freedom that was permeating western culture. Modernism became about escaping tradition and definition. As a result, the literary movement tried to continue to change over time in order to always have something new for its audience. Marshall Berman states in his essay All That is Solid Solid Melts Into Air Air that" The tendency of of Modernity [is] to make all things new: next years modern modem life will look and feel different different from this year's; still, both will be part of the same modern ofthe modem age; but the fact that you can't step into the same modernity twice will make modern modem life especially especially elusive and hard to grasp" (143). The fact that "you "you can't can't step into the same modernity modernity twice" causes many of of the authors and texts in the movement movement to appear drastically different different even though it's the same literary period. 17 of Modernism and made the The variety of of forms and styles caused the fluidity of movement very hard to define. Few doubt that Romanticism began around the time when Wordsworth wrote the Lyrical Ballads, but many scholars of of Modernism debate when the first Modernists emerged. Scholars have agreed that the mainstream Modernism began during the early twentieth century, but many people have argued that authors such as Charles Baudelaire, who died nearly forty years earlier, were some of of the first Modernist writers. William Blake was embraced by the Modernist movement because of of his individuality and his desire to separate himself himself from his contemporaries. Eduard Larrissy tells us in his book Blake and Modern Literature that much of of Blake's popularity in the Modernist era was a result of of his work's profound profound difference difference from the Romantic genre: Romantic [Blake] figures here as an important example of of the way in which Romantic currents may feed into Modernist and Postmodernists ones- but by no means a straightforward of the great straightforward one. On the one hand, he is now regarded as one of of the Romantic period, and he is rightly seen in relation to canonical literary artists of then current modes, such as the sublime. On the other hand, Blake's popularity may have much to do with qualities which are supposed to differentiate differentiate him from other (1) Romantics. (I) Undoubtedly, William Blake's work has similarities to many ofthe of the Romantics and their styles, but he has something distinctly different different from Romanticism, otherwise the greatest rebirth of of his work would not have been by the people who were trying to separate themselves from Romanticism. Modernists wanted to create something revolutionary and to abandon the traditions of the previous literary movements. Peter Childs says that that""[in [in Modernism] There were of 18 if not opposed trends towards revolutionary and reactionary positions, fear paradoxical if of the new and delight at the disappearance of of the old, nihilism and fanatical of fanatical enthusiasm, creativity and despair." (17). Modernists were excited to see the old traditions fade away, but were still scared of of abandoning the past. William Blake was an ideal candidate for the Modernists pantheon, since he was neither new or traditional. Blake as a scholar and writer continually separated himself himself from the standard ideologies of his day and "In presenting his account of of of the states of of the human soul in the Songs Blake makes, quite deliberately, an attack on the psychologies of of his day" (Gillham 49). of his day and Blake uses his writing as a means of of attacking the standard practices of afraid to be a non-conformist. non-conformist. showing his audience that he is not afraid Blake, just as with the Modernists, is highly critical of what is considered to be true. true. This is seen by the fact that Blake's "attack is made, not because the psychologies describe inaccurately but because the truths they describe are only half half truths regarded as the whole" (Gillham 49). Blake does not believe something simply because it is standard practice or because it is a socially accepted belief, but first makes sure they have underwent intense scrutiny. He criticizes many of of the standard beliefs in an attempt to purify of their falsehood. Just like Blake, Modernists attacked the purify them of standard ideologies on philosophy, religion, and literature. They became increasingly critical of of any belief belief that was already accepted as true. Modernists wanted to separate themselves from many of of the previous ideological beliefs and create new ones to take their place. This focus on nihilism caused them to focus on further distancing themselves from anything that was previous to them. The Moderns Modems felt the need to purify purify standard beliefs through deep criticism just like Blake. Peter Faulkner gives an 19 example of of how Modernists, like Blake, have attempted to remove themselves from the traditional ideologies. He tells us that "James Joyce's [Ulysses] is a comedy not divine, of a God whose will is our peace, but human all-tooending, like Dante's, in the vision of human..." human ... " (60). Joyce is not afraid afraid to abandon an omnipotent, omnipresent God that conforms to traditional Christianity, for a God that seems mortal. This questions that traditional view of of the creator and opens him up to greater interpretation. This view provides a rendition of of God that is more similar to the old pagan gods than of its deity. Christianity's newer view of One of of the most obvious examples of of Blake's influence on Modernism is through the impact that he had on the writer W.B. Yeats. Throughout Yeats' career, he of his stylistic qualities to William Blake. Early in his career Yeats was attributed many of a Romantic writer, but he quickly became