AN ANALYIS OF SPIRITUAL SYMBOLS IN WILLIAM BLAKE‘S POEMS
Transcript of AN ANALYIS OF SPIRITUAL SYMBOLS IN WILLIAM BLAKE‘S POEMS
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AN ANALYIS OF SPIRITUAL SYMBOLS IN WILLIAM BLAKE‘S POEMS
A THESIS
BY
IRNAWATI TARIHORAN
Reg no: 110705050
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH
FACULTY OF CULTURAL STUDIES
UNIVERSITY OF SUMATERA UTARA
MEDAN 2016
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Approved By Department of English, Faculty of Cultural Studies University of Sumatera
Utara (USU) Medan As a Thesis For The Sarjana Sastra Examination.
Head, Secretary,
Dr. H. Muhizar Muchtar, Ms Rahmadsyah Rangkuti, MA. Ph.D
NIP: 19541117 198003 1 002 NIP: 19750209 200812 1 002
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Accepted by the Board of Examiners in Partial fulfillment of Requirements for the Degree
of Sarjana Sastra from Department of English, Faculty of Cultural Studies University of
Sumatera Utara, Medan.
The Examination is Held in Department of English Faculty of Cultural Studies University
of Sumatera Utara on October 14th
, 2016.
Dean of Faculty of Cultural Studies
University of Sumatera Utara
Dr. Budi, Agustono, M,S
NIP: 19600805198703 1 001
Board of Examiners (signature)
1. Dr. H. Muhizar Muchtar, M S .....................................
2. Rahmadsyah Rangkuti, MA. Ph.D .......................................
3. Dr. Siti Norma Nasution, M.Hum ......................................
4. Drs. Parlindungan Purba, M.Hum .....................................
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AUTHOR'S DECLARATION
I, IRNAWATI TARIHORAN, DECLARE THAT I AM THE SOLE AUTHOR OF THIS
THESIS EXCEPT WHERE REFERENCE IS MADE IN THE TEXT OF THIS THESIS.
THIS THESIS CONTAINS NO MATERIAL PUBLISHED ELSEWHERE OR
EXTRACTED IN WHOLE OR IN PART FROM A THESIS BY WHICH I HAVE
QUALIFIED FOR OR AWARDED ANOTHER DEGREE. NO OTHER PERSON’S
WORK HAS BEEN USED WITHOUT DUE ACKNOWLEDGMENTS IN THE MAIN
TEXT OF THIS THESIS. THIS THESIS HAS NOT BEEN SUBMITTED FOR THE
AWARD OF ANOTHER DEGREE IN ANY TERTIARY EDUCATION.
Signed : ...……………….
Date : October 17th
, 2016
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COPYRIGHT DECLARATION
NAME : IRNAWATI TARIHORAN
TITLE OF THESIS : AN ANALYSIS OF SPIRITUAL SYMBOLS IN WILLIAM
BLAKE’SPOEMS
QUALIFICATION : S1
STUDY PROGRAM : ENGLISH LITEARTURE
I AM WILLING THAT MY THESIS SHOULD BE AVAILABLE FOR
REPRODUCTION AT THE DISCRETION OF THE LIBRARIAN OF DEPARTMENT
OF ENGLISH, FACULTY OF CULTURAL STUDIES, UNIVERSITY OF SUMATERA
UTARA ON THE UNDERSTANDING THAT USERS ARE MADE AWARE OF THEIR
OBLIGATION UNDER THE LAW OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA.
Signed : ….……………..
Date : October 17th
, 2016
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ABSTRAK
Skripsi ini bertujuan untuk menganalisis spiritual symbol yang terdapat di dalam 7 puisi
William Blake yang berjudul ―The Angel‖, ―The Lamb‖, ―The Tyger‖, ―Hear the voice‖, ―A
poison tree‖, ―The divine image‖, and ―Jerusalem‖. Beberapa symbol yang dianalisis dalam
skripsi ini adalah symbol yang berhubungan dengan hal-hal spiritual khusus nya tentang ide
keTuhanan yang di gagas William di dalam puisi-puisinya. Tujuan penulis menganalisis symbol
dalam puisi William Blake ini adalah untuk mengidentifikasi makna simbol-simbol tersebut.
Tulisan ini menggunakan metode penulisan deskriptif kualitatif, karena metode ini fokus pada
mengambilan data dan penerjemahan nya. Di dalam puisi-puisi ini terdapat beberapa spiritual
symbol, contohnya di dalam puisi ―The Angel‖ merupkan symbol dari ciptaan Tuhan yang
memiliki tugas untuk menolong, ―The lamb‖ merupakan symbol dari Tuhan Jesus, :The Tyger‖
adalah symbol dari kekuatan Tuhan dalam menciptakan sesuatu yang sangat kuat dan
mengerikan. Harapan penulis skripsi ini dapat memberikan pengetahuan tentang analisis simbol
puisi kepada pembaca, khususnya tentang simbol yang ditulis oleh William Blake.
Kata kunci : William Blake, symbol, spiritual symbol, symbol analisis.
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ABSTRACT
This thesis deals with an analysis of spiritual symbols in the seven poems of William
Blake, such as "The Angel", "The Lamb", "The Tyger", "Hear the voice", "A poison tree", "The
divine image", and "Jerusalem". The symbols that analyzed in this thesis is a symbol which
related to the spiritual matters specifically about the idea of deity in William‘s poems. The
purpose of the authors analyzed the symbols in William Blake‘s poems is to identify the meaning
of these symbols. This thesis uses qualitative descriptive method, qualitative method focuses on
collecting data and makes interpretation based on the data. In these poems there are some
spiritual symbols, for example, in The Angel poem, "The Angel" is symbol of divinity creature
who has duty to help, "The lamb" is a symbol of the Lord Jesus, ―The Tyger "is a symbol of the
power of God in creating something very powerful, and etc. The author hopes this thesis will be
beneficial to the readers who want to understand about the symbols analysis of poetry, especially
the symbol that was written by William Blake.
Keywords : William Blake, symbol in poem, spiritual symbol, and symbol analysis.
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ACKNOWLEDMENTS
First of all, I would like to thank to my Lord, Jesus Christ, for being my only Savior. For
all tears and smiles, sorrow and happiness during my ages, I thank God, gratefully.
I would like also to give my gratitude to Dean of Faculty of Cultural Studies, Dr Budi
Agustono M,S, the Head of English Department, Dr.H. Muhizar Muchtar, MS, the Secretary of
English Department, Rahmadsyah Rangkuti, MA.ph.D., and all of lectures for all guidance
during my academic years in English Department.
It is also a high appreciation to my Supervisor, Dr. Siti Norma Nasution, M.hum and my
Co-supervisor, Dra, Diah Rahayu Pratama,M.pd, for all positive advises which been given to me
and for all your valuable time during the thesis writing. Thank you for everything I learned.
My deepest thank is highly dedicated for both of my parents; my beloved father, B.
Tarihoran and my wonderful mom, R. Panjaitan, for all your love and affection, good care and
sincerity, for all compassion efforts you have been taking for us. And definitely, my big brothers,
Olinhart and John, my younger brothers, Dicky, Ferdi, and Aldo. It is always a pleasure for
having family of us and the last for Bibi Pagit Maria Tarigan, Thank you for sharing and giving
me advices. I love you all.
My special thanks is also delivered to all of my friends, my roommates in dormitory
USU, Yuke, Putri, Eca, Stephani, Ruth, Beta and Satria, Thank you for being such a wonderful
friend. For my adventure friends Andreas Gozali, Yuke and Septa,Thank you for our adventure
times unite with the nature and also for my class mates Hanna Gabe, Dj and again asepgo, thank
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you for being nonsense together for almost 5 years :D I will never forget you all, may God
always be with you
Last but not least, I thank the silence for being my faithful companion of my life. That‘s
all.
