Some Aspect of Romanticism in Blake's The Marriage of Heaven and Hell - Essay Example

is writing but also involved himself in the time consuming process of engraving, coloring and the printing of the books which were extraordinarily beautiful. As a result he was prevented from gaining a higher reputation and income level for the wonderful work he merited. In contrast to Blake, Dante was a Florentine poet belonging to the Middle Ages. He is revered as the “Father of the Italian language” because he composed in Italian. One of the most important influences of writing the poem “The Marriage of Heaven and Hell,” was his close association with the New Church of Emanuel Swedenborg.

The increasing rigidity witnessed by Blake from Swedenborg and his followers, easily made them primary targets for this well written parody and satire. Due to his publicizing his political philosophy, it helped him to associate within the circle of some of the most important leading radicals of his time, such as, Spain Thomas Paine and Joseph Priestley. In sharp contrast is Dante’s ‘Inferno’ was written in the Jubilee year 1300 and was one of the most intricate and artistic poems ever to be written.

He wrote this poem ‘somewhere between the death of Clement V and the end of Dante’s1 life when he was just 35 years old.’ (Dante and his Time, p. 270) An introductory canto begins the book which is then followed by 99 other cantos speaking of Christ’s life on Earth. The whole poem is segregated into three parts each comprising of 33 cantos each of high lyrical value and beauty. Blake’s satirical attack was on the orthodoxy of the Swedenborgians in addition to a description of the poet – prophet’s own developmental and educational process.

The poem which was written during a great political upheaval in America has a historical backdrop that portrayed a revolutionary prophecy. Blake introduces the poem with “The Argument” backing it with his prophetic character Rintrah and brings it to a close with another poem titled “A Song of Liberty,” where