one of the leaders of the Modernist movement. His emergence into Modernism didn't cause him to forsake Blake, but "On the contrary, contrary , in this case... of attitude necessitates not the case ... one finds that a change of rejection of of Blake, but the need to re-interpret him and harness to the change" (Larrissy 37-38). William Blake's idiosyncrasies created a uniqueness about him that enabled Yeats to use the influence influence of of Blake as a means of of helping him create distinctly Modernist works. of binaries from Songs of ofInnocence and Songs of of W.B. Yeats uses Blake's system of Experience. Larrissy tells us that "Blake's conviction 'Without contraries is no progression' has left its mark everywhere on Yeats' poetry and his esoteric writings" (2). As told in Larrissy's book, we can see Yeats use contrasting poems similar to the The Song of of the way Blake does, with poems like The of the Happy Sheppard Sheppard and The Song of 20 Sad Sheppard. of dragging Sheppard. Yeats focuses on Blake and his stylistic variations as means of of neglect. Yeats' use of of Blake's Blake into the Modernist movement from his state of of style in his own writing is important for the Modernist movement since he was one of their most influential influential writers. This is important for Blake, as a canonical writer, since influenced many of of the later Modernist writers. The influence he received from Yeats influenced of of its pantheon of William Blake drug him into the Modernist movement as a member of writers. Stylistically, Yeats has similar goals for his writing as did William Blake. As a writer and an artist William Blake was highly focused on creating a structured outline of of his material. Charles Gardner said "Clear outline was a necessity to keep him sane; blurred outline always gave him nightmare"(21). This is vividly seen through Blake's paintings that accompany his texts. Within his artistic works, though his lines may not perfectly straight, they are definite and distinct. They are brief, in that they don't be perfectly have a large amount of of details, but they complement the texts in this. Blake's poems of Modernist writing. The Modernists have a sense of of continual control, similar to that of forsook the vagueness of of the Romantics and focused on creating defined defined works: Yeats declared his loss of of sympathy with the vagueness, the flight from definite definite ... Now, he says, T 'I feel form, which had characterized the late nineteenth century century...Now, of beauty as about me and in me an impulse to create form, to carry the realisation of possible' ....Yeats Yeats now espouses Blake's twin insistence on energy and the far as possible'.. of clear form. (Larrissy 43) distinct outline of of Blake's "energy" and "distinct outline of of clear form" and uses his Yeats' embrace of of achieving concreteness in his writing. Yeats uses Blake's example as a means of of finding a more defined form, which he was not able to find in example as a means of other writers from the nineteenth century. 21 Modernism doesn't use traditional form, but it creates a physicality in the writing. Modems want to create structure and a sense of Yeats and other Moderns of physical material. The Moderns, Modems, unlike the Romanticists, created something material in their writing. We can see an example ofthis of this in Yeats' Sailing to Byzantium. "An aged man is a paltry thing thing;/ A tattered coat upon a stick, unless; unless / Soul clap its mortal dress; dress / Nor is there singing of its own magnificence magnificence;/ And therefore I have sailed school but studying studying;/ Monuments of the seas and come come;/ To the holy city of of Byzantium" (1199). Within this poem we see writing that describes the physical surroundings in an attempt to create something physical. The narrator speaks of of "An aged man", "A tattered coat", "studying", and "Monuments". Yeats uses these not to stir up the inner soul, but to create material in the surrounding. He wants to create beauty through the scene's physical objects, not by the reaction that the narrator had from looking at them. This creates a physical structure or form within the writing. Blake creates materiality in his poetry similar to the way that Yeats does. Blake's of the material objects poetry unlike his contemporary Romantics', focuses on much of and things within his writing. Blake is attempting to create a work that is far focused on the material within the writing and not simply on the emotional reaction caused by the poem. In Blake's poem Jerusalem, we can see an example of of his focus on Materiality in his writing: Jerusalem I have forsaken your courts courts;/ Thy pillars of of of ivory & & gold: thy curtains of silk & fine;/ Linen: thy pavements of pearl;/ and gold, & fine of precious stones: thy walls of of pearl of Thanksgiving thy windows of of blessing; thy thy Gates of of praise: ;/ Thy clouds of of tender-mercy tender-mercy;/ Stretching their wings sublime over the over the LittleCherubims of ones of of Albion.. Albion ...."