Introductory
Blake's stature as a romantic poet may first seem confusing and illogical because his famous works do not fall in the periodic range of the Romantic period. But the more we dig deeper into the nature of his works, the easier it becomes for us to relate his work with the spirit of Romanticism. Before diving deep into the Romantic world of William Blake, first, we have to make it clear that what is Romanticism?
Romanticism is to practice romantic principles popularized by the Romantic Age and the Romantic poets using them. Romantic principles include like reliance on imagination, subjectivity (reflection of one's self), freedom of thought, and idealization and love of Nature. Although it is difficult to find every romantic trait in the poetry of Blake but it is safe to say that it is Blake, who kick-started Romantic Poetry through his freedom of thought, rejection of didacticism and simplicity vividly present in his poems.
Revolutionary Ideas
The war between France and England as well as French Revolution filled the Romantics with revolutionary Ideas which were not thought of before and Blake is no exception here. William Blake is called a visionary poet because of his revolutionary ideas painted along with his poetry. He highlighted the issues and problems which were not even suitable in the time he wrote.
Some of the revolutionary ideas in his poem which I have read include like equality of the blacks with the white as well as the innocent desires of a little chimney sweeper who "sleeps in soot". During his time, the blacks were looked down upon. They were treated far below the animals. But the idea presented in The Little Black Boy was far too revolutionary in his period,
Ill shade him from the heat till he can bear,
To lean in joy upon our fathers knee.
And then I’ll stand and stroke his silver hair,
And be like him and he will then love me.
The concept of the black boy "being like" the white English boy, equal (or superior) among the eyes of God was, to be honest, romantic (unrealistic) in the era of Blake. But he was able to imagine through the freedom of thought, a necessary ingredient of Romanticism.
Another revolutionary idea that I traced in Blake's poetry is the unfulfilling desires of the poor chimney sweepers. It was quite unthinkable in his time that a sooty (pardon me, poor souls but this is the only way I can highlight my point) chimney sweeper can harbour a few innocence desires. Mostly, people believed that they were only for work. But Blake, in his Chimney Sweeper, makes it clear that,
And by came an Angel who had a bright key,
And he opened the coffins & set them all free;
Then down a green plain, leaping, laughing they run,
And wash in a river and shine in the Sun.
Thus, through depicting the innocent desires of a temporal but recreational recess from the dangerous work of chimney sweeping, Blake proves himself as a poet of vision and revolutionary ideas.
Rejection of Didacticism
Classical poetry is filled with didactic lessons. For instance, The Faerie Queene, directly teaches its reader to be virtuous. It is difficult to find didacticism in Romantic Poetry. Blake's rejection of didacticism is obvious in his Poison Tree. It is a poem in which Blake presents the consequences of the nurturing of negative emotions by letting the "foe" eat the poisonous tree and he dies. But this does not mean Blake endorses confiscation of anger.
I was angry with my friend,
I told my wrath, my wrath did end.
I was angry with my foe,
I told him not, my wrath did grow.
He simply presents two contrary conditions with consequences and lets the reader decide which one is good for him.
Simplicity
Romantics were against the use of bombastic or elevated diction in poetry. They wanted to make poetry accessible to the common people. In order to achieve this, they adhered to simple and common words and phrases so that people should get a clear picture of what a romantic wants to say. Blake uses the most simple diction among other romantics. Rather his poems sound like the nursery rhymes made for children. In reality, those singy songy poems carry some serious issues found within every society if these poems are weighed on a universal level. Due to simple and short poetic-lines, Blake's poems are easy to remember and require less effort to understand the meanings hidden inside them. That is why, his poetry is famous to this day.
Conclusion
Conclusively speaking, Blake is a Romantic poet not in the sense of particular years associated with the said movement, but through romantic traits debated above.
Sources and Suggested Readings
- http://webpage.pace.edu/bkirschstein/papers/john_margiewicz.html
- https://neoenglish.wordpress.com/2010/12/16/william-blake%E2%80%99s-romanticism/
- https://artuk.org/discover/stories/william-blake-the-romantic-visionary
- https://englishliterature24.blogspot.com/why-blake-called-precursor-of-romantic-poetry
