 Hello fellow followers of Christ and welcome to the show that introduces you to the men and women behind history's greatest works of literature. Come along every week as we explore these renowned authors, the times and genre in which they wrote, why scholars praise their writing and how we as Catholics should read and understand their works. I'm Joseph Pierce and this is The Authority. Hello and welcome to The Authority. I'm Joseph Pierce and now we've reached in our chronological journey through the great some of the great writers in the history of Western civilization. We've reached the age of romanticism so before we say much else we should perhaps say what romanticism is. So today's author is William Blake and he is one of the first generation of romantic poets. We'll be talking also about Wordsworth and Coleridge who are perhaps even more important from the perspective of romanticism but we take him William Blake first because he's first in terms of chronology. He's somewhat older than Wordsworth and Coleridge so Blake was born in 1757 and he had volumes of poetry published before Wordsworth and Coleridge burst onto the scene with their co-published co-authored book Lyrical Ballads in 1798. Blake was already published then however we need to know really that he was not that well known. He became better known later so in some senses we could have looked at Wordsworth and Coleridge first because they were better known first but because Blake was actually writing before they did I thought I would take it this way round. So we need to understand what romanticism is. Before we can really understand what William Blake, William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge and even later romantic poets such as Keats, Byron and Shelley and romantic novelists such as Mary Shelley and the Bronte sisters. This whole movement of romanticism what is it? Well in many respects it's a reaction against the Enlightenment. So the Enlightenment which is a name it gave to itself that we are the Enlightened Ones. Another name that it gave to itself was the Age of Reason. This was an idea that the past was inferior to the present, that only the present age was enlightened and the understood reality, only the present age was rational and used reason that previous ages were all shackled by superstition. So it's dismissing the past. It's what C. S. Lewis calls chronological snobbery, superciliousness towards one's ancestors to believe that the the latest generation knows all the truth or at least more than all previous generations. So this has dismissed the great legacy of the great writers such as Homer, Dante and Shakespeare and we should say by the way that there haven't been any writers of that calibre since of the great philosophers Socrates, Plato and Aristotle and it's been said that the history of philosophy is footnotes on Plato. In other words that really all that modern philosophy is able to do is to is to comment upon dismiss or distort the great teachings of the great Greek philosophers. That great Greek philosophy was baptized by philosophers such as Saint Augustine and Saint Thomas Aquinas. You could say Saint Augustine baptizes Plato, Christianizes it. Saint Thomas Aquinas baptizes Aristotle, Christianizes it. This is the edifice upon which Western civilization has been built in terms of goodness, truth and beauty. Indeed the very notions of goodness, truth and beauty come from the transcendental metaphysics of Greek philosophy. So the enlightenment turns its back on all of that and insists amongst other things on empiricism that something has to be able to be quantified and measured to be real or true so that things that are transcendental that can't be measured or quantified empirically such as goodness, love, truth, reason, itself of course beauty that these things somehow are not real or at least less real than those things that can be quantified. So ultimately that the enlightenment was rooted in philosophical materialism that matter was all that ultimately mattered and that therefore other things such as goodness, truth, beauty, ideal such as humanity, abstract concepts were did not matter at least not as much. So romanticism was a reaction against that and particularly insisting that the emotions are important that feeling is important that our experience of things such as beauty is important even though we can't measure it empirically beauty is real goodness is real. So this was the romantic reaction accentuating feeling over empirical measurement shall we say this is one aspect of it. So William Blake was of this ilk. Now he's a conflicted person so we see this in his poetry he would also say he was a very good artist and illustrated various works of literature from scripture so for instance the book of Job he illustrated Dante's divine comedy so he's a significant artist but we're discussing him in the authority as an author of some great literature. There's also some weird literature so the marriage of heaven and hell a sort of dualistic weird understanding of things so Blake might have called himself a Christian but he was certainly a very odd sort of Christian but the best way of understanding him probably is to look at his work and to discuss