The imagination is not a state: it is the

human existence itself.

William Blake

Now there was a day when

the sons of God came to
present themselves before
the Lord, and Satan came
also among them. And the
Lord

said

unto

Satan,

Whence comest thou? Then

Satan answered the Lord,
and said, From going to and
fro in the earth, and from
walking up and down in it.
(The Book of Job 1, 6 7)

Satan Before the Throne of God (1821),

illustration for The Book of Job.


Poet;

Painter;

Engraver;

Mystic;

Prophet.

Laocon (1826 1827)

Blanching at the sight we scatter. They move

on a set course towards Laocon: and first each serpent
entwines the slender bodies of his two sons,
and biting at them, devours their wretched limbs:
then as he comes to their aid, weapons in hand, they seize him too,
and wreathe him in massive coils: now encircling his waist twice,
twice winding their scaly folds around his throat,
their high necks and heads tower above him.
He strains to burst the knots with his hands,
his sacred headband drenched in blood and dark venom,
while he sends terrible shouts up to the heavens,
like the bellowing of a bull that has fled wounded,
from the altar, shaking the useless axe from its neck.
(Virgil Aeneid, book II)

I write when commanded by the spirits, and the

moment I have written I see the words fly about the
room in all directions. It is then published, and the
spirits can read.
(William Blake to a friend)

Ancient of Days (1794)

I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the

Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white
as snow, and hair of his head like the pure wool:
his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels
as burning fire.
(The Book of Daniel 7, 9)

Main Works

Poetical Sketches (1783);

Songs of Innocence (1789);

Marriage of Heaven and Hell (1793);

Songs of Experience (1794);

Milton (1804 1808);

Jerusalem: The Emanation of the Giant Albion (1820).

The Great Red Dragon and the

Woman Clothed With Sun (1805 1810),
illustration to Revelation 12

And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman

clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and
upon her head a crown of twelve stars: and she being with
child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.
And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and
behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten
horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.
(Revelation 12, 1 3)

Dante and Virgil at the Gates of Hell (1825

1827), illustration to Dantes Inferno.

And after he had laid his hand on mine

With joyful mien, whence I was comforted,
He led me in among the secret things.
There sighs, complaints, and ululations loud
Resounded through the air without a star,
Whence I, at the beginning, wept thereat.

(Dante Inferno, canto III)

Oberon, Titania and Puck with Fairies Dancing (c. 1786),

illustration to Shakespeares A Midsummer Nights Dream.

Oberon:
Through the house give gathering light,
By the dead and drowsy fire:
Every elf and fairy sprite
Hop as light as bird from brier;
And this ditty, after me,
Sing, and dance it trippingly.
[]

Titania:
First, rehearse your song by rote
To each word a warbling note:
Hand in hand, with fairy grace,
Will we sing, and bless this place.

(Shakespeare A Midsummer Nights Dream)

Satan Arousing the Rebel Angels (1808),

illustration to Miltons Paradise Lost.

Of Hell resounded: Princes, Potentates,

Warriors, the Flower of Heaven, once yours; now lost,
If such astonishment as this can seize
Eternal Spirits! Or have ye chosen this place
After the toil of battle to repose
Your wearied virtue, for the ease you find
To slumber here, as in the vales of Heaven?
[]
Awake, arise, or be for ever fallen!
(John Milton Paradise Lost, canto I)

Newton (1795).

WORKS

SOME GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF BLAKES WORKS

Relationship between visual arts and written language;

Swerving of Neoclassic thinking;

Avoiding imitation of the classics and classical
mythologies;

Poetry as inspiration;

Poet as prophet;

Cosmogony/cosmic vision;

Christianity, Paganism, and Mysticism.

TO THE EVENING STAR

Thou fair-hair'd angel of the evening,

Now, whilst the sun rests on the mountains, light
Thy bright torch of love; thy radiant crown
Put on, and smile upon our evening bed!
Smile on our loves, and while thou drawest the
Blue curtains of the sky, scatter thy silver dew
On every flower that shuts its sweet eyes
In timely sleep. Let thy west wind sleep on
The lake; speak silence with thy glimmering eyes,
And wash the dusk with silver. Soon, full soon,
Dost thou withdraw; then the wolf rages wide,
And the lion glares thro' the dun forest:
The fleeces of our flocks are cover'd with
Thy sacred dew: protect them with thine influence.

