"LORD BYRON!"

                                                                  The Blog site Lord Byron, created by these four lovely girls, Alejandra Hernandez, Danielle Henry, Natasha King, and Sydney Leliefeld was a site I truly enjoyed. They had a goal to teach people about Byron and that is just what they did. Their effort was shown in all aspects of the work completed. Every entry seemed very organized and in depth about their subject. It was easily shown that every member not only taught someone else about Byron but they had learned so much through all the intense research they had completed. They had made their blog quite simple and easy to navigate, even for someone (me) who may not know how Blogspot works all to well. The biggest aspect of the page I noticed would be some of the slight humor within some of the writings. I do have to say I enjoyed Natasha Kings' Prose Poem a lot. It was simple, to the point but yet someone else could interpret it differently than I had. The videos on the site helped explain and get what the author was trying to say across to their readers. The page is not boring in the slightest. There are multiple objects that can and will attract your attention. The background is simple and may I add pretty AWESOME! I enjoyed the visualization through their pictures which allowed me to connect a face to his story. For someone who would know almost nothing about romanticism this site would be very helpful. It explains who Byron was in his art and who he was just as a person in his everyday life. We can learn the fine details that maybe aren't that important but are quite interesting, such as he was a “true gentleman”, despite his “modern day 'Booty Call' ”! The reader will get an example of his poetry applied not just explained. Through learning about who Lord Byron was, this group can write a poem similar to the way Byron himself may have written one. I would say if anyone wanted to expand their own knowledge about Byron they should start with the "Lord Byron" group and not become hesitant to read it from start to finish. You shall be intrigued... ENJOY!

   

The Lamb



The Lamb


The Lamb by William Blake could be interpreted as innocence. To me, the first to lines is asking if the lamb knows who is his creator and if he does could it be the same one who had created me? The next two lines express that the being who had created both lamb and me gave me both life and food to live on. Had this creator gave me a live near the river for fresh water and for food? It could be he gave me the rich soil to live upon. He had given me the clothing I needed,  not just any clothing, clothing of delight. Does not the sheep of clothing of delight? He gave me a soft and tender voice to speak with. So is the creator of this lamb the creator of me?
This creator calls this sweet little animal by his name, Little Lamb. That will be the name we shall call he. Is the lamb just a reflection of a young child? I believe that Blake is trying to express how people my all be young little lambs that grow up. Even though people may grow this may not change where we originated from. The same creator, the same chances and the same beauty that was given and shared since the beginning. We should not hide who we truly are from one another for we started in the same way. We had not been given any special treatment or abilities but how one uses it shall change their own future.
                                                                           

THE LAMB

   Little Lamb, who make thee
   Dost thou know who made thee,
 Gave thee life, and bid thee feed
 By the stream and o'er the mead;
 Gave thee clothing of delight,
 Softest clothing, wolly, bright;
 Gave thee such a tender voice,
 Making all the vales rejoice?
   Little Lamb, who made thee?
   Dost thou know who made thee?

   Little Lamb, I'll tell thee;
   Little Lamb, I'll tell thee:
 He is called by thy name,
 For He calls Himself a Lamb
 He is meek, and He is mild,
 He became a little child.
 I a child, and thou a lamb,
 We are called by His name.
   Little Lamb, God bless thee!
   Little Lamb, God bless thee!

Newton!



Newton

     William Blake's artwork, Newton was created in 1795 while he lived in Lambeth. This art piece was a color print with pen and ink with watercolor. Blake wanted to depict the great Sr. Isaac Newton as a hero who was simply misguided by science alone. Within this photo he is solely admiring the sterile geometrical diagrams that are shown on the ground in which any geometer would take delight in studying.  Newton was one of the twelve largest colored prints created between 1795 and 1805. While painting this picture Blake stated, "Art is the Tree of Life. Science is the Tree of Death." This expression clearly states Blake's opinion on science. This allows people to assume he wasn't a fan of Isaac Newton or maybe just science in general. Newton's theory of optics was extremely offensive to Blake. Blake had a clear vision of a "vegetative eye" and spiritual vision. Newton's view of there being a god who sits back and attends to nothing such as creation seemed somewhat absurd to Blake. According to Blake this theory made no sense due to the fact that he has his spiritual visions. It seemed as though he was trying to compare himself to Newton on a more personal level. He down-graded Newton due to the fact they had opposite ways of thinking and theories. Blake was one to explore opposites which might have inspired him to express Newton and who he was through one of his very own work of art. Blake's tension towards Newton was mostly because if Newton's theory was correct then that would prove Blake to be a lie. So who's theory is correct? What do we believe, Science or religion? Can both be the correct way of thinking?

