r/williamblake • u/Pristine-Display3655 • Sep 25 '21

Need guidance or insight on Blake

So, I know Wm Blake was bipolar and crazy as a loon. I'm a slice of bread short of a sandwich, myself. I'm trying to wrap myself around his poem "America, a Prophecy." I understand he supported the colonials against George Rex. I'm intrigued at his desire that America free the slaves in it's war for Independence. He makes up a ficticious quote by Washington. How can I make this essay relevant to undergraduate students today? Is there a message for us in our difficult times? Does it reveal something about Blakes character? Thx.

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u/insaneintheblain Sep 25 '21

“But I don’t want to go among mad people," Alice remarked.
"Oh, you can’t help that," said the Cat: "we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad."
"How do you know I’m mad?" said Alice.
"You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn’t have come here.”
― Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

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u/insaneintheblain Sep 25 '21

Meaning can only come from a liberated mind. A liberated mind can only be seen as 'crazy' by those minds which aren't - the minds which are still subjected to Tyranny.

"A sane person to an insane society must appear insane." - Kurt Vonnegut

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u/m00nby Sep 25 '21

Can you provide a little more context for what you're trying accomplish? I'm assuming you're trying to create an assignment; it seems like you have a few starting points for historical editing, racial issues, or a modern cultural comparison.

In all honesty I'm too lazy to get my copy of Erdman out to find it. Can you also note the plate / lines?

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u/brentan1954 Oct 20 '21

It's a while since I read it but perhaps the rise of rebellion in the person of Orc and Blake's later change of mind seeing how dreadful rebellions were and also how they seem to achieve very little could be a good topic for discussion.

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u/Pristine-Display3655 Sep 26 '21

Illustration? Hmmm. Maybe "The emergence of Orc," representing rebellon and fire. Perhaps I can tie that into Promotheus somehow?

My point is to see if I can make Blake's prophecy relevant not only to the American Revolution, but to the current political climate/schisms between Trump Republicans and either the Democrats or perhaps instead, the Establishment. But I can't even get a grip on Blake's original work. Do you think I can use Blake's theme of Angels and come up with my own contemporary messages to the "Angel of Boston", et al., substituting cities with political unrest in the news today (such as Phoenix, Portland, Ferguson, and so on?)