Naturaleza de las fuentes y de los protagonistas

The symbolism in Blake is also manifest in his ―Human Abstract‖. This is a poem that challenges the Christian concepts of pity and mercy basically. For the two concepts would not be needed if there are equality and fairness in the human world:

Pity would be no more,

If we did not make somebody poor:

If all were as happy as we

The thought advanced in the poem is to the effect that man is responsible for the suffering in the human society. This runs through the whole stanzas of the poem. Cruelty is personified and, as symbolic as it appears, is inherent in man, who is part of the human nature. The ―Holy Fears‖ of cruelty could be seen as having religious significance. Much has been said of Blake‘s disenchantment with organized religion. Thus,

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the product of this cruelty is deceitful while humility is wrongly placed.

The argument is that humility would not be if cruelty does not hold sway with care, with ―holy fears‖ if cruelty does not exist at all. The fruit of deceit produced by cruelty attracts the bird raven which makes its nest in the tree. This image of the raven is that of death; and it is the product of cruelty. It is in the human mind that the tree grows. Blake is indicting mankind for human problems. The title of the poem ―Human Abstract‖ is thus to be viewed literally in relation to the indictment in the poem. Humans glory in inhumanity in different guises, thereby making the concepts of pity, mercy, humility necessary.

Self-Assessment Exercise 3

Man is the architect of his own problem. How true is this assertion in line with Blake‘s ‗Human Abstract‘

3.5 ‘The Sick Rose’

―The Sick Rose‖ is a short poem of Blake‘s that defies consensus of interpretation, the reason being that Blake‘s symbolism in the poem could be obscure. Short as the poem is, its message, if well interpreted and understood, would illustrate the interface between chastity and vice:

O Rose thou art sick.

The invisible worm That flies in the night In the howling storm:

Has found out thy bed Of crimson Joy:

And his dark secret love Does thy life destroy

For a better assessment of the poem you should bear in mind that almost all the words in the poem have references or a set of references beyond themselves as used in the poem. Thus, the rose could be taken to symbolize a beautiful woman or even love itself. At the onset, the rose is sick. This sickness is caused by the nocturnal activities of the invisible worm. Without the activities of the invisible worm, the rose would be healthy. The invisible worm compels a phallic image. By extension, it symbolizes a man whose love for the rose, the woman, is undesirable. This phallic love is both dark and secret; and because of this, it destroys the essence of the rose. The rose has a good measure of culpability considering that its bed is of crimson joy; the phrase is suggestive of lustful experience. As such, the rose is not totally innocent prior to the nocturnal activities of the worm.

49 Self-Assessment Exercise 4

Nature is never perfect. Justify this statement against the backdrop of Blake‘s ‗The Sick Rose.‟

4.0 CONCLUSION

Blake is a troubled thinker whose concerns about the society are depicted in his poetry. His poetry is representative of the Romantic intellectual orientation. He set out to use his poetry to address the problems of the society of his day. He is particularly not happy with the church and the palace – that is, the ruling class. These institutions to him have failed woefully in eradicating the ills in the society.

5.0 SUMMARY

We have examined the poetry of Blake in this unit and have made some points about the poet and his poetry. Blake is a mystic who looks at issues from an esoteric angle. He would not mind to be unorthodox provided that he has a point to make. His use of symbols has also been pointed out. This could be a source of perplexity to the unschooled reader. The symbols in his poetry make his poems have different levels of significance; and understanding the symbols is a key to understanding his poetry.

6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

1. Examine the use of symbolism in Blake, using illustrations from two of his poems

2. Blake‘s poetry is largely poetry of disillusionment. Discuss.

3. Blake‘s poetry is the poetry of its place and time. Discuss.

7.0 REFERENCES/FURTHER READING

Damrosch, David (2000). The LongmanAnthology of British Literature.

New York: Longman.

Kermode, Frank et al (1973). The Oxford Anthology of English Literature Vol II. New York: OUP.

Stephen, Martin (2000). English Literature: A Student Guide. Essex:

Longman

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UNIT 2 THE WORKS OF WILLIAM WORDSWORTH