William Blake - Visionary Mystic and Anarchist - Book Report/Review Example

William Blake: Visionary Mystic and Anarchist William Blake (1757-1827) sings as a visionary mystic in his poem “All religions are one”, but at the same time he seems to be a visionary anarchist in those inspired cryptic verses. This kind of philosophical poetry takes Humankind as its center taking a universalist position. Sometimes we think of Spinoza when we read this poem. We get the idea of dealing with a pantheist bard in the line of that philosopher, but Blake is not really pantheist. Blake is a Bible believer and as such his poetic vision is rather the position of a universalist in the line of Johannes Scotus Erigena (810-877). Some of the ideas expressed earlier by Erigena could be a theme for visionary poetry in the hands of Blake. It is true that Blake is a mystic, but it is not so easy to see him as an anarchist as the title of the Peter Marshall’s book states. Behind the speculative arguments in this poem we find some dosage of anarchy. From the very beginning in The Argument, we get the feeling of reading a visionary mystic but at the same time a visionary anarchist. Let’s see: All Religions are One , copy A, plate 3 (Bentley 3, Erdman 3, Keynes 3) 01 The Argument 02 As the true meth- 03 -od of knowledge 04 is experiment 05 the true faculty 06 of knowing must 07 be the faculty which 08 experiences, This 09 faculty I treat of. Blake makes a random connection between knowledge and experience. There is a subtle anarchy in the way he relates knowledge and experience. His verses are concise and clear. They go right to make a point, but at the same time we sense some kind of rhetorical speculation right beneath their roots. This is poetry. It is not really philosophy. Blake knows this fact about his poetic discourse, so he is free to speculate, to sing freely asserting that “all religions are one” without giving sound theological reasons for this bold assertion. Blake continues in the same vein with his seven principles. The first one equals Man to an angel, a spirit and a demon in a verse characterized by its tight syntax and its semantic freedom. Let’s see: All Religions are One , copy A, plate 4 (Bentley 4, Erdman 4, Keynes 4) 01 PRINCIPLE 1st 02 That the Poetic Genius is 03 the true Man. and that 04 the body or outward form 05 of Man is derived from the 06 Poetic Genius. Likewise 07 that the forms of all things 08 are derived from their 09 Genius. which by the 10 Ancients was call'd an 11 Angel & Spirit & Demon. The Poetic Genius is an equality essence that gives unity to Blake’s vision, to Blake’s verse. The unitary element in Man’s diversity is the Poetic Genius according to Blake. He calls it that way knowing that Poetic is Creative, not Creator. Blake is not a pantheist, so he knows the difference between being creative and being the Creator. Poetic Genius is the unifying element in Man’s spirit that makes Man wonderful, impressive and universal as a creature made in the image and likeness of the Creator. Blake can get away with his profundity of his poem thanks to the anarchy and the mysticism blended together in his verse. Anarchy brings beauty to surface in his voice. Mysticism establishes the necessary order in his divine verse. Prophecy is of a distinct kind of variety for Blake as he states in his Principle 5. All Religions are One , copy A, plate 8 (Bentley 8, Erdman 8, Keynes 8) 01 PRINCIPLE, 5 02 The Religions of all Nati- 03 -ons are derived from each 04 Nations different reception 05 of the Poetic Genius which 06 is every where call'd the Spi 07 -rit of Prophecy. There is no doubt that Prophecy and Poetry come together in Blake as an alibi for anarchy and mysticism. With a very primitive and naïve taxonomy based on Man as angel, spirit and demon, on prophecy and poetic genius, with knowledge and experience, Blake produces the miracle of transmitting his visionary anarchy and mysticism with eloquence and clarity of thought. It is indeed astounding how Blake can work this magic with everyday words. He doesn’t need any kind of obscure verse. Instead Blake builds up his poetic discourse with quotidian phrases interwoven in a very precise syntax and a very colorful semantics. More than a poet, Blake is a winged bard. We can sense his genius from the beginning right to the end of this poem. He acts as a mystic visionary who can interpret the mysteries of God, who is in deep communion with the Almighty, and at the same time he acts as an anarchist visionary who can perform the miracle of an eloquent rhetoric out of a speculative poetic text in the name of a universalist philosophy. There is a point of connection between Erigena and Blake in the same way that there is an influence of Spinoza (1632-1677) in the subtle pantheist ideas of Blake in this poem. In his Principle 7, Blake makes his last argument in favor of the Poetic Genius as a universalist and unitary essence of Man. Let’s see. All Religions are One , copy A, plate 10 (Bentley 10, Erdman 10, Keynes 10) 01 PRINCIPLE 7th 02 As all men are alike 03 (tho' infinitely vari- 04 ous) So all Religions 05 & as all similars have 06 one source 07 The true Man is the 08 source he being the 09 Poetic Genius The more we read this poem, the more we sense anarchy and mysticism in its speculative structure. This is really a prophetic piece of work. “All religions are one” must probably mean that “All religions will be one” in the future as Blake has envisioned in this remarkable and transcendental poem. Works Cited Eaves, Morris, Robert N. Essick, and Joseph Viscomi, eds. William Blake: “All Religions Are One”. The Early Illuminated Books. Blake's Illuminated Books, vol. 3. London: Tate Gallery Publications, for the William Blake Trust, 1993. 27 January 2006. http://www.blakearchive.org/ Eaves, Morris, Robert N. Essick, and Joseph Viscomi, eds. William Blake: “There Is No Natural Religion”. The Early Illuminated Books. Blake's Illuminated Books, vol. 3. London: Tate Gallery Publications, for the William Blake Trust, 1993. 27 January 2006. http://www.blakearchive.org/ Read More