Poems by Blake
Blake's craft
Read form as part of meaning.
Blake writes virtues and vices with capital letters (Mercy, Pity, Cruelty, Mystery) to personify them: they become persons, with the weight of characters in a parable.
'The Divine Image' alternates lines of eight and six syllables, mostly in feet of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed one.
This is the metre of hymns, which suits a poem about prayer.
Blake made each copy of his books himself: he etched the words and pictures together on copper plates, printed them, and coloured each page by hand in watercolour.
That is why he is sometimes called the first multi-media artist.
Practise this lesson
Questions that get harder as you improve, a Tutor that helps without giving the answer away, and progress you can see. Free for every learner.
No account, no email address. Opens the real product.