The recognition of the English poet's literary talent William Blake has been slow and this is to be linked with the novelty of the ideas he developed, but also with the subversive aspect of his reinterpretation of the biblical works, in order to express his views about the world around him. Indeed, to stimulate the reader's mind and make him asking questions about what he has always taken for granted, Blake sets mythological characters in his poetry and interprets their thoughts through their actions and behaviors to reflect different major issues such as consciousness or the struggles in revolutionary history. The creation of the poet's own mythology makes the exploration of complex questionings easier and enables him to develop his conception of the world.
However, it is important to notice that within Blake's poetic representation of the world, two characters, Los and Urizen, seem to play a preponderant role since they are used to illustrate the poet's reflections. Therefore what will be considered is the relationship and struggle between Urizen and Los in Blake's work, by focusing first on the opposition between the two characters who are sent apart from each other, and consequently appear as antithetic.
However, despite their differences, they interact with each other and thus cannot be dissociated; consequently their relationship can be defined as ambiguous. Finally, what will be investigated is the metaphoric meaning of this particular relationship which symbolizes the poet's mind struggling between reason and imagination to write poetry.
[...] Therefore what will be considered is the relationship and struggle between Urizen and Los in Blake's work, by focusing first on the opposition between the two characters who are sent apart from each other, and consequently appear as antithetic. However, despite their differences, they interact with each other and thus cannot be dissociated; consequently their relationship can be defined as ambiguous. Finally, what will be investigated is the metaphoric meaning of this particular relationship which symbolizes the poet's mind struggling between reason and imagination to write poetry. [...]
[...] What has been demonstrated so far is that the opposition between Los and Urizen represents the opposition between consciousness and unconsciousness and between reason and imagination. Considering these different aspects the relationship and struggle between Los and Urizen is undeniable. This is also metaphorically the representation of the poet's work who struggles to find the limits between reason and imagination to live his art. Indeed, when Los decides to give a body to Urizen to save him from his formless chaos, he loses at the same time the infinite by humanizing Urizen. [...]
[...] It is consequently an easier way to criticize a number of different aspects of the society he lives in and more precisely the obedience to moral laws which for him does not lead to salvation. What can be also added is that the relationship and struggles between Los and Urizen is also a way for Blake to highlight his own struggles between reason and imagination to emphasis on what can be defined as the artist's work of the mind. References Websites: http://poemmeanings.com/william-blake/the-first-book-of-urizen http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:JYTfXXeq1b0J:www.a ngelfire.com/weird2/chrisv/Archetypes.rtf+why+is+Urizen+an+eternal+priest&cd =9&hl=fr&ct=clnk&gl=fr http://facstaff.uww.edu/hoganj/contents.htm#cont http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Book_of_Urizen http://www.univ-paris8.fr/ Books: Damon S. [...]
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