(454). "(454). Within Blake's writing we experience the physical material of of the scene and are not 22 faced with the intrapersonal reflection reflection that is common in Romantic writing, such as Wordsworth's. He is trying to create something that seems tangible and not solely a reflection of of emotions. The "pillars of of ivory & Gold", "curtains of of silk & fine Linen" reflection and "pavements of of precious stones" create a material within the writing that is able to be clearly felt by the reader. They are seen as tangible and not diluted by "vagueness" or a "flight from definite form". Yeats is drawn to the concreteness of Blake's work and mimics it in his own writing, since he is trying to escape the Romantics vagueness. of Subjectivity Blake's use of Subjectivity and Fragmentation subjectivity by abstracting its texts. Modernism modifies traditional Romantic subjectivity Modernists use abstraction as a means of of escaping the subjectivity of of Romantic poetry of their social anxieties. They want to draw the reader away from and expressing many of the subjective "I" and create a story that is able to be generalized by its audience. Tamar Katz describes this to his readers this in his essay Modernism, Subjectivity and Narrative Form: Abstraction Abstraction in "The Waves": The central term in this debate that I wish to examine here is abstraction. One of subjectivity formulation of subjectivity that plays a key role in modernism's conflicts renders it abstract; this strand of of modernism, that is, depicts the literary subject as a generalized and generalizable one, capable of of standing as a model for all subjects because divorced from cultural specificity, and in generalizing the subject, detaches it from the social world. (233) The Modernists, by creating a "generalizable" text, are able to separate themselves from their texts. Romantics were highly subjective and the scope of of their texts were limited to their own personal experiences and beliefs, but Moderns Modems opened up their text to 23 allow for a greater number of of interpretations. Also, the generalities of of the Modems' Moderns' texts allowed them to escape the strains of of the city without leaving it. Their writing takes place in the city, but it is detached from them as the author. Modernists create an of society while standing at a distance from it. impersonal critique of of the poet within his poetry similar to the way Modernist Blake dislocates the "I" of writers have done. Yeats and Pessoa were two of of the first Modernists to adopt the idea of of displacing the subject in poetry: They represented a departure in conceptual and stylistic terms from the conventional differentiation between the poet and the use of of the poetic persona, which entailed a differentiation subjective 'I' of the poem, strictly within the boundaries of of the poem. The T of of this poetic device generated in the first instance a division of of the deployment of enunciating entity or persona, with the consequent emergence of of several recurring personae in the Yeatsian Yeats ian and Pessoan poetic universes. (McNeill 1) Yeats and Pessoa strove to remove themselves from the poem in order to create a subjective "I" in the text. This contrasts with Romanticism, which embraced the authorial voice by using the "Egotistical Sublime". Modernism wanted to separate itself itself from the Romantics' use of of subjectivity and achieve a written persona that was not attributed to the author and his thoughts and feelings. Within Blake's poetry, he dislocates himself himself from the poetry by the topics of of the of the poems. He is able to create a world within poetry and by the actual presentation of his poetry that is able to separate the "I" of of the author and the personae in the poem in order to alienate the reader from him as author. One of of the most vivid ways in which Blake does this is in his Mythologies in which he creates a cast of of many characters that reoccur throughout many poems. Through creating a repeating cast he is able to draw the audience away from himself himself and align the readers with the characters. The readers 24 of the frequency of develop a closer connection to the characters, because of of their use. Yeats had done this in his collection of of Love poetry, The Wind Among Among the Reeds: In Yeats' case, that interdependency is particularly patent in the collection The Wind Among the Reeds, first published as a separate volume in 1899. In this first edition the personae Aedh (Aodh), Mongan, Michael Robartes, and Hanrahan appear recurrently in the love poems. Thus, the function of of these personae is akin to that of of a pseudonym in fiction, in that they attempt to disguise, rather than identify, the poet from each particular persona. (McNeill 1) Just like Blake, Yeats was able to dislocate the "I" within his poetry by creating characters that can hide the author by becoming a familiar personae that displaces the of the story and writing. author from the text and takes over the responsibility of Modems dislocate themselves from the text as a means Both William Blake and the Moderns of of critiquing society, but keeping their distance from it. In Blake's mythologies, he seems to retreat from the real social problems by hiding them behind personified personified of them. He seems to dislocate himself himself as author of imitations of of the text and as voice in order to create a separate subjectivity that is focused on the characters of of the story. Modernists have done this in order to create a feeling of of alienation and to create rampant subjectivity. Chris Nineham tells his readers about this dislocation in his essay The Two Faces of of Modernism: [Modernism's] emphasis on dislocation and alienation could open the way to a kind of rampant subjectivity... subjectivity ... However, if if the modernists often often found a retreat or refuge of refuge of them also found a form of of rebellion against a society that had in their art, many of gone crazy, and a conventional art that was no longer adequate or honest.(l) honest(l) Just as the Moderns, Modems, William Blake is creating a "rampant subjectivity" and used his art as a way of of rebelling against his society, which he felt had "gone crazy". As he retreated from his poetry he was able to speak more candidly to his audience. The subjectivity subjectivity of of the poem became more attached to the characters, rather than the author. 