Medan, October 17th
, 2016
The Writer
Irnawati Tarihoran
Reg no: 110705050
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
AUTHOR DECLARATION ............................................................................................ v
COPYRIGHT DECLARATION ..................................................................................... vi
ABSTRAK ......................................................................................................................... vii
ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... viii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ................................................................................................ ix
TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................. xi
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
1.1 The Background of the Study ............................................................... 1
1.2 The Problem of the Study ..................................................................... 5
1.3 The Objective of the Study ................................................................... 5
1.4 The Scope of the Study ......................................................................... 5
1.5 The Significance of the Study ............................................................... 5
CHAPTER ll REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
2.1 Definition of Literature .................................................................... 7
2.2 Definition of Poetry ......................................................................... 7
2.3 Romanticism .................................................................................... 9
2.4 Hermeneutic Theory ........................................................................ 10
2.5 Term of Symbol ............................................................................... 12
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2.5.1 Conventional Symbol ............................................................ 14
2.5.2 Personal Symbol .................................................................... 15
2.6 The Meaning of Spiritual ................................................................. 16
2.7 Types of Poem ................................................................................. 16
2.8 Kinds of Poem ................................................................................ 17
CHAPTER lll METHODOLOGY OF RESEARCH
3.1 Research Design................................................................................ 21
3.2 Data Collecting ................................................................................. 22
3.3 Data Analysis ..................................................................................... 23
CHAPTER lV ANALYSIS AND FINDING
4.1 The Spiritual Symbols Analysis in William Blake‘s Poems
4.1.1. The Angel .................................................................................... 25
4.1.2 The Lamb ...................................................................................... 28
4.1.3 The Tyger ..................................................................................... 30
4.1.4 Hear the Voice of the Bard ........................................................... 34
4.1.5 A Poison Tree ............................................................................... 36
4.1.6 The Divine Image ......................................................................... 39
4.1.7 Jerusalem ...................................................................................... 42
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CHAPTER V CONCLUTION AND SUGGESTION
5.1 Conclusion ........................................................................................... 46
5.2 Suggestion ............................................................................................ 48
REFERENCES .................................................................................................................. 49
APPENDICES
APPENDIX 1: WILLIAM BLAKE’S BIOGRAPHY
APPENDIX 2: WILLIAM BLAKE’S POEMS
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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
The thesis which entitled an analysis of spiritual symbols in William Blake‘s
Poems deals with an analysis of William Blake‘s poems which are related to the spiritual
symbols. The poems were chosen as the main subject of the analyzing. Poem is a
product of literature and literature talks about life.
Literature is about life and living means the portrait of what happened in human
lives such as birth, death, happiness, sufferance, love, hatred, loneliness, togetherness
and other human living experiences. The definition of literature cannot stuck on the
Latin term ‗letter‘ which the word literature was taken, literature here involve the artistic
merit which have more value. Shortly, literature is about people‘s idea and feelings, the
true one or kind of imagination. People who want to express their feelings or emotion
can use this product of literature called literary works. Literary Genre, Mode and Style at
the Victoria web say ―There are 3 kinds of literary work, they are poetry, prose, and
drama.‖ But in this thesis I want to focus on analysis poetry.
It is very difficult to define what poetry is, because there are many definitions of
poetry, and they come from a pen of a great poets and critics. Dunton in Pardede (2006:
105) states that poetry is the concrete and artistic expression of human mind, in
emotional and rhythmic language. Actually, poetry is a means to convey the poet‘s idea
and emotion. Poem is the arrangement of words that contain meaning and musical
elements. It is a piece of writing that expresses the writer‘s thought and feelings in order
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to set a mood; it can be happy or sad, simple or complex. In just a few words, a poem
can say a lot. It can inspire and we and can be a welcome escape into something that is
totally wonderful. A poem can either be rhyming, or non-rhyming. It uses symbols and
has lines and stanzas that have sentences, fragments of sentences or both.
Symbols were first used a lot in the Romantic poems, where the poets often want
to express their sense of unseen world in the imagination. Peck and Coyle (1984:71)
state that a symbol is an object which stands for something. In a poem it is a word which
also signifies something beyond itself. Steven‘s uses the symbols of the things are not
only to express his desire but also to express his senses of an unseen world in the
imagination. Imagination and understanding the characteristics of the symbol in a poem
are needed to identify the implied symbols as something that means more than what they
are. Steven was concerned with the transformative power of the imagination. Concerning
the relation between consciousness and the world, in Stevens's work "imagination" it is
not equivalent to consciousness nor is "reality" equivalent to the world as it exists
outside our minds. It becomes problems, because many people think imagination
becomes true. The reality is that the product of the imagination as it shapes the world.
Because it is constantly changing as we attempt to find imaginatively satisfying ways to
perceive the world, reality is an activity, not a static object. We approach reality with a
piecemeal understanding, putting together parts of the world in an attempt to make it
seem coherent. To make sense of the world is to construct a worldview through an active
exercise of the imagination. There is no dry, philosophical activity, but a passionate
engagement in finding order and meaning
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William Blake for example, uses symbols to convey his idea through his poems.
He wanted to express his sense of unseen world in the imagination. Blake did not belong
to the romantic period. But actually he is a romantic poet. William Blake was born in
London in 1757, the son of a London hosier. He was one of four children. Already at the
age of nine, he told his parents that he had seen vision, mostly of angels, Blake began
experiencing visions, and his friend and journalist Henry Crabb Robinson wrote that
Blake saw God's head appear in a window when Blake was 4 years old. He also
allegedly saw the prophet Ezekiel under a tree and had a vision of "a tree filled with
angels." Blake's visions would have a lasting effect on the art and writings that he
produced, and he continued to see such visions for the rest of his life. To Blake,
"reality was spirituality". In other words, he believed that the visible, audible, and
tangible world is not reality. Reality, or the "real" world, can only be grasped by the
human spirit with the help of imagination.
“William Blake is one of the great mystics of the world; and he is by far the greatest
and most profound who has spoken in English. Like Henry More and Wordsworth, he
lived in a world of glory, of spirit and of vision. At the age of four he saw God looking in
at the window, and from that time until he welcomed the approach of death by singing
songs of joy which made the rafters ring, he lived in an atmosphere of divine
illumination.” ("Caroline F. E. Spurgeon, Mysticism in English Literature, (1913))
In this case I would like to analyze William Blake‘s poems which contain the
spiritual symbols. The poems that I‘m going to analyze are ‖The Angel‖, The Tyger,
‖The Lamb‖, ―Hear the voice of the Bard‖ , ― A poison tree‖, ―The divine image‖ and
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―Jerusalem‖. In these seven poems, there are so many spiritual symbols that used by
William Blake, The lamb‖ for example, for Christian people the lamb refers to Jesus
Christ, and in ―The tyger‘ refers to a wild animal. It is challenge me to find out, what
William Blake means through those symbols.
In analyzing the problem in this thesis, the writer will use hermeneutic theory.
Through hermeneutic theory, the writer will focus on analyzing and interpreting the data.
To do those analyses the writer uses descriptive qualitative method. As the opposition to
quantitative method, qualitative method focuses on collecting data and makes
interpretation based on the data. The main field of this method is about the thoughts and
actions human which is suitable to this thesis.
Through this thesis the writer wants to show the reader that poem is not about words
or about the arrangement of words. Poem as a beautiful language is rich of meaning.
