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kalebthereader's review
4.0
To be honest, this book of poetry had some really startling poems and I actually preferred it to Songs of Innocence.
A few that stood out to me:
Earth's Answer
The Clod and the Pebble
The Chimney Sweeper P.2
My Pretty Rose Tree
The Little Vagabond**
The Divine Image
It goes to show that no matter how much "patriotism" or loyalty you provide to your country - you can still end up being fucked. Instead of discussing Mercy, Love, etc. he instead discusses Cruelty, Jealousy, Terror, and Secrecy. A plain and direct shot at religion where he reminds the audience that the same church that created the Tyger (Evil) is the same that constructed the Lamb (Meek and Pure). If the church created the Devil to create our fear and keep us obedient then the church is much more of a punitive and cold place than the Alehouse. In this book, God is a blacksmith, forging away in the furnace we call Earth - welcome to Industrialization.
A few that stood out to me:
Earth's Answer
The Clod and the Pebble
The Chimney Sweeper P.2
My Pretty Rose Tree
The Little Vagabond**
The Divine Image
It goes to show that no matter how much "patriotism" or loyalty you provide to your country - you can still end up being fucked. Instead of discussing Mercy, Love, etc. he instead discusses Cruelty, Jealousy, Terror, and Secrecy. A plain and direct shot at religion where he reminds the audience that the same church that created the Tyger (Evil) is the same that constructed the Lamb (Meek and Pure). If the church created the Devil to create our fear and keep us obedient then the church is much more of a punitive and cold place than the Alehouse. In this book, God is a blacksmith, forging away in the furnace we call Earth - welcome to Industrialization.
cesspool_princess's review
4.0
4.5 ok now Blake is really shining and once again we get some direct precursors to the Marriage of Heaven and Hell . This book really is just a direct upgrade of Songs of Innocence and even some of the same poems show up in this one, sometimes with changes. I would say SoE is Blake being much more discerning and the ratio of mid to gold is just way way better here. My favorite poems include Earth's Answer, The Clod and the Pebble, Holy Thursday, The Sick Rose, The Fly, The Tyger, The Garden of Love, The Little Vagabond, The Human Abstract, A Little Boy Lost, To Tirzah . As you can see, this is a very long list and I think I'll go down the line and say a few things about each one. Before I do that though I just want to say I also like the introduction just bc I think its so fun how it announces itself / the book. Anyway:
Earth's Answer: first of all, love the little plant flourishes around the words and the snake at the bottom. Blake rly holds back with the illustrations on this one and they are much more background than accompaniment to the poem. I just love the contrast between the selfish, greedy and controlling "Father of Ancient Man" and the chained and weeping "Mother Earth" (ofc I would as I am fascinated by the Chaoskampf metamyth and the idea of God (the sky father / thunder warrior) as the violent divider / controller of Nature / Chaos. It was cool to see some of that reflected here and we get hints at Blake's worldview.
The Clod and the Pebble: Love the illustration of all the cows in a row feeding and then the smaller animals below. Looove this idea of the contrasting songs, one sang by a clod of clay being stamped on by feeding cows, the other by a pebble in a brook. This is also the most clear precursor we get to the inversion of Heaven and Hell that we would see in TMoHaH. I also just love the message. Basically the clod is singing that if one loves selflessly and seeks to bring ease and happiness to others one will make a heaven in hells despair while the pebble sings that if you seek in love only personal gain/ if you bind another with your love and take without giving you have made a hell in heaven. Solid ass message and just love the image of a clod of dirt and a pebble both belting these songs out.
Holy Thursday: this is the first of many diatribes against poverty and the state of London during the Industrial Revolution. My boy got class consciousness and his words here are very direct and cutting. There is nothing great about a place where babies are born into misery.
The Sick Rose: Love the v prickly rose illustration here. Here is a poem where I just straight up love the writing. I love the images conjured here: the worm flying through the night in the howling storm, honing in on the rose and killing it with its destructive love/ desire. V strong, v short and v to the point.
The Fly: this is one of my favorites of the bunch. I love how Blake draws the parallel between himself (man) and the fly, thinking about how in many ways they are the same. Just as a fly's joy can be cut short, being clipped by a thoughtless hand, so too can a common man's joy/ life be cut short by blind forces so large and outside of his control. I however love the note we end on with the last stanza.
The Tyger: Boiiii I'm not even going to say shit about this one it is literally a classic, it is iconic, we all probably had to analyze it in English class at some point.
The Garden of Love: I just love the image of this free and beautiful garden of love being corrupted by the restraining forces and rules of the church and state. This definitely prefigures the ideas that he would go on to develop further in tMoHaH.
The Little Vagabond: ok this is the blueprint, this is the OG Suicidal Thoughts by Biggie (atleast the v beginning when B.I.G is contrasting the boring, passive heaven with the permissive and lively hell) and the little boy here is just spitting. I also love this poem being paired with the figure being embraced by God above it. Just a beautiful image even on its own.
