Pre-romanticism

Another trend in the English literature of the second half of the 18th century was the so-called pre-romanticism. It originat­ed among the conservative groups of men of letters' as a reaction against Enlightenment.

The mysterious element plays a great role in the works of pre-romanticists. One of pre-romanticists was William Blake (1757 — 1827), who in spite of his mysticism, wrote poems full of human feelings and sympathy for the oppressed people. Blake's effec­tiveness comes from the poetic "contrasts" and simple rhythms.

Vocabulary

conservative [kan's3:v3tiv] a консер­вативный

effectiveness [i 'fektrvnis] n эффектив­ность

metre ['mi:ta] n стих, размер mysticism ['mistisizm] л мистицизм originate [s'ncfemeit] v возникать rhythm ['пбэт] п ритм речи

¹ men of letters — писатели

Ш

William Blake (1757-1827)

William Blake was born in London into the family of trades people. The family was neither rich nor poor. Blake did not receive any formal education but he demonstrated good knowledge of English literature, particularly Mil­ton'. At the age of 14 he became an apprentice engraver, and is as well known for his engravings as for his po­etry.

William Blake

Blake has always been seen as a strange character, largely because of his childhood experience of seeing vi­sions.

He was a very religious man, but he rejected the established church, declaring that personal ex­perience, the inner-light, should direct and guide man.

William Blake had a veYy individual view of the world. His religious philosophy is seen through his works Songs of Inno­cence (1789), The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (1790) and Songs of Experience (1794). His poems are simple but symbolic. For example, in his poems The Tiger and The Lamb, the tiger is the symbol of mystery, the lamb — the symbol of innocence.

The Tyger is a mystical poem that, rather than describes a ti­ger, an animal that Blake had never seen, is a perception of the Universal Energy, a power beyond good and evil. In the poem the nature of universal energy becomes clear through a series of questions, which the reader is forced to answer. This makes the reader enter into the poem, becoming part of the poetic experience.

During the poem, the reader passes from a state of ignorance to a state of understanding. In this way the poem becomes an "expe­rience" for the reader as well as a picture of an experience felt by the poet.

From Songs of Experience The Tyger

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright In the forests of the night, What immortal hand or eye Could frame thy¹ fearful symmetry?

In what distant deeps or skies Burnt the fire of thine² eyes? On what wings dare he aspire? What the hand dare seize the fire?

And what shoulder, and what art, Could twist the sinews of the heart? And when the heart began to beat, What dread hand? And what dread feet?

What the hammer? What the chain? In what furnace was they brain? What the anvil? What dread grasp Dave 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 made the Lamb make thee?

¹ Milton John (1608 — 1674) — Джон Мильтон, англ. поэт и публицист. 112

¹ thy [6ai] — your

² thine [6am] — your

Tyger! Tyger! Burning bright In the forests of the night, What immortal¹ hand or eye Dare frame² thy fearful symmetry³?

Blake's later poems are very complex symbolic texts but his voice in the early 1790s is the conscience of the Romantic age. He shows a contrast between a world of nature and childhood inno­cence and a world of social control. Blake saw the dangers of an industrial society in which individuals were lost, and in his famous poem London he calls the systems of society "mind forged mana­cles". For Blake, London is a city in which the mind of everyone is in chains and all individuals are imprisoned.

Even the River Thames has been given a royal charter (char­ter'd = given rights) so that it can be used for commerce and trade.

From Songs of Experience London

I wander thro'⁴ each charter'd street. Near where the charter'd Thames does flow, And mark⁵ ifl every face I meet Marks of weakness, marks of woe⁶.

In every cry of every Man, In every Infant's⁷ cry of fear, In every voice, every ban⁸ The mind forg'd manacles⁹1 hear.

¹ immortal — godlike

² frame — arrange; invent

³ symmetry — frightening balance or perfection

⁴ thro'[9ru:] — through

⁵ mark — notice

⁶ woe [wau] — sadness

⁷ Infant's — very small child's

⁸ ban — law to stop something

⁹ the mind forg'd manacles—chains around the hands, which are made in the brain

William Blake thought that childhood was the perfect peri­od of sensibility and experience, and he fought against injustic­es against children. In his poem The Chimney Sweeper he shows how the modern world, the world of chimney sweepers, corrupts and "dirties" children. Using the symbolic technique of a "dream", Blake presents a heavenly view of children who are clean, naked, innocent, and happy, and contrasts it with the reality of the sweep's life, which is dirty, cold, corrupted and unhappy.

The poem refers to the terrible social conditions of the sweep. These children were sold by their parents when they were very young. They got up early in the morning and worked all day in awful conditions, suffering from the cold. In Tom's dream, happi­ness and delight become reality. The poem is simple and senti­mental. Blake avoids in it the more complex aspects of his mystical symbols.

William Blake's poetry was not immediately recognized during his lifetime, because of its mysticism. His etchings were more im­mediately popular and, like his poetry, reflect his great power of imagination.

Vocabulary

innocence ['mgsns] n невинность manacle ['maenakl] n pi наручники naked ['neikid] а голый perception [ps'sepjbn] n способность восприятия sensibility Lsensi'biliti] л чувствитель­ность sinew ['smju:] n жила symbolic [sim'bohk] а символический technique [,tek'ni:k] n техника vision [,vi3sn] n видение

anvil ['senuil] n наковальня aspect ['aespekt] n сторона aspire [as'paia] v подниматься charter ['tfats] n право conscience ['krmfsns] n совесть corrupt [kg'rApt] о испорченный; /пор­тить, развращать dread [dred] а ужасный engraver [m'grerva] n гравер engraving [m'greivm] n гравюра etching ['etfrrj] n офорт forge ['fo:d3l v ковать

Questions and Tasks

1. How was the trend in the English literature of the second half of the 18th

century called?

2 What is the reason of its origination^

3 Characterize the works of the pre-romanticists.

4 Tell the main facts of William Blake s lite. 5' Give a brief account of his literary career.

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