Behind those beautiful language there may be hidden a beautiful or even a sorrowful
meaning. Poem is more complex than what is seen, it has meaning even message. The
selected poems of William Blake (The Angel, The tyger, The Lamb, hear the voice of the
Bard, A poison tree, The divine image and Jerusalem) are full of meaning and history.
Through the analysis of this thesis, the writer hopes that the reader will understand the
spiritual symbol in William Blake‗s selected poems, in which the reader can feel the
situation or the history when those poems were created.
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1.2 Problem of Study
1. What are the spiritual symbols in William Blake‗s selected poems?
2. What are the meanings of those spiritual symbols?
1.3 Objectives of Study
The objectives of the study of this thesis as to answer the problem of the study
above are:
1. To show the spiritual symbols in William Blake‘s poems.
2. To identify what are the meaning of those spiritual symbols.
1.4 The Scope of the Study
This thesis is based on William Blake‘s poems. The poem itself is the main
source of this analysis. In this thesis, I am going to focus on the spiritual symbols in
Blake‘s poems. At last, I limit this analysis to seven of Blake‘s poems, they are: The
Angel, The Tyger, The Lamb, Hear the voice of the Bard, A poison tree, The divine
image and Jerusalem.
1.5 Significance of Study
There are some of significances of the analysis. First of all, the analysis is
significant to add the literary vocabulary for poem analysis. Secondly, to find the
characteristic of poem that contain the symbols trough the lyrics related to life. This
theoretical purpose is to show that reading a poem is not difficult as people thought
because the poems can be about anything. The reader can interpret, express and grasp
idea of the poems freely depending on their perception, expression, and feeling. And the
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practically purpose to make the reader can describe the poet with the clear meaning
should be clearly expressed and writer consists of their life and their presumption.
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CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
2.1 Definition of Literature
Moody (1968:2) says literature springs from our inborn love of telling story, of
arranging words in pleasing patterns, of expressing in word some special aspect of our
human experience. It is usually set down in printed characters for us to read, though
some forms of it are performed on certain social occasion. There are number of different
branches such as Drama, Poetry, the Novel, the Short story; all these are works of the
imagination or the capacity for invention. The greatest pleasure and satisfaction to be
found in literature occur where it brings us back to the realities of human situation,
problems, feelings and relationships.
Taylor (1981:1) Literature, like other arts, is essentially an imaginative act, that
is, an act of the writer‘s imagination in selecting, ordering and interpreting life-
experience, in the case of literature, words are the medium of expression and it makes
little difference whether those words are recorded in the living memory of a people or by
some mechanical means such as writing, sound recording, etc.
2.2 Definition of Poetry
Wordsworth defined poetry as the ―The spontaneous overflow of powerful
feeling: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility‖. Poetry is a part of
writing which has substances of feeling and emotions. The substances express by
carefully selected words and become an aesthetics opus.
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Miller (1981: 44) said, ―Poetry is the kind poets write‖. To define poetry is not
easy because not everything can be named or explained. So, it is enough to sharpen your
perception as a reader and to permit a fuller understanding of what it is in the poem that
gives pleasure and creates form and meaning. Literature is a term used to describe
written or spoken material.
Harry (972:214) says, ―Poetry is a literary work in metrical form or patterned
language.tha art of rhythmical composition, written or spoken is designed to produce
pleasure through beautiful, elevated, imaginative, or profound thought‖.
Barber (1083: 4) says, ― poetry I literature written I verse but poetry too is
fiction: when a poet offers us events, moods, attitudes, emotions, or whatever, he does
not invite us to believe that they are the transcription of something that has happened;
rather he invites us to experience them‖.
Poetry also observes a sense of pattern that put into consideration of the words
that connect to each other, either in terms of sound or original meanings.
Edgar (1993:5) says, ―Poems are often about subjects that never experienced
directly.‖ This statement shows if the experience of the poem to recapture, understand
the language, ideas, attitudes, and frames of references that will make the poem come
alive and he according to him, only a short poem could sustain the level of emotion in
the reader that was generated by all good poetry.
Robert (1993:547) said that poetry and poem describe a wide variety of subjects.
The poem, however, is in itself concerned with the figurative and slippery nature of truth
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and knowledge, the disappearance of hard fact in fiction and dream, the inability of the
wandering mind to envision a paradise other than a glimpse.
2.3. Romanticism
Romanticism was a literary movement that swept through virtually every country
of Europe, the United States, and Latin America that lasted from about 1750 to 1870.
However, the Romantic Movement did not reach France until the1820's. Romanticism's
essential spirit was one of revolt against an established order of things-against precise
rules, laws, dogmas, and formulas that characterized Classicism in general and late18th-
century Neoclassicism in particular. It praised imagination over reason, emotions over
logic, and intuition over science-making way for a vast body of literature of great
sensibility and passion. In their choice of heroes, also, the romantic writers replaced the
static universal types of classical 18th-century literature with more complex,
idiosyncratic characters. They became preoccupied with the genius, the hero, and the
exceptional figure in general, and a focus on his passions and inner struggles and there
was an emphasis on the examination of human personality and its moods and mental
potentialities.
Romanticism stresses on self-expression and individual uniqueness that does not
lend itself to precise definition. Romantics believed that men and women ought to be
guided by warm emotions rather than the cold abstract rules and rituals established by
Bourgeois society. The bourgeois, who promoted, defended, and openly profited by the
Revolution of 1830, brought with them, when they rose to power, certain social customs.
No doubt all the Romantics would have furiously denied that they were bourgeois, and
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many of them would indignantly have repudiated Napoleon III, rather than declare
allegience to whom Victor Hugo went into exile for 18 years. In the period of its most
active fermentation, the Romantic Movement was nothing more than a protest against
bourgeois conventions, bourgeois society and morality. To be extreme and
flamboyant and unusual and violent even at the risk of becoming grotesque was the
desire of every young Romantic. The Romantics were, in fact, bourgeois origins, who
were trying hard to escape from their own shadows.
2.4 Hermeneutic Theory
Schleiermacher in Keserci (2013:1) Hermeneutics is a methodology for
interpretation of all texts. Hermeneutics, the art of interpretation, was firstly used for the
definition of Scripture and other texts by ancient Greek philosophers. In this sense,
hermeneutics has a long history, reaching back at least as far as ancient Greece. In
ancient Greek mythology, Hermes was the messenger of God who interpreted messages
from the God to human and explained wishes of God to them, so, the word Hermeneus
―hermeneutics‖ or the art of interpreting hidden meaning. By Schleiermacher, the
philosophy of modern hermeneutics has been developed. Hermeneutic was generally
understood as techniques for understanding passages of a text that may be difficult to
understand. Schleiermacher challenged this assumption and presented differences
between the author and the reader-interpreter with respect to their personal histories, the
use of language, culture, worldview, and stressed misunderstanding, rather than
understanding in textual interpretation. Schleiermacher transformed hermeneutics from a
technique to a general theory of understanding and interpreting texts. Schleiermacher
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mentions about three basic problems dealing with understanding: Difficulty in
understanding, not understanding, and misunderstanding.
The goal of interpreting a text for Schleiermacher is to recover the author's
originally intended meaning. Therefore, according to Schleiermacher, interpretation has
two, equally important, aspects: grammatical (objective) or psychological (subjective).
According to Schleiermacher, grammatical interpretation refers to understanding and
interpreting a text in 17 the context of the language with its possibilities and limits. As
distinct from grammatical interpretation, psychological interpretation aims to reconstruct
the author's mental. Primarily, Schleiermacher does not make a distinction between
understanding and interpretation of texts unlike traditional hermeneutics. Because, he
believes both are completely connected with each other. Each sense at the same time is
an interpretation. In the same way each interpretation also is an indicative of a meaning.
While these actions are done by reviewer using their concepts, he converts a foreign text
into their own language.