The Human Abstract: Ok this is just a beautiful poem and I love how it all comes together in the last stanza, the tree in the human brain. Some great animal images here and this one rly rly directly prefigures tMoHaH with the idea that the knowledge, divinity etc already exists inside of us, that the search for it outside ourselves is is vein and is even destructive and cruel.
A Little Boy Lost: The line "I love you like a little bird that picks up crumbs around the door" fucking impales me. This poem is sooo sad and is once again another one about how the ways we must restrain and conquer our natural divinity leads to violence and injustice. How could they kill a little boy so cruelly, how can the gentle priest stand at the pulpit and call him a field, burn him at the stake. Ughhhh this one kills me.
To Tirzah: love the image of the sexes being born out of shame and pride respectively but then when sleep replaces death they are forced to work and weep respectively. The last line is excellent as well.
Anyway that ended up being more intensive than I realized. Highly recommend this lil book of poems as it has some of the best and most iconic, it holds up very well in many regards.
Earth's Answer: first of all, love the little plant flourishes around the words and the snake at the bottom. Blake rly holds back with the illustrations on this one and they are much more background than accompaniment to the poem. I just love the contrast between the selfish, greedy and controlling "Father of Ancient Man" and the chained and weeping "Mother Earth" (ofc I would as I am fascinated by the Chaoskampf metamyth and the idea of God (the sky father / thunder warrior) as the violent divider / controller of Nature / Chaos. It was cool to see some of that reflected here and we get hints at Blake's worldview.
The Clod and the Pebble: Love the illustration of all the cows in a row feeding and then the smaller animals below. Looove this idea of the contrasting songs, one sang by a clod of clay being stamped on by feeding cows, the other by a pebble in a brook. This is also the most clear precursor we get to the inversion of Heaven and Hell that we would see in TMoHaH. I also just love the message. Basically the clod is singing that if one loves selflessly and seeks to bring ease and happiness to others one will make a heaven in hells despair while the pebble sings that if you seek in love only personal gain/ if you bind another with your love and take without giving you have made a hell in heaven. Solid ass message and just love the image of a clod of dirt and a pebble both belting these songs out.
Holy Thursday: this is the first of many diatribes against poverty and the state of London during the Industrial Revolution. My boy got class consciousness and his words here are very direct and cutting. There is nothing great about a place where babies are born into misery.
The Sick Rose: Love the v prickly rose illustration here. Here is a poem where I just straight up love the writing. I love the images conjured here: the worm flying through the night in the howling storm, honing in on the rose and killing it with its destructive love/ desire. V strong, v short and v to the point.
The Fly: this is one of my favorites of the bunch. I love how Blake draws the parallel between himself (man) and the fly, thinking about how in many ways they are the same. Just as a fly's joy can be cut short, being clipped by a thoughtless hand, so too can a common man's joy/ life be cut short by blind forces so large and outside of his control. I however love the note we end on with the last stanza.
The Tyger: Boiiii I'm not even going to say shit about this one it is literally a classic, it is iconic, we all probably had to analyze it in English class at some point.
The Garden of Love: I just love the image of this free and beautiful garden of love being corrupted by the restraining forces and rules of the church and state. This definitely prefigures the ideas that he would go on to develop further in tMoHaH.
The Little Vagabond: ok this is the blueprint, this is the OG Suicidal Thoughts by Biggie (atleast the v beginning when B.I.G is contrasting the boring, passive heaven with the permissive and lively hell) and the little boy here is just spitting. I also love this poem being paired with the figure being embraced by God above it. Just a beautiful image even on its own.
The Human Abstract: Ok this is just a beautiful poem and I love how it all comes together in the last stanza, the tree in the human brain. Some great animal images here and this one rly rly directly prefigures tMoHaH with the idea that the knowledge, divinity etc already exists inside of us, that the search for it outside ourselves is is vein and is even destructive and cruel.
A Little Boy Lost: The line "I love you like a little bird that picks up crumbs around the door" fucking impales me. This poem is sooo sad and is once again another one about how the ways we must restrain and conquer our natural divinity leads to violence and injustice. How could they kill a little boy so cruelly, how can the gentle priest stand at the pulpit and call him a field, burn him at the stake. Ughhhh this one kills me.
To Tirzah: love the image of the sexes being born out of shame and pride respectively but then when sleep replaces death they are forced to work and weep respectively. The last line is excellent as well.
Anyway that ended up being more intensive than I realized. Highly recommend this lil book of poems as it has some of the best and most iconic, it holds up very well in many regards.
aconfundityofcrows's review
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
"The Tyger" is a classic and I just really like. (I agree with the speaker's reaction to the idea that the same guy who created the lamb also created the ferocious tiger. It is captured so well here.) I also was surprised by "The Poison Tree." It feels like a simple Christian rhyme about the dangers of wrath at first, but then turns very dark. The bonus image of Blake's artwork really adds to the experience of the poem.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment
Minor: Death, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Islamophobia, and Grief
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