Product Description

Willaim Blake's illuminated poems and prophecies were ignored in his own time. Now, however, the Songs of Innocence and Experience is an established collection of lyrics, and Blake's extraordinary 'prophetic books' are widely admired and studied. The first part of this book leads the reader into the Songs of Innocence and Experience via detailed analysis of individual poems and an informative discussion of the designs on Blake's illuminated plates. The analyses feed further exploration of Blake's work and lead on to readings of extracts from the 'prophetic books'. Marsh encourages a focus on the power and beauty of Blake's poetry, as well as the audacity of his ideas. Part Two provides the background information you need as a student of Blake. There is an account of his life, and a discusssion of his place as a contemporary of the Romantic English poets, together with an overview of criticism of his work. This book does not side-step the complexity of his works: it challenges you to enjoy reading and exploring Blake's poems and ideas for yourself, and its explanations and advice encourage you to approach these great works with a feeling of confident excitement.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #42793 in Books
• Published on: 2001-09-20
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 265 pages

About the Author
NICHOLAS MARSH is teacher of English at Francis Holland School in Regent's Park, London.

Customer Reviews

FANTASTIC FOR THOSE STUDYING BLAKE AT A-LEVEL!!
This is an excellent book which covers all aspects of Blakes poetry including form, structure, language and context. Marsh writes the book in an easy to understand but distinguished way which helps when studying Blake. The book is particularly focused on The Songs of Innocence and Experience and Marsh's analysis of the poems is superb! A must have for any A-Level (particulary A2 Level) As a student myself studying Blake, this book became my bible!

Does what it says on the tin
With Blake's Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience being part of the AQA and OCR A2 syllabus', this text is aimed squarely at students struggling to understand his (often dense and occasionally nebulous) poetry. It guides you through the poems offering context and interpretation; invaluable for A level Literature students.

EXCELLENT FOR ENGLISH LITERATURE A 2
this book is amazing -its exactly what you need from analysis of the siongs of innocence and experience to the prophetic books, as well as critique, a biography and social context.