25 Modernists create an urban pastoral of of their surroundings, which distinguishes them from the Romantics who completely forsook the cities in favor of of rural life. Their abstraction of of the text allows the reader to reinterpret the text with each new rush of of technological and social advances that were characteristic of of their era. Also through, abstracting and fragmenting of being fragmenting their texts, the Modernists express their feelings of of the future and present, which has been caused by over crowded, fragmented, unsure of the rapid social changes caused by industrialization and the infusion infusion of of mass media. The rapid changes of of their era make the Modernists feel continually dislocated from their surroundings. This dislocation emanates throughout Modernist works. Similar to Yeats, Blake has fractured fractured his text throughout his writing and pictures. One o/The!. Blake shows us a young woman who is example of of this is in The Book ofThel. of life fade and cause things to searching for the answer to "why does the springtime of end?" Thel searches throughout the poem for her answer, but in the end, is only bombarded with more questions that cause her to run back to where she came from. Her question was never answered, and the story ends without anything being resolved and her search was in fact complicated more as a result of of her quest. Neither the reader or Thel receive the answer to her question. The protagonist ofthe of the poem is lost which creates a feeling of of being dislocated from what we are searching for. Blake does this in many of of his poems such as "Little Girl Lost", of Losf', "Little Boy Lost", or "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell" where we experience being dislocated or lost from righteousness. Illuminated Books creates a fragmentation fragmentation of of the poems. William Blake's art in the Illuminated His poems are written on plates that he uses to print them, but the texts are incorporated of the poem and the words. As readers into his art, which blurs the readers perception of Figure 2 27 we are stuck between his art and his poetry, which causes us to be separated from both the drawings and the verse. While reading we can't be totally in the story because the art is continually drawing us out of of it. One example of of this is in Europe A Prophesy where Blake places insects and plants throughout the page (See figure 2). Blake makes the letters appear to be more a part of of conveying the story. of the design than the means of The drawings permeate the entire text and continually force the reader to see them. difficult for the reader to immerse themselves in the of his pictures makes it difficult Blake's use of text, because they try to disconnect the reader from what they are reading. William Blake fragments his writing through developing nondualism within his text. He wants to create a world of of unity that has abandoned the idea of of separate consciousness. In his writing he is trying to forsake otherness and duality. Kathryn Freeman discusses this in her book Blake's Blake's Nostos: Fragmentation and Nondualism in 'The Four Zoas': apocalypse ... is a state that expands the universe, destroying not people, Blake's apocalypse... of nature, time, or history, but the illusion of of otherness. The representation of of boundary lines distinguishes Blake from the poets of of the unhesitating dissolution of high romantic sublime, who tentatively probe nonduality but ultimately retreat to the familiar ground of of their separate existence. (Freeman, 4-5) of separate existence and unify consciousness within Blake wants to eliminate the idea of his texts. Doing this destroys individuality and makes the reader, narrator, and author of the whole, while himself to be part of one. The reader is simultaneously separated from himself he is unified unified into one collective whole. This destroys individuality and creates a singular whole. William Blake uses contraries in his texts to emphasize contrasting ideologies and to fracture the text. An example of of this can be seen in Songs of of Innocence and Songs of of 28 of poetry, Blake represents two contrasting view points Experience. In these collections of of poems is a binary opposition to that do not make a contiguous text. Each collection of the other. Their differences differences highlight the contradictories of of society and personal life. While reading the text, the two versions aggravate each other. No one can read Songs of of Experience after of Innocence, without considering their conflicts. after having reading Songs of The reader feels a need to analyze the inconsistencies between their stories and try to reconcile them or at least to try and understand the causes for the drastic ideological change. The differences differences between these two poems, emulates the Modernist's fragmentation fragmentation of their own writing. The Modernists wanted to create texts that emulated their feelings of of isolation and separation. William Blake's style of of of creating poems that represented binary opposites mimicked the feelings that Modernists were trying to analyze in their writing. This is one of the main reasons why writers such as Yeats had used Blake's ofthe works as an example for their own writing. Blake was a firm believer that people needed to use binaries in order to improve their work. In The Marriage of of Heaven and Hell Blake says that "Without contraries is no progression"(412). Blake believed that there was a need for conflict conflict and opposing views in order to have progression. The "contraries" create fragmentation fragmentation within the text by placing two opposing things next to each other and analyzing them together. There is a natural fracturing of of the text that occurs from the differences differences between the two binaries. The only way this fragmentation the reader. The fragmentation can be resolved is by the reasoning faculties of ofthe fragmentation stays, but fragmentation through their analysis the reader is able to understand the purpose of of the fragmentation of of the binary. 