it from there. He was certainly no friend of Orthodox Christianity he did not like the Catholic Church several of his poems speak disparagingly of priests and of his understanding of Christianity as being something sort of dark and life negating a very sort of well a misunderstanding of what Christianity is but we see also his anti-Catholicism the fact that he's alleged to have been very actively violently involved in the Gordon riots and the Gordon riots took place in England led actually by Scotsman called Lord Gordon but it was a protest against the giving of an element of religious liberty and political rights to England's Catholics who at this stage had basically been without any rights and persecuted relentlessly for 250 years at this point from the 1530s to 1780 at the time of the Gordon riots so the fact that Blake felt strongly enough against Catholicism that he's willing to actually riot in protest that Catholics having political rights and liberties says a great deal of where he stands does this mean that the Catholics should not really bother to read him absolutely not and I hope that the few poems I'm going to look at will show that so I'm going to actually focus in here on three of his poems and we'll begin with Jerusalem now all of all of these poems are included in the book poems every child should know which is published by tan books in which I compiled and the selection from William Blake's poetry includes these four poems the first I'm going to start with is the poem Jerusalem which was set to music by Sir Hubert Parry and has become at least in some circles is the unofficial English national anthem the British national anthem if you like or the national anthem of the British Commonwealth or the British Empire is God's save the queen I was going to say but now we have to say God saved the king but this is as being adopted especially for instance by rugby supporters of the England the national team as as England's unofficial national anthem when sung to the Tunisian Hubert Parry I'm not going to sing it you'll be very pleased to know but I'm going to read the actual original poem by William Blake and it's it's actually part of a bigger work but it's known colloquially as Jerusalem and did those feet in ancient time walk upon England's mountains green and was the holy lamb of God on England's pleasant pastures seen and did the countenance divine shine forth upon our clouded hills and was Jerusalem builded here among these dark satanic mills bring me my bow of burning gold bring me my arrows of desire bring me my spear o clouds unfold bring me my chariot of fire I will not cease from mental fight nor shall my sword sleep in my hand till we have built Jerusalem in England's green and pleasant land now irrespective of William Blake's own odd theology and quirky understanding of religion this is a poem which all Catholics can feel entirely comfortable with and I'm going to unpack it a bit and did those feet in ancient time walk upon England's mountains green and was the holy lamb of God on England's pleasant pastures seen this might seem an odd question or two odd questions of course we might say uh that the the holy lamb of God that Jesus Christ didn't set feet in ancient time when England's mountains green or pleasant pastures but natural fact there is an ancient legend two ancient legends that go right back to the dawn of of of English history in fact before English history England means angle land the land of the angles this story goes back before the angles arrived to the time just after the Roman conquest uh so actually this would be just about before the time of Roman Roman conquest the original story so the legend is that St Joseph of Arimathea a relative of Jesus brought him as a child if you like on a holiday or vacation to England uh unlikely not necessarily impossible we don't probably should not believe it has been literally true but St Joseph of Arimathea was a rich merchant there was a lot of mining in southwest England and the story the legend is that they arrived at Glastonbury Glastonbury in Somerset in southwest England is the oldest uh known uh center of Christianity in England certainly uh even in the third century they were talking about the chapel to the Blessed Virgin in Glastonbury being ancient so it's entirely possible that uh it dates back to the first century the first Christian missionaries would certainly have come to England with the arrival of the Romans that's the way Christianity was spread around the empire with the uh where the Romans went Christians were going to because Rome was becoming Christian um so the usual date for the first arrival of of missionaries to England is 63 AD 300 years sorry 30 years after the crucifixion and again the legend is that they were led by St Joseph of Arimathea and on that occasion uh he brought with him the uh the the um the chalice that was either used at the last supper or was um uh the chalice by which the blood of Christ was was was collected uh when it was spilled after the uh the uh the lance is placed into Christ at the crucifixion again very unlikely but very important even if it's not true because it's from this that the all of the uh legends of the holy grail uh King