Schleiermacher removes understanding from being a special case that only
applies to written texts and wants to convert to an indispensable element for situations
such as mutual dialogue speech which as the principal tool of communication among
people. However, in doing so in any kind of dialogue occurring among people does not
want to act from the point at where understanding of actions occur. In summary,
Schleiermacher maintains that while grammatical interpretation is a method of
understanding how meaning is determined by the way in which language is used;
psychological interpretation is a method of understanding how spoken or written
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language represents the thoughts of the person who is speaking or writing Grammatical
and Psychological elements which are always combined in discourse. Thus,
hermeneutics and criticism is concerned with understanding the similarities and
differences which may occur between these objective and subjective elements. Also, the
development of hermeneutics is still very much an ongoing process both as it concerns
the nature of interpretation itself and as it concerns the scope and significance of
interpretation
2.5 The Term of Symbol
Symbol Etimologically, a symbol is ―something thrown together‖. The ultimate
source is Greek, sumballein, it formed from the prefix sum-―together‖ and the suffix
ballein ―throw‖. So symbol is something thrown together (Ayto:1990). The notion of
‗throwing or putting things together‘ led on to the notion of ‗contrast‘ and so sumballein
came to be used for ‗compare‘. it was derived from sumbolon, which denoted an
‗indentifying token‘—because such tokens were compared with a counterpart to make
sure that were genuine — and hence an ‗outward sign‘ of something‖. According to
dictionary of word origins, Arcade (1990).The word symbol which is derived from the
Greek word symbolon in ancient Greece it was a custom to break a slate of burned clay
into several pieces and give each individual in a group one piece as a mark of
identification. When, at a later date, they met and fitted the pieces together (Greek
symbollein) it confirmed that the persons were the same ones, or representatives of
those, who had received the pieces of clay in the first place.
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The use of the word symbol was widened to include the engraved shells that were
employed by those initiated in the mysteries, both as marks of identification and as
essential components in ritual gatherings. It was only a short step away to the word‘s
eventual meaning, in which an object, either through a visual similarity or a common
agreement between those using it, represented something other than itself. Camte Goblet
d'Alviella, in his book on The Migration of Symbols says a symbol is: "Might be defined
as a representation which does not aim at being a reproduction.
Originally, as he points out, used by the Greeks to denote the two halves of the
tablet they divided between themselves as a pledge of hospitality," It came to be used of
every sign, formula, or rite by which those initiated in any mystery made themselves
secretly known to one another. Gradually the word extended its meaning, until it came to
denote every conventional representation of idea by form, of the unseen by the visible.
(Literary Symbolism:9) For example, Angel is a symbol of Hope, goodness, purity,
protection, comfort and consolation. They also represent the spiritual nature of the being.
A word, a phrase, or an image used with some kind of special reference (which is what a
symbol is usually taken to mean) are all symbols when they are distinguishable elements
in critical analysis. From the word symbol came the concept of symbolism where one
object is used to refer to something else. Even the letters a writer spells his words with
form part of his symbolism in this sense: they would be isolated only in special cases,
such as alliteration or dialect spellings, but we are still aware that they symbolize sounds.
Criticism as a whole, in terms of this definition, would begin with, and largely consist of,
the systematizing of literary symbolism. It follows that other words must be used to
classify the different types of symbolism.
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Symbolism is used in literature to give to the literary work meaning that goes
beyond what is evident to the reader. Symbolism helps in giving the piece of writing
feeling and mood without the writer having to actually spell out the same. By giving
certain things human like characteristics and also defining them with certain qualities,
the writer can manage to give the novel another level that may refer to things that are
completely alien from what is mentioned in the piece of writing A symbol, in a broadest
use of term, is anything which signifies something else; in this sense, all words are
symbols. As commonly used in criticism, however, ―symbol‘ is applied only to a word
or phrase signifying an object which itself has significance; that is, the object referred to
has a range of meaning beyond itself. Some symbols are conventional and public, Klarer
(1976:140) says a symbol is a thing that suggest more than its literal meaning in a
literary text. He divides symbol into two kinds; they are conventional and private
symbol.
2.5.1 Conventional Symbol
Conventional symbol is a symbol is easily that has an understood or widely
accepted interpretation. There are some conventional symbols that are easily University
of Sumatera Utara recognizable, for example, a flag which is a physical, representation
of a country. Even as children people know that the flag isn‘t the country, but that it
stands for a country. Conventional or traditional literary symbols work in much the same
way, and because they have previously agreed upon meaning, they can be used to
suggest ideas more universal than the physical thing itself. Conventional symbol has
meaning that recognized by a society for example: Red can symbolize blood, passion,
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danger, or immoral character and stars are the symbols of Moslem. The following
objects have been considered as conventional symbols for centuries, some of which are
reflected in religious customs, mythical story and literature. The universal symbol
usually have known by many people or groups in society that when a writer puts a
symbol in the story and the symbol is known as universal symbol, the groups in society
and some people have same perception of the meanings of symbol when they recognize
the symbol firstly.
2.5.2. Personal Symbol
Personal symbol or private symbol is a symbol that made and put by the author
in a literary works as individual works. The symbol isn‘t known by majority of a society,
it‘s the one that requires special or private knowledge to understand the meaning of and
according in the context of specific story. The problem with private symbol is the
readers do not understand much about the symbol. It is a relation between the reader and
the author because The author needs to present or create a symbol using the context of
literary work and the reader understand the symbol according context of text, the reader
must recognize an object or things as a symbol. That‘s why a reader must to relate the
interpretation to the total meaning.
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2.6. The Meaning of Spiritual
There is no single, widely agreed definition of spirituality, Surveys of the
definition of the term, as used in scholarly research, show a broad range of definitions,
with very limited similitude. These range from very narrow and un-dimensional
definitions such as a personal belief in a supernatural realm to broader concepts such as a
quest for an ultimate/sacred meaning, transcending the base/material aspects of life
and/or a sense of awe/wonderment and reverence achieved via connection with the
universe.
In modern times the emphasis is on subjective experience. It may denote almost
any kind of meaningful activity or blissful experience. It still denotes a process of
transformation but in a context separate from organized religious institutions, termed
"spiritual but not religious. Houtman and Aupers suggest that modern spirituality is a
blend of humanistic psychology, mystical and esoteric traditions and eastern religions.
2.7 Types of Poem
There are five types of poems in particular. They are descriptive, reflective,
narrative, lyric, and sonnet. Each kind has much common features though the difference
is connected to form and style of expressing idea. Since the poems that are going to be
analyzed consists of descriptive, reflective, and lyrics, I will focus on those types of
poems.
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a. Descriptive
Descriptive poem is a poem which describes people or experience, scenes
or objects.
b. Reflective
Reflective poem is a thoughtful poem often containing a great deal of
description which the poet comments on as form, upon which draws a
conclusion.
c. Lyrics
Lyrics is the simplest form of poetry like a song which usually the
expression of mood or feeling.
2.8 Kinds of Poem
There are ten kinds of poem; they are ballad, ode, elegy, pastoral, sonnet, epic,
dramatic monologue, satire, confessionals, free verse, (Kasim, 2007. Introduction to
Literature)
a. Ballad
Ballad is a short narrative song preserved and transmitted orally among illiterate
or semiliterate people. Some characteristics of ballad are: first, ballad focus on a single
crucial episode or situation. The ballad begins usually at a point where the action is
decisively directed towards its catastrophe. The second, ballads are dramatic. We are not
told things happening: we are shown them happening. The third, ballads are impersonals.
