Eternity's sunrise
Subtitle: the imaginative world of William Blake
By: Leo Damrosch
Published: 2015
Language: eng
Number of pages: 332
ISBN-13: 9780300200676
Copyright date: 2015
Subjects: English Poets; Biography; Artists
Description: "William Blake, overlooked in his time, remains an enigmatic figure to contemporary readers despite his near canonical status. Out of a wounding sense of alienation and dividedness he created a profoundly original symbolic language, in which words and images unite in a unique interpretation of self and society. He was a counterculture prophet whose art still challenges us to think afresh about almost every aspect of experience - social, political, philosophical, religious, erotic, and aesthetic. He believed that we live in the midst of Eternity here and now, and that if we could open our consciousness to the fullness of being, it would be like experiencing a sunrise that never ends. Following Blake's life from beginning to end, acclaimed biographer Leo Damrosch draws extensively on Blake's poems, his paintings, and his etchings and engravings to offer this generously illustrated account of Blake the man and his vision of our world. The author's goal is to inspire the reader with the passion he has for his subject, achieving the imaginative response that Blake himself sought to excite. The book is an invitation to understanding and enjoyment, an invitation to appreciate Blake's imaginative world and, in so doing, to open the doors of our perception."--provided by publisher.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: The working artist; title: How should we understand Blake's symbols?; title: Innocence; title: Experience; title: Revolution; title: Atoms and visionary insight; title: "The gate is open"; title: Understanding Blake's myth; title: The Zoas and ourselves; title: The prophetic call; title: Breakthrough to apocalypse; title: "The torments of love and jealousy"; title: The female will; title: Wrestling with God; title: The traveler in the evening.