By most accounts, the artist, artisan and poet William Blake (1757-1827) was a rather unconventional person: enjoying the occasional naked frolic in the garden and conversing with angels, many of his contemporaries were quite convinced he was mad. Today, he is regarded as one of the most singular voices of the Romantic era.
Blake’s poetry tackles timeless themes such as revolution and religion, imagination and rationalism, as well as free will and free love, and explore their roles in early modern society.
In this seminar, we are going to take a closer look at his life, his literary and philosophical influences, and his reception. We will also take a deep dive into a large selection of his poetry, which ranges from the deceptively simple Songs of Innocence and of Experience to the often-overlooked “prophetic books”, in which Blake lays out a complex mythology of his own invention.
A reader will be made available at the beginning of the semester. |