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The narrator seldom allows his own subjective attitude toward the events to intrude
ballads often contain dialogues between characters.
b. Ode
Ode is the most formal, ceremonious, and complex, organized form of lyric
poetry, usually of considerable length. It is frequently the vehicle for public utterance on
state occasion, such as a ruler‘s birthday, accession, and funeral.
c. Elegy
Elegy is the words derive from the Greek word ―elegeia‖ which means ―lament‖.
Elegy is formal in tone and diction; it usually contains the commemoration of the death
of actual person or the poet‘s contemplation of the tragic aspects of life. Elegy is also
written to express felling of sorrow or loss.
d. Pastoral
Pastoral is a type of poetry that describes rural life. It often deals with the love of
shepherd and shepherdesses.
e. Sonnet
Sonnet is a poem that consists of fourteen lines. It rhyme scheme has, in practice,
been widely varied. The confessional poems are basically autobiographical in nature. It
is the poet speaking specifically about himself. And free-verse it is the kinds of poetry an
author doesn‘t use either rhyme- scheme or metrical devices.
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f. Epic
Epic is the most ambitious kind of poetry deals with great heroes whose actions
determined the fate of their nation or of mankind.
g. Dramatic monologue
Dramatic monologue is a type of poetry in which a person expresses the though
and feeling which are uppermost in his mind to another person who keeps silent all the
time with a view to convincing to hearer of what he thinks. It is essentially a study of
character, of mental states or moral crisis, made from inside. It is predominantly
psychological, analytical, meditative, and argumentative. In a dramatic monologue, the
speakers speaks and addresses his argument to another person who generally keep mum,
which infuses great dramatic quality into it
h. Satire
Satire is a type of ridicule and criticism, and it can be erected against many
different object universal human vices of follies, social evils or political short coming. It
is often engendered by the desire to improve society, to right a wrong.
j. Confessionals
Confessional poetry is a style of poetry that emerged in the United States during
the 1950s and 1960s that has been described as poetry "of the personal." The content of
confessional poems is autobiographical and marked by its exploration of subject matter
that was considered taboo at the time. This subject matter included topics like mental
illness, sexuality, and suicide.
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k. Free Verse
Free verse is a type of poetry that does not require any rhyme scheme or meter.
Poems written in free verse, however, do tend to employ other types of creative language
such as alliteration, words that begin with the same sound, or assonance, the repetition of
vowel sounds. But i focus on pastoral poem.
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CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY OF RESEARCH
3.1 Research Design
The method of the study in this paper is descriptive qualitative approach. A
qualitative approach is defined as a description of observations which is not
ordinary expressed in quality terms. Nazir (1998:64) says that descriptive method is
a method of research that makes description of the situation of event or
occurrence.
Neuman (1997:331) classified six characteristics of a qualitative research:
a. The importance of context.
Qualitative researchers emphasize the importance of social context for
understanding the social world. They hold that the meaning of a social action or
statement depends, in an important way, on the context in which it appears. When a
researcher removes an event, social action, answer to a question, or conversation
from the social context in which it appears, or ignore the context, social meaning and
significance are disorted.
b. The case study method.
The researchers might gather a large amount of information on one or a few
cases, go into greater depth, and get more details on the cases being examined.
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c. The researcher’s integrity.
The researchers ensure that their research accurately reflects the evidence and
have checks on their evidence.
d. Grounded theory.
A qualitative researcher begins with a research question and little else.
Theory develops during the data collection process. This more inductive method
means that the theory is built from data or grounded in the data.
e. Process.
Qualitative researchers look at the sequence of events and pay attention to
what happens first, second, and so on. Because qualitative researchers examine the
same case over time, they can see an issue involve, a conflict emerge, or a social
relationship develop. The researcher can detect process and casual relation
f. Interpretations.
The data are in the form of word, including quotes or descriptions of
particular events. The researcher interprets data by giving them meaning, translating
them, or making them understandable.
3.2 Data Collecting
There are some sources of data for this thesis taken by the writer. The first
source is the texts of selected poems by William Blake: The Divine Image, The
Angel, The tyger, The Lamb, Hear the voice of the Bard, A poison tree, the divine
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image and Jerusalem. The second source is from the biography of William Blake
which is help the writer to know the background of life of William Blake. The third
source is from the some related critical books and thesis which have close relation to
the topic of this thesis. The writer also gets some information from the internet sites
to support the topic of this thesis.
3.3 Data Analysis
In analyzing the problem of this thesis, the writer combined all the important
data that has been collected from many sources. The writer uses kind of library
research and applied the qualitative descriptive method to analyze the problem. Here
are some steps that uses by the writer from the beginning in the process of doing the
thesis:
First, the writer read the whole selected poems of William Blake, The Angel,
The tyger, The Lamb, Hear the voice of the Bard A poison tree, The divine image and
Jerusalem. The reading of the poems is not enough in just once, the writer have to
read it over and over again in order to get at least the sense or the intention of each
poem.
Second, the writer begins to read all of information including biography of
William Blake. The writer tries to understand about the William Blake lives by
reading not only from his biography but also from many perspective of his live from
many written source in that time.
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Third, the writer tries to connect or relate each poem to the William Blake
lives background based on the time when William Blake wrote those poems. In this
step, the writer begins the interpreting process to relate the poems to the poet.
Fourth, the writer marked and notes all of the word, line, or stanza of each
poem that reflected to the spiritual ability of William Blake. The writer doing kinds
of interpreting process based on facts and the theory that supports the interpreting
and analyzing process.
Fifth, the writer begins to analyze the poem per lines and stanza, depends on
the poem itself. To be affective, for the poem that has more than 4 lines per stanza,
the writer analyze them stanza per stanzas, but for the poems that have less than 4
lines per stanza, the writer analyze them lines by lines. In this step, the writer applied
the theory and approaches to support the process of analyzing.
Sixth, the writer makes the conclusion and suggestion of the analyzing process. This
is the last step of the analyzing process. All of those steps done by the writer under
the support of the supervisors who mastering the subjects.
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CHAPTER IV
ANALYSIS AND FINDING
In this chapter, the writer will discuss and analyze the seven selected poems of
William Blake that had already chosen. The seven poems are ―The angel, ―The tyger,
―The lamb‖, ―Hear the voice of the Bard‖, ―A poison tree‖, ―The Divine Image, and
―Jerusalem‖. This chapter will discuss about the seven selected poems concerned with
the spiritual symbols that reflected in William Blake‘s poems. By analyzing the
problems of the study, the writer tries to find out the symbols used by William Blake.
4.1 The Spiritual symbols Analysis in William Blake’s poems
4.1.1 The Angel
William Blake published The Angel in the second part of his two-part
volume, Songs of Innocence and Experience, which were published by Blake himself in
1789 (Songs of Innocence) and 1794 (Songs of Experience).They were later republished
as a single volume — Songs of Innocence and Experience Showing the Two Contrary
States of the Human Soul. The poem consists of 4 stanzas and sixteen lines. It is one of
popular poem of William Blake which shows the spiritual symbol. The angel is the
symbol of the messenger of God or the divinity creature of God. In this poem the
speaker tells through the frame of an angel that appears in his dream.
I dreamt a dream! What can it mean?
And that I was a maiden Queen
Guarded by an Angel mild:
Witless woe was ne'er beguiled!
(Stanza 1, line 1-4)
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In the first line of this stanza the dreamer dreams of an innocent queen, protected
by a guardian angel. The question is ―what can it mean? What does it mean to be visited
in your sleep by an angel? According to Oxford dictionary the word ―maiden‖ in ―And I
was a maiden queen‖ is a word that typically refers to an unmarried girl, particularly one
who is a virgin, or immature. The dreamer dreams of an angel and they were in a state of
perfect innocence, and that innocence was guarded by an angel that would not be
deceived or beguiled by stupidity or sorrow ―witness woe was ne‘er beguiled‖.
