'Can Blake Be Considered To Be a Romantic Poet\r'

'Ro publictism was an fraudistic movement, which took place between 1770 and 1848. It highlighted a signifi elicitt change in society. Before, state princip aloney believed in the neo-classic system, which was extremely authoritarian, there was no t ace in the effect of imagination, paintings were realistic portraits or landscapes and literary productions was inflexible. Everything was more or less constrained.\r\nSigns of romatism were unvarnished in writers such as Mary Shelly and ETA Hoffman who both alluded to the in darkness mysterious aspects of life. Slowly writers started to portray nature in relation to mans sentiments (Gray was a fine example of this). This is displaying imagination, as it is associated with the individuals state of mind. Rousseau was a smashing find out in the Romantic Movement, his literature showed adventure and a go use of imagination.\r\nWilliam Blake was an ardent follower of Rousseau and his beliefs. This is evident in his metrical composi tions, such as The Tiger taken from Songs Of Innocence. In this poem there is a contest between the tiger and the blacksmith, the tiger being a native, powerful, involuntary and full of energy and imagination while the blacksmith ruins, crafts and reconstructs natural materials. It is clear in the poem that Blake had a great degree of respect for the tiger and this is shown where it says:\r\nâ€Å"On what move hardiness he aspire? What the hand d atomic deed 18 seize the fire.”\r\nThis is taken from the second stanza of the poem, which consists solely of questions. These questions ar evidence of Blakes fascination with this creature that is individual in thought and action, that isnt influenced by Urizen and is not affected by the mind forged manacles. It is evident in this poem that Blake was a believer in the power of imagination. He loathed anything that limited or constricted imagination.\r\nThis is partly from the influence of Jean Jacques Rousseaus The Social Cont ract, the opening sentence resembles pick up words that appear in Blakes poems: â€Å"Man is innate(p) free but everywhere he is in handcuffs.” Here, the get a line words are â€Å"free” and â€Å"chains”. Chains are mentioned a countless number of times in Blakes poems, most noticeably in The Tiger where it says: â€Å"What thy shape? What thy chain?” A hammer is a weapon that shapes (resembling how the church/monarchy shaped society) and a chain is a weapon that restricts and Blake obviously felt that people were being suppress.\r\nAs well as having respect for individual and instinctive creatures like the tiger, Blake was similarly very fond of children. Many of his poems are ground on children with a particular emphasis on childhood memories, for example: The Chimney Sweeper and The Nurses Song. both of these poems appear in deuce parts, each with one in Songs of Innocence and the another(prenominal) in Songs of Experience.\r\nThis emphasises the encourage of individual get under ones skin. If we look at The Nurses Song (Innocence), it is all the way portraying a feeling of joy and optimism; this is evident where it says:\r\nâ€Å"When the voices of children are heard on the immature And express joy is heard on the hill.”\r\nHere, the words: â€Å"voices” and â€Å"laughing” make out us that children have a voice and are allowed to have a voice, and be expressive. Also, the emphasis on the surrounding environment makes the setting very idyllist (like that of hassock tale). The key concept to this poem is authority. In this poem the nurse is benevolent and lenient. However, in the NUSRSES song (experience), the key figure (the nurse) becomes jealous and self-centred, this is portrayed where it says:\r\n” The days of my offspring rise fresh in my mind, My face turns green and pale.”\r\nNow the nurse has envy in her soul, she wants to be like a child again because experience has mad e her so cynical. Here, there are two important points, one is experience, Blake is showing us how people change with experience, after being constrained and oppressed people became self †centred and envious like the nurse. The other factor is childhood, he is emphasising the sacredness and vitality of that part of life. As this is the only time when we can be exclusively frank and voice our thoughts without hesitation and its accepted.\r\nBy analysing Blakes song and imagery it is clear to calculate that he can be considered a romantic poet. It is clear to see in The Tiger that he believes in the power of imagination and this is also evident in all his work. He emphasises on the value of experience a great amount and this is most obviously shown by the composition of Songs of Experience. All his work shows a subjective point of view, which is expressed through the intensity of the nomenclature he uses. He has linked together man and nature (most noticeably) in The Sick Ro se and The clustering and the Pebble. All his work reflects his state of mind, he is conveyance of title his point of view through his literature and art forms, and this makes him a romantic poet.\r\n'