num_pages: 464
description: Truly astonishing in its detail  this must be one of the most illuminating and enlightening biographies to date. Michael Eavis cbe Founder of the Glastonbury FestivalA brilliant new biography of the mystic poet and artist William Blake  and the first to explore his startlingly original quest for spiritual truth as well as the profound lessons he has for us all today.The hymn Jerusalem with its famous words by William Blake stirs our hearts with its evocation of a new holy city built in Englands green and pleasant land. However until now the spiritual essence of William Blake has been buried under myriad inadequate biographies college dissertations and arts commentaries written by people who have missed the luminescent keys to Blakes symbolism and liberating spirit. Any attempt to uncover the real Blake is thwarted by his status as a legend or national treasure.In Jerusalem! Tobias Churton expertly takes you beyond this superficial faade showing you Blake the esoteric genius  a myth-maker brilliantly using symbols and theology to express his unique insights into the nature of body mind and spirit. Churton is not only deeply knowledgeable about Blakes life and times but also uses his shared values with Blake to enter into his labyrinth of thought and feeling.Challenging the conventional views of Blake as either a romantic poet or a rebel with ideas about free sex Tobias Churtons startling new biography reveals at last the real William Blake in all his glory so that anyone who sings Jerusalem in future will see its beauty with renewed understanding.With access to a large body of never-before-published records  letters diaries pamphlets and books  Tobias Churton casts unprecedented light and perspective on William Blakes life and times.Blakes writing  heartfelt vivid and profound  accounts for his status as one of the best-loved poets writing in English. Americans need no reminding that Blake inspired Ralph Waldo Emerson and American visionary Walt Whitman. Yet he spent the larger part of his creative career being ridiculed and suppressed. In Jerusalem! Churton conjures a superb portrait of Blakes London and in particular the rivalries of the cultural community in which the poet-artist was often misunderstood. He argues that Blake believed Man does not belong to society; ratherwe are all members of the Divine Body co-existent with God. He was concerned with a total spiritual revival  what had gone wrong with Man and how to put it right.Blakes message has proved to be as challenging to todays readers as it was to his contemporaries. Blake perceived so far ahead of his time that the philosophy of materialism would dominate the world  a culture from which we now yearn to break free. Jerusalem! is unashamedly ambitious in its scope and objective. Churton ends once and for all the persistent notion of Blake as a startling peculiarity whilst emancipating him from the labels of Romantic poet or national treasure. Even if it means sacrificing some cherished illusions or uncovering a few painful surprises this compelling biography reveals for the first time the true spirit of William Blake.
language: English
title: Jerusalem!: The Real Life of William Blake
publisher: Watkins Publishing