Blake - the complexity of imagery.

Imagery : 

Imagery Divide these into two lists: Children at play, the lamb, thorns, a cage, flowers of London town, an iron chain, swaddling bands, briars, manacles, a dimpling stream

But what about swaddling bands? : 

But what about swaddling bands? Children at play Lamb Flowers of London town Dimpling stream Thorns Cage Iron chain Briars Manacles

The humble sheep… : 

The humble sheep… Is this just an innocent lamb??? Re-read The Lily and think about the difference between the rose and the sheep on one hand and the lily on the other.

Using old images in new ways : 

Using old images in new ways O, my Luve’s like a red red rose That’s newly sprung in June…. Look at The Sick Rose illustration and read the text of My Pretty Rose tree and The Lily. What is the inevitable accompaniment of the rose for Blake that’s not in Burn’s poem?

Meaningful AmbiguityThe worm in the sick rose……is it…… : 

Meaningful AmbiguityThe worm in the sick rose……is it…… The worm of conscience or passion that secretly troubles a person? “The worm of conscience still begnaw thy soul!” A phallic symbol hinting at the destructiveness of sexual passion? Satan, called “that false worm” by Milton, who entered Paradise to corrupt Eve who was the “fairest flower” The earthworm that supposedly eats corpses (in some of the illustrations the worm is banded like an earthworm)

Meaningful ambiguity : London : 

Meaningful ambiguity : London I wander through each chartered street, Near where the chartered Thames does flow. Is chartered to be interpreted as free or the very opposite? Read the notes on p78-9 and consider the two conflicting interpretations

Slide 7: 

Privilege = Exclusion Royal Grant = Submission of subjects Conveyancing = selling property that should be common to all Hiring = Making goods available only to those with wealth. RULE BRITANNIA (1740) This was the charter….Britons never…shall be slaves

Slide 8: 

I wander through each chartered street, Near where the chartered Thames does flow, And mark in every face I meet Marks of weakness, marks of woe

Allusions….. : 

Allusions….. Cain murdering Abel: “the Lord set a mark upon him lest any finding should kill him” St Paul tells the Romans to “mark them which cause divisions and offences and avoid them.” What can we assume about the poem?

More Allusions… : 

More Allusions… Ezekiel 9. “Go through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abonimations that be done in the midst thereof.” God commands the wicked should be slain, “but come not near any man upon whom is the mark” What can we assume about the poem?

Even more Allusions… : 

Even more Allusions… Revelation 13,17 which refers to the “beast” – those who carry the mark of the beast are forced to do so if they are to engage in the normal business of life –”no man might buy or sell, save that he had the mark…of the beast” “If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God”