And I wept both night and day,
And he wiped my tears away;
And I wept both day and night,
And hid from him my heart's delight.
(Stanza 2, line 5-8)
In the first and second lines in this second stanza the dreamer tells how good the
angel was, the dreamer‘s guardian was there for him ―and he wiped my tears away‖, day
and night, night and day. Whenever there was any kind of weeping, the angel would be
there. ―Weeping‖ in ―I wept both day and night‖ does not have to mean literally crying,
it can be difficult journey, filled with its fair share of struggle. And when experiencing
hardship, what can compare to the simple joy of being held by another being, and help us
to face it.
Unfortunately, this comes back to hurt the dreamer, who begins to hide her
happiness from the angel ―And hit from him my heart‘s delight‖, she hid her delight to
invoke the angel‘s pity, or to take the attention from the angel.
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So he took his wings, and fled;
Then the morn blushed rosy red.
I dried my tears, and armed my fears
With ten thousand shields and spears.
(Stanza 3, line 9-12)
The angel, however, is not fooled, and understands that he is being used for
something beyond his true purpose, so he leaves ―so he took his wings and fled‖ (the
angel described as a creature who has wings, the spiritual symbol of the angel very
obvious, since human does not have wings) . ―then the morn blushed rosy red‖ this
marks the final transition of the dreamer into ―growing up;‖ the morning rose means a
new day, and the dreamer is alone now. There is no longer any need to cry over
falsehoods, but there are still reasons to cry, still fears out there in the world without an
angel nearby, the dreamer arms his fears ―I dried my tears, and armed my fears‖.
Soon my Angel came again;
I was armed, he came in vain;
For the time of youth was fled,
And grey hairs were on my head
(Stanza 4, line 13-16)
This stanza tells that the angel, returns to the dreamer ―soon my angel came again‖ ,
instead of being cheerful when her soul mate returned, she seemed sad because her
ability to love the angel has been hampered by her, it‘s too late, they‘ve grown up, and it
is too late to change. The maiden Queen has become an independent ruler ―I was
armed‖. The fact that the dreamer is entering old enough age to be finding grey hairs
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suggests that a lot of time has passed ―for the time of youth was fled, and grey hairs were
on my head‖, it also means the dreamer has moved on from her childhood love.
4.1.2 The Lamb
'The Lamb' is a short poem written by William Blake, an English poet from his book
the songs of innocence in 1789. The Lamb consists of 2 stanzas and 21 lines. The lamb is
the symbol of Jesus. The traditional image of Jesus as a lamb underscores the Christian
values of gentleness, meekness, and peace. The image of the child is also associated with
Jesus: in the Gospel, Jesus displays a special solicitude for children, and the Bible‘s
depiction of Jesus in his childhood shows him as guileless and vulnerable.
Little Lamb who made thee
Little Lamb who made thee
Dost thou know who made thee
Gave thee life & bid thee feed.
By the stream & o'er the mead;
Gave thee clothing of delight,
Softest clothing wooly bright;
Gave thee such a tender voice,
Making all the vales rejoice!
Little Lamb who made thee
Dost thou know who made thee
(Stanza 1, line 1-11)
In this first stanza, the speaker calls and asks the lamb ―little lamb who made
thee?‖ and the speaker keeps asking the lamb ―Dost thou know who made thee?‖ who gave
you life and feed you. The speaker talks to the lamb as if it could understand him, in these
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lines through being called ―little‖ the lamb domesticated and treated like a pet. In the sixth
line, the lamb is personified as having clothing of delight, which is actually just its wool
and the lamb makes sounds and its tender voice makes all of the valley rejoice ―making all
the valley rejoice‖, these lines described something beyond the capacity of the Lamb as an
animal. In the two last lines the speaker repeated to the little lamb the same questions about
the creator of the lamb ―little lamb who made thee‖, ―Dost thou know who made thee‖. In
this first stanza, there is no clear statement who the lamb is.
‗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 & he is mild,
He became a little child:
I a child & thou a lamb,
We are called by his name.
Little Lamb God bless thee.
Little Lamb God bless thee.
(Stanza 2, line 12-21)
In this stanza the speaker announces that he will tell the lamb who its creator is
―little lamb I‘ll tell thee‖, the speaker describes there‘s an identification of the lamb,
Christ, and the child. Christ has another name that is Lamb ―he is called by thy name‖,
because Christ is meek and mild like lamb ―he is meek and he is mild‖. Christ was also a
child when he first appeared on this earth as the son of God ―He became a little child‖
and it is written on the bible (Mark 1:1 ―The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the
son of God‖, Acts 9:20 ―And straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, that he
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is the son of God‖). The child shows his deep joy in the company of the lamb who is just
like Him, meek and mild. In the bible, Jesus is called the 'Lamb of God, (John 1:36 ―
And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, behold the Lamb of God.‖ , John 1:29
―The next day John seeth Jesus coming onto him, and saith, behold the Lamb of God,
which taketh the sin of the world.‖, Revelation 21:22 ―And there shall be no more
curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servant shall serve
them.‖) The symbolism of the animal chosen in the poem is very obvious. Blake also
names the similarities between the lamb and the Lord: their name, meekness, and
mildness. The poem ends with one more two –lines refrain in which the child blesses the
Lamb.
4.1.3 The Tyger
The Tyger" is a poem by the English poet William Blake published in 1794 as
part of the Songs of Experience collection. The Cambridge Companion to William
Blake says it is "the most anthologized poem in English. The Tyger consists of 6 stanzas
and 25 lines. The Tyger is the symbol of God‘s power in creation, it can be related to
Satan or devil.
Tyger Tyger, burning bright,
In the forests of the night;
What immortal hand or eye,
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
(Stanza 1, line 1-4)
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The poem begins with the repetition of the name ―Tyger, Tyger, burning
bright‖, the repetition create a chant which contributes to the mysteriousness, since
the tigers don‘t burn, the ―burning bright‖ may describe the appearance of the tiger (
tigers have fiery orange fur) . In the third line Blake uses ―what immortal hand or
eye‖ which are the symbol of sight and creation which conjure the image of creative
God, and the last line of this stanza shows the scariness of the tiger, ―fearful
symmetry‖ and how the creator of the tiger could frame the tiger ―Could frame thy
fearful symmetry? ―,‖ frame‖ here is keeping the tiger.
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?
(Stanza 2, line 5-8)
In this stanza the poet asks where the tiger was created, the use of ―distant,
deeps or skies‖ seems to refer to an otherworldly (―distant‖) place, it may be hell
(―deeps‖) and heaven (―skies‘) and the poet keep asking about the creator of the tiger by
using ―On what wings dare he aspire? What the hand, dare seize the fire?‖
And what shoulder, & what art,
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand? & what dread feet?
(Stanza 3, line 9-12)
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In this stanza, the poet continues the question of who or what the creator of the
tiger, what ―shoulder‖ means what kind of bodily strength could create the tyger? and
―what art‖ refers to the skill that could put the tyger all together. And Blake keep
wondering what is the creator of the tyger by using the mysterious and powerful ability
―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!
(Stanza 4, line 13-16)
This stanza is the further question how the tyger was created, Blake uses the
blacksmith such as ―hammer‖, ―furnace‖, and ―anvil‖ (the blacksmith used to describe
the power of the tyger) to questioning how the tyger was created.
When the stars threw down their spears
And water'd heaven with their tears:
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the Lamb make thee?
(Stanza 5, line 17-20)
―When the stars threw down their spears, and water‘d heaven with their tears‖
these lines are the most clearly ―Christian‖ it may refer to the casting down of the angels
after Satan rebelled against God (these sentences related to the illustration of the
paradise lost that has been made by William Blake).