     Blake had held his evaluation of his imagination far above science and Newton's "New World View". Newton's view of the "Clock-wise Universe" was referred to as "Newton's sleep" in a verse in Blake's letter to Thomas Butts,

“Now I a fourfold vision see,
And a fourfold vision is given to me;
'Tis fourfold in my supreme delight
And threefold in soft Beulah's night
And twofold Always. May God us keep
From Single vision & Newton's sleep!”

     Blake's opinions and theories are what makes up all of his artwork, so is it not unusual for him to paint and then describe someone who he might be slightly intimidated by? Was Blake trying to tear Newton apart or just simply protect himself and his own theory?

Biography: Blake before he was "Blake"

     Born in 1757, William Blake was just one from six children. He had two brothers and just one sister. The other two had died during Blake's young childhood. He was raised by a Hosiery merchant who owned and ran his shop on Broad Street. As a young boy, William Blake had an extensive imagination. He was considered too “different” for public school resulting in an education from home. His father was weird for his son in a social enviroment. From a young age he talked about spiritual visionary experiences which aren't usual for most people. When Blake was ten years old, he saw a tree filled with multiple angels from a simple stroll down the countryside.

     This happened to be the start of of what colored the rest of his life. When he turned eleven he had entered Par's Drawing School in the Strand Theater. He than began writing poetry a year later. In 1770, at age twelve, he claimed to have read Milton where he then started writing “Poetic Sketches”. His style of writing was considered unique because his ideas were new to the time period. At fourteen years old he took part in a seven year apprentice program to an engraver named James Basire. He got the chance to learn the craft of copy engraving at the end of the eighteenth century. This gave Blake an opportunity to paint, draw and express himself even though his family could not support him by any means of wealth. He was very much interested in painting and drawing, but his family could not afford it. Even though his family could not help their son financially they were extremely supportive of his ideas and dreams.

     In June of 1780 violent anti-Catholic demonstrations, and the Gordon Riots, spread through out the streets of London. On June 6^th, the third day into the riot, Blake was swept along into a large mob involuntary and witness the destruction of the Newgate Prison. That summer William and his friend Thomas strothard were mistaken as spies and arrested on the spot as they were walking to find an area to sketch. After a little explaining they were released.

     In 1789 he published the poems Songs of Innocence, that begins:

“Piping down the valleys wild
Piping songs of pleasant glee
On a cloud I saw a child
And he laughing said to me
Pipe a song about a Lamb
So I piped with merry cheer
Piper pipe that song again
So I piped, he wept to hear.”

Blake's childhood enabled him to foster his creative talents by supporting his artistic aptitudes. This led to the development of a world class artist, and effected romantic poetry.

The Dream: Global Warning (Prose Poem)

The dry brisk air numbs the first layer of my lips, before I lose all feeling.

As the frigid breeze keeps penetrating my skin, I feel the horror of this change.

A change in which I nor mankind can quite control.

But wait! It stops, but only for a time,
the time needed to send chills from my head to toe.

I make my journey through wind, rain, sleet and snow.

But why I ask? Why has this change come so fast?

Some would say a bit too fast.

While only in August we had the glistening beauty of the morning light to keep warm

Why had the colors and winds of Autumn arise then quickly disappear?

The cold is quick to come now.

I have a vision of extreme danger.

All this weather change seems somewhat far from right.

Is it wrong that fish freeze while other animals are hibernating long?

A long dark winter, cold and wet

A chill that never seems to end

But one day there may be light

That will bring this misery to an end

As time travels by us, for a moment we will ponder

Until the next hint of cold,

Where we realize, there shall be no hope.

The opposite of cold is hot

The boundaries of Earth we see

Temperatures rising

Ice caps melting

And the multiple worries start flowing

Polar Bears drowning, you say?

A victim of his own surroundings

Will this change their niche?

Rivers rising, floods increasing

Agonies that people should be facing

Lost in the excitement, overridden by greed

People keep gaining on their own to succeed

All for one and one for all

Whats happening? I shall say

The heat is climbing, will it ever change?

The feeling of sweat as I bake through the day

Something is very wrong

What will it prove to be?

Heating the Earth to the extremity

I open my eyes to merely see

Wow....What a dream!