Arthur and the the quest for the holy grail the holy grail is this chalice that's allegedly been brought to England by St Joseph of Arimathea but prior to that it said that the feet of Christ himself set foot on England's pleasant land green and pleasant land um because he was brought by his relative St Joseph of Arimathea now it's a irrespective whether it's true the fact there's a desire for it to be true says a great deal for the faith of the of England the fact that this legend is part of England experience the whole Arthurian legends based upon it but also the fact it's desired by William Blake says a great deal about his own um fervent wish for it to be true for Christ to have stepped foot um what's Jerusalem built with here among these dark satanic mills so this again is a motif of romanticism to to be uh opposed to the the the the the pollution uh of the industrial revolution to the change of lifestyle to the urbanization of culture to the belching of pollutants of smoke into the atmosphere from these new industrial mills brought about by the invention of the steam engine England was ahead of the world in in in the industrial revolution middle of the 1700s so Blake is is is writing when this this time an era of change and he sees these this industrialism as satanic now what's Jerusalem built with here among these dark satanic mills so that's the first the first part of the poem is all questions the second part is is is called to arms bring me my bow of burning gold bring my arrows of desire bring me my spear of clouds unfold bring me my chariot of fire i will not cease for mental fight nor shall my sword sleep in my hand till we have built Jerusalem in England's green and pleasant land it's a call to arms it's a call to build Jerusalem to build something which is Christian at least according to Blake's understanding of it in the face of the satanic presence of industrialism this is a motif of romanticism this call this love of the beauty of nature as opposed to the that the uh the ugliness that's been wrought by by scientific progress okay let's move on to another poem uh Blake wrote some poems of songs songs of innocence and some songs of experience and i'm going to put them side by side here the poem called the lamb little lamb who made thee does does thou know who made thee gave thee life and bid thee feed by the stream and over the mead gave thee clothing of delight softest clothing woolly bright gave thee such a tender voice making all the veils rejoice little lamb who made thee does thou now 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 so here we see some we see a motif in much literature questions are asked on behalf of nature which can't answer for itself and then the poet answers uh on behalf of creation so asking the question who made that the little lamb the little lamb can't answer the question little lamb doesn't know the answer um we should say by the way if you in england even today is full of sheep if you walk in in in parts of the country and so at certain times the year of course is full of lambs gambling around the uh the fields there's not much more cute than than a lamb but little lamb i'll tell thee the person who made these make called by thy name he called himself a lamb the lamb of god of course this is a direct reference to christ it's meek and mild became a little child an i a child in other words a man should be childlike we were told by christ unless we become like little children cannot enter the kingdom of heaven i a child and now a lamb we are called it by his name so god bless the lamb god bless us because god has blessed us uh in uh the lamb of god himself okay so that's the song of innocence the childlike song but then it's a slightly darker song of experience which is called the tiger tiger tiger burning bright in the forests of the night what immortal hand or eye could frame thy fear more symmetry in what distant deeps or skies burnt the fire of thine eyes on what wings dare he aspire what the hand dare seize the fire and what shoulder and what art could twist the sinews of thy heart and when thy heart began to beat what dread hand and what dread feet what the hammer what the chain in what furnace was thy brain what the anvil what dread grasp dare its deadly terrors clasp when the stars threw down their spears and watered heaven with their tears did he smile his work to see did he who made the lamb make thee tiger tiger burning bright in the forest of the night what immortal hand or eye dare frame thy fearful symmetry well here's a an interesting question did the god who made the little lamb make the tiger who eats the lamb songs of experience um and uh perhaps the best way we should look at this is um do we want god to only be a lamb isn't he also the lion of juda isn't this perhaps what inspired c.s. lewis to make the son of god in narnia a lion do we want aslan to be a tame lion we are told he's not a tame lion he's good but he's not tame god is both a lion and a lamb he is both a tiger and a lamb and c.s. lewis i'm absolutely sure had this poem by winnie and blake in mind at the climax towards the end of his great novel that hideous strength when the forces of scientism the forces of the dark satanic