Frontispiece of the
single volume of
Songs of Innocence
and of Experience
(1794).

Frontispiece of Songs of
Innocence (1789).

Illumination of The Lamb

THE LAMB
Little Lamb, who made thee?
Dost thou know who made thee?
Gave thee life & bid thee feed,
By the stream & oer the mead;
Gave thee clothing of delight,
Softest clothing wooly bright;
Gave thee such a tender voice,
Making all the vales rejoice!
Little Lamb, who made thee?
Dost thou know who made thee?
Little Lamb, Ill tell thee,
Little Lamb, Ill tell thee!
He is called by thy name.
For he calls himself a Lamb:
He is meek & he is mild,
He became a little child:
I a child & thou a lamb,
We are called by his name.
Little Lamb, God bless thee.
Little Lamb, God bless thee.

Frontispiece of The
Marriage of Heaven
and Hell (1793).

Illumination of The Voice of the Devil

THE VOICE OF THE DEVIL

All Bibles or sacred codes have been
the causes of the following Errors:
1. That Man has two real existing
principles; Viz: a Body & a Soul.
2. That Energy, calld Evil, is alone from
the Body, & that Reason, calld Good, is
alone from the Soul.
3. That God will torment Man in Eternity
for following his Energies.
But the following Contraries to these are
True:
1. Man has no Body distinct from his
Soul; for that calld Body is a portion of
Soul discerned by the five Senses, the
chief inlets of Soul in this age.
2. Energy is the only life, and is from the
Body; and Reason is the bound or
outward circumference of Energy.
3. Energy is Eternal Delight.

Frontispiece of Songs
of Experience (1794).

Iluminura do poema The Tyger

THE TYGER
Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
In what distant deeps or skies
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wing dare he aspire?
What the hand, dare seize the fire?
And what shoulder, & what art,
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand? & what dread feet?
What the hammer? what the chain?
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? what dread grasp
Dare its deadly terrors clasp?
When the stars threw down their spears,
And waterd heaven with their tears,
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the Lamb make thee?
Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

Frontispiece of
Jerusalem: The
Emanation of the
Giant Albion
(1820).

Iluminura da Invocao do
Captulo I do poema Jerusalem

JERUSALEM
Invocation: Chapter I
Of the Sleep of Ulro! and of the passage through
Eternal Death! and of the awaking to Eternal Life.
This theme calls me in sleep night after night, & evry morn
Awakes me at sun-rise, then I see the Saviour over me
Spreading his beams of love, & dictating the words of this mild song.
Awake! Awake O sleeper of the land of shadows, wake! expand!
I am in you and you in me, mutual in love divine:
Fibres of love from man to man thro Albions pleasant land.
In all the dark Atlantic vale down from the hills of Surrey
A black water accumulates, return Albion! return!
Thy brethren call thee, and thy fathers, and thy sons,
Thy nurses and thy mothers, thy sisters and thy daughters
Weep at thy souls disease, and the Divine Vision is darkend:
Thy Emanation that was wont to play before thy face,
Beaming forth with her daughters into the Divine bosom
Where hast thou hidden thy Emanation, lovely Jerusalem,
From the vision and fruition of the Holy-one?
I am not a God afar off, I am a brother and friend;
Within your bosoms I reside, and you reside in me:
Lo! we are One; forgiving all Evil; Not seeking recompense!
Ye are my members O ye sleepers of Beulah, land of shades!

REFERNCIAS BIBLIOGRFICAS
ARANTES, Jos Antonio. William Blake: um profeta obscuro e genial. In:
Cadernos Entre Livros 1: Panorama da literatura inglesa, So Paulo,
Duetto editorial, n 1, 2007.
BLAKE, William. Matrimnio do cu e do inferno. So Paulo: Madras, 2004.
ERDMAN, David V. (ed.). The Complete Poetry and Prose of William Blake.
Berkeley; Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1982.
SANTOS, Alcides Cardoso dos. Vises de William Blake: imagens e
palavras em Jerusalm, a emanao do gigante Albion. Campinas (SP):
Editora da UNICAMP, 2009.
VIZIOLI, Paulo. William Blake: poesia e prosa selecionadas. So Paulo:
Nova Alexandria, 1993.
The William Blake Archive. In: www.blakearchive.org