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Paradise lost by William Blake
Satan
Arousing the
Rebel Angels
Satan, Sin,
and Death:
Satan Comes
to the Gates
of Hell
The same ―He‖ reappears here as in line 7, but in much more Christian setting.
Most closely referencing to the God, and the ―Lamb‖ in the 20th
line is a traditional
Christian symbol of Jesus Christ (see the symbol analysis of ―The Lamb‖). In this stanza
Blake tries to guess who made the tyger, was it God who create the Lamb (Jesus) created
the tyger too? ―did he who made the lamb made thee?‖, and the poet also asks did the
creator happy for what he created? ―Did he smile his work to see?‖
Tyger Tyger burning bright,
In the forests of the night
What immortal hand or eye,
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?
(Stanza 6, line 21-24)
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In this stanza echoes the first, this repetition may be like a refrain or like song‘s
chorus, but in this stanza Blake switches ―could‖ to ―dare‖, now, instead of questioning
the ability of the creator, Blake questions his (the creator) nerve, Blake seems to
challenge the courage of whatever or whoever tried or tries to contain (―frame‖) the big,
powerful, mysteriousness of the tyger.
4.1.4 Hear The Voices of The Bard
Hear the voice of the Bard is an Introduction to the Songs of Experience , it is
written by the English poet William Blake. It was etched and published as part of his
collection Songs of Innocence and of Experience in 1794. According to kinds of poem,
this poem is pastoral a poem (this poem deals with shepherd), it consists of 5 stanzas and
20 lines. The symbol of this poem is The Bard which much like God can foresee the
future. When Adam and Eve ware evicted from the Garden of Eden, Christ wept for
them. The Bard or the prophet is compassionate and tries to awaken Earth. Darkness and
night have enveloped the Earth. However, the bard asserts the glory. Similar to Christ‘s
call for the lapsed soul, the bard calls the doomed earth.
Here the voice of the Bard!
Who Present, Past, & Future sees
Whose ears have heard,
The Holy Word,
That walk‘d among the ancient trees
(Stanza 1, line 1-5)
This stanza tells about the bard ―the bard‖ means the poet who is able to see the
past, present and the future ―who present, past and future sees‖. And thus he is a prophet
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or a seer. The Bard also can hear the voice of God and ―ancient tree‖ probably means the
trees in garden Eden (Eden is known as a beautiful garden where Adam and Eve used to
lived)
Calling the lapsed soul,
And weeping in the evening dew;
That might control
The starry pole.
And fallen, fallen light renew!
(Stanza 2, line 6-10)
In this stanza tells that the poet has a great faithful to God, so he calls ― calling
the lapsed sol‖ the failed people (unfaithful people or the sinners) to repent to their
gracious God . This poet cries every evening ―and weeping in the evening dew‖ when he
touches the power of God in controlling the world, and when he sees the dew. Also,
when he looked at the starry sky, when he thinks about the two poles of the earth, and
when he sees the other of the days and night, he feels that God has already given us
evidence to obey His orders.
O Earth, O Earth, return!
Arise from out the dewy grass
Night is worn,
And the morn
Rises from slumberous mass
(Stanza 2, line 11-15)
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In the first line in this stanza the poet shouts to the people in on earth ―O Earth, O
Earth, return!‖, and then he tells about the sequence of the day and the night how
beautiful is this when the night is going back because of his tiredness, ―And the morn,
―Rises from slumberous mass‖ means the morn gets up from its sleepy condition and the
day is waking up from sleepy situation to obey the order of their creator.
Turn away no more:
Why wild thou turn away
The starry floor
The watery shore
Is given thee the break of day
(Stanza 4, line 16-20)
―Turn away no more‖ here means the earth is insensitive to the call of the bard
―why wild thou turn away‖ after all the things that the Bard told about the greatness of
the creator of this world . And in the end of the stanza the poet ends with the question ―is
given thee break of day‖ which probably means to dare the earth (the people) think about
how the day breaks the darkness? If he is not gracious God who created it.
4.1.5 A Poison Tree
A Poison Tree‖ is one of the lesser-known of the twenty-six poems William
Blake published in 1793 as Songs of Experience. This poem consists of 4 stanzas and 16
lines. A poison tree is about the anger. It describes the speaker‘s repressed feelings of
anger towards an individual emotion which eventually lead to murder. The poem
explores themes of indignation, revenge, and more generally the fallen state of mankind.
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I was angry with my friend;
I told my wrath, my wrath did end.
I was angry with my foe:
I told it not, my wrath did grow.
(Stanza 1, line 1-4)
This stanza the speaker tells that he was angry to his friend ―I angry with my
friend‖, and he tells his wrath and his wrath did end, and then the speaker states he
was angry with his foe ―I was angry with my foe‖ but he refuses to tell his ―foe‖
about his anger ―I told it not, my wrath did grow‖ ―grow‖ in this line doesn‘t mean
grow like a plant but it means his anger becomes greater.
And I waterd it in fears,
Night & morning with my tears:
And I sunned it with smiles,
And with soft deceitful wiles.
(Stanza 2, line5-8)
―And I waterd it in fears‖ The speaker waters his anger, water here is not literally
water, but it is a metaphor for the cultivation of anger because this poem is not about the
plant but about the anger, and in the second line the speaker tells how sad he is ―night
and morning with my tears‖ but he hides it with smile and pretends that he is fine ―and I
sunned it with smile‖
And it grew both day and night.
Till it bore an apple bright.
And my foe beheld it shine,
And he knew that it was mine.
(Stanza 3, line 9-12)
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The first line in this stanza tells how his anger grows ―day and night‖ here means
there‘s no pause or stop in the process of growing wrath, it shows how addicted the
speaker to his own wrath is and then in ―till it bore an apple bright‖ sentence, apple is a
symbol of irresistible of temptation, it‘s the fruit of wrath. When the tree is well-
maintained and grows up, it bears good fruit. However that tree is a poisonous tree, so
the fruit becomes poisonous fruit as well, and bright in ―apple bright‖ is a symbol of
precious and valuable, it explains that the wrath of the person has been packed as if it‘s
good and pleasant thing to trap the foe. In the third line ―and my foe beheld it shine‖ in
this sentence show that the person‘s foe wants to try it more because shine here means
that his foe likes to see the tempting apple and the foe knows that the apple is belong to
the person (someone who has the apple).
And into my garden stole,
When the night had veild the pole;
In the morning glad I see;
My foe outstretched beneath the tree.
(Stanza 4, line 13-16)
My garden is the symbol of the person‘s area. It‘s like his life, where the area has
many kinds of trees. It can be the good ones and the poisonous one. When his foe enters
to his garden, it means he annoys his life again, but now the foe does it by purpose, to
steal the beautifully-packaged wrath, stole means that the foe comes secretly to the
garden when night and nobody see it, it‘s like when someone have know that we mad at
him or her but they keep annoying our and they do it secretly or nobody knows about it.
―In the morning glad I see‖ in the morning here means the new life or the new hope.
Here the person gets his hope to see his trap was working, morning also the metaphor for
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something bright and clear, and the last line in this stanza ―my foe outstretched beneath
the tree‖ outstretched means die, die here doesn‘t mean that the foe is really dead
physically, the tree and the apple are creations which are created by the person but not in
his reality world, it seems like happening in his mind, his imagination as the result of his
wrath to kill his foe.