mills the forces uh who seek to destroy religion in the name of science the scientistic uh superciliousness which turns out in the novel to actually be demonic its anti-nature as its transhumanism this anti-human in lewis's novel it is a tiger that is let loose amongst these enemies of civilization that warts the anger of god as it rips its way through killing these people no aslan is not a tame lion and god is not a tame tiger we'll finish with one other poem by winnie and blake at least we'll finish our look look at this poem poetry and this is you know what is love the the the the quintessential important question you know the beatle the Beatles say all you need is love and they are completely correct all you need is love but what is love what does john lennon mean by love is it the same as what jesus means by love because that's the important question and these are questions that are being asked in this poem by winnie and blake the clod and the pebble love seeketh not itself to please nor for itself hath any care but for but for another gives its ease and builds a heaven in hell's despair so sung a little clod of clay trodden with the cattle's feet but a pebble of the brook warbled out these meters meet love seeketh only self to please to bind another to its delight joys in another's loss of ease and builds a hell in heavens despite only 12 lines but certainly 12 power packed line potent lines so the clod basically says that love is selfless love gives itself for others doesn't care about itself sacrifice itself and through this self sacrifice builds a heaven in hell's despair whereas the pebble on the other hand says on the contrary love seeks only to please itself to bind another to its delight in other words to sacrifice others for its own self gratification joys and another's loss of ease that basically in having its self empowered through its pride it gets a delight in using and abusing others and in this way builds a head in heavens despite it's interesting however because the pebble is beautiful and it and it wobbles out meters meet it sings beautifully looks beautiful it sings beautifully the other one however is trodden all over it's ugly clod of clay trodden with the cattle's feet the pebble is beautiful but hard what is Blake saying i'm not completely sure that we know what Blake's saying i'm not completely sure that Blake knows what Blake's saying but he certainly puts the two versions of love there very very clearly either love sacrifices itself for the other or it sacrifices the other for the self both words could be called love and they are called love because in the modern understanding the word love is doing your own thing we're doing your own thing means treading on others so here we see perhaps encapsulated in this poem the conundrum the riddle that is william Blake that he is somewhat schizophrenic you know anybody who writes a book on the marriage of heaven and hell and tries to see that one somehow ever being inseparable from the other that sort of dualism is bound to leave to some sort of confusion so i see romanticism in terms of the first generation words worth in college being what i call the light romantics not light in as in bud light thanks be to god but as in that which brings light as opposed to that which brings darkness second generation byron and shetty were much darker much more narcissistic much more agnostic or atheistic even but words worth in college as we see were profoundly christian Blake seems to be neither one nor the other he certainly seems to sympathize with christianity he certainly seems to identify with christ but it's a very much a blakie-fied christ a christ that's made in william blake's own image which is problematic so in Blake we see some beautiful poetry and i hope you do agree with me that this poetry is beautiful and certainly prompts some some good contemplation and meditation spiritual searching but it's not ultimately very not marked by clarity when we come to our next two poets in the authority we'll look at william wordsworth and then we'll look at samuel taylor collidge we'll see romanticism which is much ultimately healthier because it's turning towards the light to be found in jesus christ so and until we get to these lighter brighter healthier even perhaps holier romantics and thanks for them so much for spent spending some time with me in the the confusion of the light and darkness of william Blake until next time thanks so much as always for joining me until next time goodbye and god bless this has been an episode of the authority with joseph pierce brought to you by tan for updates on new episodes and to support the authority and other great free content visit the authority podcast dot com to subscribe and use coupon code authority 25 to get 25 percent off your next order including books audio books and video courses by joseph pierce on literary giants such as tulking chesterton louis shakespeare and bellach as well as tans extensive catalog of content from the saints and great spiritual masters to strengthen your faith and interior life to follow joseph and support his work check out his blog and sign up for email updates and exclusive content at j pierce dot com and thanks for listening