Exercises

Directions: For the following analysis paragraphs "condense the quotation" (provide a summary of it) in the space indicated. Answers are below.

Exercise #1:

Now that William Blake's innocent point of view has been defined, the polar opposite experienced view can be articulated. This is the perspective in which a person sees the world through a cynical, irreverent, and disillusioned lens. For instance, when Blake describes a decaying flower, it is apparent that “The Sick Rose” is a poem that demonstrates a cynical point of view. Blake writes:

O rose, thou art sick!

The invisible worm,

That flies in the night,

In the howling storm,

Has found out thy bed

Of crimson joy,

And his dark secret love

Does thy life destroy.

This poem exists in Blake’s Songs of Experience as an accompanying poem to “The Blossom.” (Insert the Condense the Quotation Sentences here): The worm seems to enjoy its ability to eat away at and destroy the rose. In the opening line of the poem, the rose is personified as “sick.” This personification guides the reader into seeing nature’s demolition of itself through decay and disease. These forces, which attempt to kill the rose, are usually unnoticed by humans. Furthermore, the connotations of “bed” in the second stanza are a flowerbed and a human bed. These connotations improve the correlation between a human and the rose. The word “bed” also allows for the interpretation that a woman’s virginity or innocence (often symbolized as a rose) is being taken by man’s “dark secret love.” The visual image of the “flying worm” and the auditory imagery of the “howling storm” intensify the feeling that the destructive forces in the world are dominant and fervent. This poem, expresses the Blakean experienced perspective because it sees a world controlled by loss, destruction, decay and disease without any hope or optimism. Different from “The Blossom” there is no sense of renewal or procreation in a world enthusiastic about destroying beauty and innocence. To put it bluntly, this perspective focuses only on the evil and sinful parts of nature.

2.

Unlike William Blake's poems from the Songs of Innocence, the poems that are found in the Songs of Experience have a pessimistic view of reality. However, Blake still sought to show man what it was to truly live without limitations. Comparing man to a fly, he writes:

Little Fly,

Thy summer's play

My thoughtless hand

Has brushed away.

Am not I

A fly like thee?

Or art not thou

A man like me?

For I dance,

And drink, and sing,

Till some blind hand

Shall brush my wing.

If thought is life

And strength and breath,

And the want

Of thought is death;

Then am I

A happy fly.

If I live,

Or if I die.

The poem above, from Blake’s “The Fly,” is taken from Blake’s published works titled the Songs of Experience. These poems were all written from an “experienced” point of view, meaning that they were all written from a perspective that painted the world as a bleak and dark place to exist. (Insert "condense the quotation" here): The speaker states, “Am not I/ A fly like thee?/ Or art not thou/ A man like me?” As the speaker compares the value of his life to that of a fly, he exacerbates the trivial existence of mankind. The speaker alludes to the idea that thought is the equivalent of “strength and breath,” therefore existence without thought is death. Earlier in the passage, the hand is described as “thoughtless” in this case meaning the "thoughtless" vehicle of death. The speaker in this poem sees himself as of the value of a fly, without meaning or real purpose in life. The metaphor of a man, the speaker, to a fly gives one the perspective of loss of will and power. That one could so carelessly take the life of another living creature without realizing the consequences or unconsciously end the existence of another being puts the reader in a difficult position. In the last verse the speaker says, “Then am I/ A happy fly/ If I live/ Or if I die.” This last line forces the reader to consider the repercussions, the limitations, of life if there is no real purpose to it. The “experienced” perspective of this poem shows the reader the insignificance of human life.

Possible Answers:

1. Now that William Blake's innocent point of view has been defined, the polar opposite experienced view can be articulated. This is the perspective in which a person sees the world through a cynical, irreverent, and disillusioned lens. For instance, when Blake describes a decaying flower, it is apparent that “The Sick Rose” is a poem that demonstrates a cynical point of view. Blake writes:

O rose, thou art sick!

The invisible worm,

That flies in the night,

In the howling storm,

Has found out thy bed

Of crimson joy,

And his dark secret love

Does thy life destroy.

This poem exists in Blake’s Songs of Experience as an accompanying poem to “The Blossom.” This excerpt communicates the message that the rose is being destroyed due to many forces in nature, which include a worm, the weather and natural decomposition. The worm seems to enjoy its ability to eat away at and destroy the rose. In the opening line of the poem, the rose is personified as “sick.” This personification guides the reader into seeing nature’s demolition of itself through decay and disease. These forces, which attempt to kill the rose, are usually unnoticed by humans. Furthermore, the connotations of “bed” in the second stanza are a flowerbed and a human bed. These connotations improve the correlation between a human and the rose. The word “bed” also allows for the interpretation that a woman’s virginity or innocence (often symbolized as a rose) is being taken by man’s “dark secret love.” The visual image of the “flying worm” and the auditory imagery of the “howling storm” intensify the feeling that the destructive forces in the world are dominant and fervent. This poem, expresses the Blakean experienced perspective because it sees a world controlled by loss, destruction, decay and disease without any hope or optimism. Different from “The Blossom” there is no sense of renewal or procreation in a world enthusiastic about destroying beauty and innocence. To put it bluntly, this perspective focuses only on the evil and sinful parts of nature.

2.

Unlike William Blake's poems from the Songs of Innocence, the poems that are found in the Songs of Experience have a pessimistic view of reality. However, Blake still sought to show man what it was to truly live without limitations. Comparing man to a fly, he writes:

Little Fly,

Thy summer's play

My thoughtless hand

Has brushed away.

Am not I

A fly like thee?

Or art not thou

A man like me?

For I dance,

And drink, and sing,

Till some blind hand

Shall brush my wing.

If thought is life

And strength and breath,

And the want

Of thought is death;

Then am I

A happy fly.

If I live,

Or if I die.

The poem above, from Blake’s “The Fly,” is taken from Blake’s published works titled the Songs of Experience. These poems were all written from an “experienced” point of view, meaning that they were all written from a perspective that painted the world as a bleak and dark place to exist. In essence, "The Fly" suggests that man is to a fly as death / God is to man; that is, as a man thoughtlessly takes the life of a fly, death / God can thoughtlessly take the life of a man. This poem, much like Keats’s work, explores the insignificance of man in comparison to the rest of the world. The speaker states, “Am not I/ A fly like thee?/ Or art not thou/ A man like me?” As the speaker compares the value of his life to that of a fly, he exacerbates the trivial existence of mankind. The speaker alludes to the idea that thought is the equivalent of “strength and breath,” therefore existence without thought is death. Earlier in the passage, the hand is described as “thoughtless” in this case meaning the "thoughtless" vehicle of death. The speaker in this poem sees himself as of the value of a fly, without meaning or real purpose in life. The metaphor of a man, the speaker, to a fly gives one the perspective of loss of will and power. That one could so carelessly take the life of another living creature without realizing the consequences or unconsciously end the existence of another being puts the reader in a difficult position. In the last verse the speaker says, “Then am I/ A happy fly/ If I live/ Or if I die.” This last line forces the reader to consider the repercussions, the limitations, of life if there is no real purpose to it. The “experienced” perspective of this poem shows the reader the insignificance of human life.