The William Blake Experience
Illustrations to William Blake's Songs of Innocence & of Experience (1794). Blake was a visionary poet, and though his 'Songs' appear simple they open up a world of meaning, exploring the 'Two contrary states of the human soul'.
dated 2012 until 2016
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Introduction (2016)
2016new version (2016 of Introduction, "piping down the valleys wild"
Introduction
2012The poet announces himself, and comes 'piping down the valleys wild'. This picture, like the whole set, was commissioned by composer Harke Jan van der Meulen (www.harkejan.nl) who has written new settings for William Blake's poems.The project has resulted in two live performances and a book + CD, with Blake's poems and my illustrations to them, and the songs performed by vocal ensemble Quatre Bouches (www.quatrebouches.com). Book/cd (€ 20) can be ordered from me. This YouTube video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVbwzkq9qEU. is a compilation of the first live performance (with projected pictures),
The Divine Image
2013Blake tells us in this poem that where 'Mercy Pity Peace and Love' are found in human beings, God is present'and we perceive the divine through its human manifestation: 'the human form divine'.
The Little Black Boy
2013The mother shows her child the sun, the source of divine love, which may be fierce.
Infant Joy
2013'Joy is my name'
Laughing Song
2012The simple but precious pleasure of laughing with your friends. 'When the painted birds laugh in the shade Where our table with cherries and nuts is spread Come live & be merry and join with me, To sing the sweet chorus of Ha, Ha, He.'
A Cradle Song
2012'Sweet dreams form a shade O'er my lovely infants head, Sweet dreams of pleasant streams, By happy silent moony beams'
A Dream
2012Protected by an angel, the poet dreams of small creatures that help each other find their way through the night.
the Lamb
2012The embodiment of innocence.
The Tyger
2013The tyger (as Blake spells it) represents all that is magnificent but also fierce, cruel and frightening in Creation. The poet wonders what God could create this animal: 'Tyger tyger burning bright In the forests of the night. What immortal hand or eye Could frame that fearful symmetry?'
The Blossom
2012Merry merry Sparrow Under leaves so green....
The Ecchoing Green
2012An idyllic view of children at play
Night
2012A vision of paradisal harmony.
Hear the voice of the Bard
2012The Bard calls Earth back to its true nature.
Earth's Answer
2012Earth is frozen and in the power of the 'Selfish father of men / Cruel jealous selfish fear'
London
2013In the streets of London the poet tells us, 'I mark in every face I meet / Marks of weakness, marks of woe'. Social conditions are now completely different, but weaknerss and woe remain.
The Human Abstract
2013There is a dark tree of mystery that grows in the human brain. It grows out of cruelty and selfishness and its fruit is deceit.
The Sick Rose
2012'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.'
The Garden of Love
2012In 'The Garden of Love' the poet finds that a grim chapel has been built, that there are graves and tombstones where flowers used to be, and that 'Priests in black gowns were walking their rounds, And binding with briars, my joys & desires'.
The School Boy
2012If life's springtime is made so cold and dreary, full of sorrow and cares, 'How shall the summer arise in joy, Or the summer fruits appear?'
The Voice of the Ancient Bard
2012In the final poem of the sequence, 'the Ancient Bard' calls on 'Youth of delight' to leave behind them the dark maze of folly 'And see the opening morn, Image of truth new born'.