29 juxtaposition in their writing as is seen in William Modernists creates a similar juxtaposition Blake's works. Just like Blake, the Modernists became increasingly interested in the of contending forces. Their writing is highly focused on contradictions. juxtaposition of fragmentation in his book Living in Albert Gelpi tells us about the Modernists focus on fragmentation Time: Time: The 'innovation in language', the 'violent juxtapositions,' the 'deliberate discords,' achieved greater 'complexity, intellectual toughness, irony,' but the rupture of of form and the disregard for shared conventions sacrificed sacrificed the potential audience for poetry and shirked the poets social and moral— politicalmoral-- and in this large sense political-responsibility to communicate" (Gelpi 179). Blake, as well as the Modernists, wanted to create contraries that are purposefully purposefully of the author's purpose. juxtaposed in order to further the reader's understanding of Whether it is to critique society or to further the reader's understanding of of the story, they use it to achieve their literary goals. Blake also fragments his poetry by chopping the poems into separate pieces through the use of of his paint. In the first two pages of of Blake's Europe A Prophesy Blake fractures fractures of his art. As the reader moves from one page to the the poem through the visual aspects of other they go from a more inviting page with open space, lighter colors, and great detail (See figure 3), to a page that is choked by dark blue and black paint that covers the entire page except for the immediate space around the words (See figure 4). The second page feels like an empty abyss that is barren of of detail except for the four creatures in the picture. As the reader moves from one page to the other they are able to feel the abrupt Figure 3 Figure 4 32 shift shift caused by the drastic change in the background colors and by the increased ofthe confinement confinement of the text. Despite the contiguity ofthe of the poem from one page to the other, the reader can't help but feel that a change takes place in the text and feel that they have moved into another poem. The discomfort discomfort caused by this drastic change pulls the reader out of of the story and disconnects the reader from the story they're reading. Conclusion of the great writers since he William Blake has been a large influence on many of started to publish his writings. Despite the fact that he fell into obscurity in the latter Romantic period, he has emerged into prominence throughout the Modernist era and of the leading influences become one of influences on their writing. During his life, many of of his idiosyncrasies caused people to regard him as being "mad", but they have always acknowledged his skill and poetic genius. These idiosyncrasies, that had caused the Romantics to regard him as being crazy, are the things that made him important to the Modernist movement. His influence influence gave many of of the Modernists a focal point to work from. Blake's use of of the sublime, fragmentation, abstraction, abandonment of of many of of the Romantic characteristics, and his emphasis on clear out line and social concerns were examples for the Modernists to work from. William Blake has never clearly fit into the Romantic movement because of of his distinct differences differences from other Romantics. In many ways Blake is not a Romantic. Blake's idiosyncrasies, which permeate through his writing and artwork, separated him from other Romantics. This is evidenced by his abandonment by the later Romantics. 33 Blake's writing style was not what they were looking for in literature. The later Romantics found the methodology that they were looking for in Wordsworth, Coleridge and many other early Romantics, but they could not find it in Blake's work. They knew that he was completely idiosyncratic from the early Romantics and they were not able to incorporate his writing style into their own. of the Modernist movement In many ways, William Blake fits in better with those of of concern for obeying the traditions of of society. Blake, like the because of of his lack of Modernists, was concerned with creating works of of art that depicted what he believed to be true. He wanted to create a social revolution that was contrary to what many people believed. Modernists were the first to annotate and study Blake as a major major poet, because of the fact that he was so closely aligned with the Modernists ideology and style, style,.. of W.B. Yeats was one of of the first to realize that Blake, as a writer, shared many of of the Moderns. The incorporation of of Blake's work helped qualities that were important to the Modems. them to achieve their goals as a movement, by creating clear outline and separating themselves from the traditions of of the day. His idiosyncrasies with the Romantics became similarities with the Moderns Modems and helped him to be adopted as a forerunner to their movement. The inclusion of of Blake as a literary forefather forefather furthered furthered the Modems Moderns of the Romantic Movement. attempts to separate themselves from tradition and styles of Moderns were able to incorporate many of of Blake's idiosyncrasies onto Yeats and other Modems Modern. their own writing and make something that was distinctly Modem. 34 34 Work Cited 1. Beer, John. William Blake A Literary Life. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005. 2. Berman, Marshall. All That Is Solid Melts Into Air. New York: Simon And Schuster. 3. Blake, William. "Holy Thursday". The Complete Illuminated Illuminated Books. 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