William Blake 18世纪

I know that This World is a World of IMAGINATION & Vision.” “The Nature of my Work is visionary imaginative.” --- William Blake (1757-1827)
Pre-romanticism
When did Pre-romanticism appear? in the latter half of the 18th century What are the main features of Pre-romanticism? Romantic Revival; Strong protest against the bondage of Classicism Claims of passion and emotion Renewed interests in medieval literature
Who are the representatives? William Blake and Robert Burns What’s the significance? marked the decline of classicism paved the way for the coming of romanticism in England
Life
born in London talent for painting Engraver Happy marriage Live in poverty
Major Literary Works
Poetical Sketches (1783): his earliest poems, full of joy, laughter, love and harmony Songs of Innocence (1789): present a happy and innocent world, though with its evils and sufferings The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (1790): his first prophetical work and most important prose work; explore the relationship of the contraries. Songs of Experience (1794): present a world of misery, poverty, disease, war and repression with a melancholy tone Jerusalem: The Emanation of the Giant Albion (1820): his longest illuminated work; expound his theory of Imagination
Songs of Innocence(1809)
A lovely volume of poems, presenting a happy and innocent world, though not without its evils and sufferings. However, in “The little black boy” and “The chimney sweeper”, we find racial discrimination and sufferings of the poor.
Songs of Experience (1794)
A much mature work Show the sufferings of the miserable It marks the poet’s progress in his outlook on life. To him, experience had brought a fuller sense of the power of evil, and of the great misery and pain of the people’s life. The symbol changes from the lamb to the tiger.
Auguries of Innocence 天真的预言 By William Blake 布莱克 To see a world in a grain of Sand 一沙一世界， And a Heaven in a Wild Flower, 一花一天空； Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand 掌内包无限， And Eternity in an hour. 片刻现永恒。
William Blake’s “The Tiger” p.288The Tiger” has been described by one critic as Blake’s “most fully developed art - a process using small revelations leading to greater discoveries through profound use of symbol.”老虎！老虎！黑夜的森林中 燃烧着的煌煌的火光， 是怎样的神手或天眼 造出了你这样的威武堂堂？ 你炯炯的两眼中的火 燃烧在多远的天空或深渊？ 他乘着怎样的翅膀搏击？ 用怎样的手夺来火焰？ 又是怎样的膂力，怎样的技巧， 把你的心脏的筋肉捏成？ 当你的心脏开始搏动时， 使用怎样猛的手腕和脚胫？ Tyger! Tyger! Burning bright In the fores

ts 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 wings dare he aspires? 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? and what dread feet?是怎样的槌？怎样的链子？ 在怎样的熔炉中炼成你的脑筋？ 是怎样的铁砧？怎样的铁臂 敢于捉着这可怖的凶神？ 群星投下了他们的投枪。 用它们的眼泪润湿了穹苍， 他是否微笑着欣赏他的作品？ 他创造了你，也创造了羔羊？ 老虎！老虎！黑夜的森林中 燃烧着的煌煌的火光， 是怎样的神手或天眼 造出了你这样的威武堂堂？ What the hammer? What the chain? In what furnace was thy brain? What he anvil? What dread grasp Dare its deadly terrors clasp? When the stars threw down their spears, And water’d heaven with their tears, Did he smile his work to see? Did he who made the Lamb make thee? Tiger! Tiger! Burning bright In the forests of the night, What immortal hand or eye, Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

Question 1
What parts of the tiger have been described in the poem? eyes: burning bright in darkness/ fiery figure: in fearful symmetry heart: hard to twist its sinews; sturdy hand and feet: dreadful brain: framed in furnace; strongQuestion 2
What does the tiger stand for or symbolize? powerful force with terror, mystery and violence eg: fearful symmetry, dread hand

Symbolism The creation verbs “twist,” “dare,” “burnt,” and “seize” emphasize the danger and daring of the creation act, while the place of creation is described as a distant, fiery, furnace. And the “hammer,” “anvil,” and “furnace” are images of an industrial revolution which Blake would have seen approaching in his lifetime.
The creator persona featured in the poem “twisted the sinews” of the tiger heart. These sinews are the tendons (腱）which make the heart work; they are the source of power, the biological engine as well as a symbol of the tiger’s passion for living.老虎！老虎！黑夜的森林中 燃烧着的煌煌的火光， 是怎样的神手或天眼 造出了你这样的威武堂堂？ 你炯炯的两眼中的火 燃烧在多远的天空或深渊？ 他乘着怎样的翅膀搏击？ 用怎样的手夺来火焰？ 又是怎样的膂力，怎样的技巧， 把你的心脏的筋肉捏成？ 当你的心脏开始搏动时， 使用怎样猛的手腕和脚胫？ 是怎样的槌？怎样的链子？ 在怎样的熔炉中炼成你的脑筋？ 是怎样的铁砧？怎样的铁臂 敢于捉着这可怖的凶神？ 群星投下了他们的投枪。 用它们的眼泪润湿了穹苍， 他是否微笑着欣赏他的作品？ 他创造了你，也创造了羔羊？ 老虎！老虎！黑夜的森林中 燃烧着的煌煌的火光， 是怎样的神手或天

眼 造出了你这样的威武堂堂？
华南虎 现代著名诗人 牛汉 在桂林 小小的动物园里 我见到一只老虎。 我挤在叽叽喳喳的人群中 隔着两道铁栅栏 向笼里的老虎 张望了许久许久， 但一直没有瞧见 老虎斑斓的面孔 和火焰似的眼睛。
你的健壮的腿 直挺挺地向四方伸开， 我看见你的每个趾爪 全都是破碎的， 凝结着浓浓的鲜血， 你的趾爪 是被人捆绑着 活活地铰掉的吗？ 还是由于悲愤 你用同样破碎的牙齿 （听说你的牙齿是被钢锯锯掉的 把它们和着热血咬碎……
我看见铁笼里 灰灰的水泥墙壁上 有一道一道的血淋淋的沟壑 象闪电那般耀眼刺目！ 我终于明白…… 羞愧地离开了动物园。 恍惚之中听见一声 石破天惊的咆哮， 有一个不羁的灵魂 掠过我的头顶 腾空而去， 我看见了火焰似的斑纹 火焰似的眼睛， 还有巨大而破碎的 滴血的趾爪！
His Positions in English Literature
The most extraordinary literary genius of his age A Pre-Romantic or a forerunner of the Romantic poetry of the 19th century 1) His lyrics display all the characteristics of the romantic spirit (natural sentiment & individual originality). 2) He influenced the Romantic poets with recurring themes of good and evil, heaven and hell, knowledge and innocence, and external reality versus inner imagination.