4.1.6 The Divine Image
The divine image is a poem by the English poet William Blake from his
book Songs of Innocence (1789), not to be confused with "A Divine Image" from Songs
of Experience (1794). It was later included in his joint collection Songs of Innocence and
of Experience (1794). In this poem Blake pictures his view of an ideal world in which
the four traditionally Christian virtues–Mercy, Pity, Peace and Love–are found in the
human's heart and stand for God's support and comfort. Joy and gratitude are sentiments
expressed through prayer for the caring and blessing of an infallible almighty God and
are shared by all men on Earth encompassing a sense of equality and mutual respect. The
title of the poem refers to the Book of Genesis Chapter 1 verse 26: 'and God said: Let us
make man in our image'.
To Mercy Pity Peace and Love,
All pray in their distress:
And to these virtues of delight
Return their thankfulness.
(Stanza 1, line 1-4)
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In this stanza the speaker tells about the characteristics of Man, The personified
figures of Mercy, Pity, Peace, and Love in the first line are listed as the four ―virtues of
delight (Refers to goodness) with these virtues, man can become an avatar of God. The
speaker states that all people who are emotionally, physically suffering (distress), they
pray for forgiveness, sympathy, and affection ―All pray in their distress‖ (To Mercy,
Pity, Peace and Love) and when their prayers answered, they give gratitude in response
as a return for their thankfulness.
For Mercy Pity Peace and Love,
Is God our father dear:
And Mercy Pity Peace and Love,
Is Man his child and care.
(Stanza 2, line 5-8)
In the second stanza, the speaker asserts that all the qualities that has just
enumerated are to be identified ―God‖, our father dear, I think the word ―father‖ in the
second line of this stanza leads to the father as Christian‘s belief in God trinity, (God as
the Father, Son and Holy Ghost), it mentions in the bible in Matthew 28:19 ―Go ye
therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Ghost‖ and in John 14:26 ―But the Comforter, [which is] the Holy
Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring
all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you‖, and so does the last
line, it tells about God as a Son (child), as the bible says in John 3:16 ― For God so
loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not
perish but have eternal life‖, this paragraph is related to the last line of this stanza God as
son who cares about human‘s sin so that He gave His only son to redeem our sins, the
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Son here also known as ―Jesus Chris), ―And mercy, pity, peach and love, is man his
child and care‖
For Mercy has a human heart
Pity, a human face:
And Love, the human form divine,
And Peace, the human dress.
(Stanza 3, line 9-12)
In the third stanza, the speaker goes further in identifying these traits with human
beings. The speaker claims that Mercy, Pity, Peace, Love are also equivalent to Man,
mercy is found in the human heart, Pity in the human face; Peace is a garment that
envelops humans, and Love exists in the human ―form‖ or body, I think ―Human form
divine‖ here refers to Jesus Christ or God as a Son, since Jesus is both God and Man
according to Christian.
Then every man of every clime,
That prays in his distress,
Prays to the human form divine
Love Mercy Pity Peace
(Stanza 4, line 13-16).
In this stanza the speaker tells that anyone who prays for (and to) love, mercy,
pity, and peace in his distress actually prays to Christ (who was both God and man and
thus can reasonably be described as ―the human form divine according to standard of
Christian.), who is the epitome of all those virtues (love, mercy, pity and peace).
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And all must love the human form,
In heathen, turk or jew.
Where Mercy, Love & Pity dwell,
There God is dwelling too.
(Stanza 5, line 16-20)
In this poem‘s final stanza, the speaker asserts that people must or should love in
all human beings any evidence of the virtues he has been celebrating, whether those
virtues appear in another Christian or even ―In heathen (refers to people who does not
follow one of the major world religions), Turk (Turkic peoples), or Jew (Jewish
people).‖ Many Christians in Blake‘s period were disdainful of people who were not
Christians. Blake tells that God can be seen reflected in the goodness of any person who
is good, ―where mercy, love pity dwell, there God is dwelling too‖
4.1.7 Jerusalem
William Blake published his literary classic, Jerusalem in 1804. The poem
consists of 4 stanzas and 16 lines. Jerusalem was inspired from a mythical legend of a
young Jesus on shores of England.. The myth is linked to a biblical verse in Book of
Revelations where Jesus supposedly creates a second Jerusalem, The Book of
Revelation (3:12 and 21:2) describing a Second Coming, wherein Jesus establishes a
New Jerusalem. Jerusalem is a metaphor for Heaven, a place of universal love and
peace.
And did those feet in ancient time
Walk upon England's mountains green?
And was the holy Lamb of God
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On England's pleasant pastures seen?
(Stanza 1, line 1-4)
In this first stanza, the speaker opens the poem with a question ―did those feet in
ancient time‖, and then shows up with ―walk upon England‘s mountain green?‖, so, the
speaker asks did those feet walked upon England‘s mountain green? (The writer have no
idea ―whose feet‖ that the speaker is talking about yet). In the third line the speaker now
asks was the ―holy Lamb of God‖ was on England‘s pleasant pastures seen? What and
who is the ―Holy Lamb of God‖ in this third line means? According to the bible in John
1:29 ("Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!") and Christian
belief, Lamb of God refers to Jesus Christ. So, the speaker asks was Jesus feet whose
walk upon England‘s mountain green in the ancient time?
And did the Countenance Divine
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
And was Jerusalem builded here
Among these dark Satanic Mills?
(Stanza 2, line 5-8)
In the second stanza, the speaker continues with the question ―did the
countenance divine shone upon England‘s clouded hills?‖ The word ―countenance‖ is
another word for face, so the speaker is asking if Jesus‘divine face showed among
English‘s cloudy hills, this is just another way of the speaker of asking what the speaker
already asked before ―Did you, divine Lamb of God who showed yourself in England in
ancient times?‖ the speaker imagines Jesus‘ face as bright and shiny (contrast to
typically coldly, gloomy English landscape). In the seventh line, the speaker asks a
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question that is not a version of ―did Jesus come to England?‖ He wonders if Jerusalem
was built here, in England, among these dark Satanic Mills, I think the word ―Jerusalem‖
here is not the city of Israel, the speaker talks about the biblical new Jerusalem described
in ―Chapter 21 of the Book of Revelation‖ (at the end the earth will be destroyed. A
new heaven and earth will be built and a holy, divine city will descend from the sky that
is called the New Jerusalem). In most of Blake‘s poetry, Jerusalem represents some
future, ideal world of peace and harmony where all visions are healed and discord is no
more, and ―satanic mills‖ are the words for all sorts of evil work, so, the speaker
wonders if there was ever heaven on earth in England back in ancient times, and if it was
possible that Jesus would have visited such a Satanic place as England.
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!
(Stanza 3, line 9-12)
The speaker seems fire up after talk about Satanic mills, he is so fire up, it sounds
he is ready for battle, he asks for ―Bow of burning gold‖ and his ―arrow of desire‖, what
damage is the speaker going to do with bow of burning gold? The word ―Bow of burning
gold‖ is an illustration the speaker made, it appears to be ―burning‖ because it so bright
and shiny like a gold. The super bow comes complete with some arrows made of desire,
maybe the arrows belong to the speaker‘s desire or in the arrows he desires. In the
eleventh line the speaker also wants a spear to go with his arrow and bow, he wants the
clouds to unfold to bring him his ―chariot of fire‖ this stanza has similar story in the
bible (2 kings 2 1-11) the story of ―Elijah‖. Elijah is one of mega-prophets of the old
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testament who ascends to heaven with a chariot of fire, I think the speaker claims
himself as Elijah, the speaker uses all of his weapon, even fire to destroy the evils around
him (much like the story of Elijah who has the power and ability to do these because he
is one of God‘s chosen prophets).
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
(Stanza 4, line 13-16)
In this final stanza, the speaker begins by saying ―he won‘t cease from mental
fight‖ the point about ―mental fight‖ is that there is non-violent ways to launch a
revolution to do away all the bad stuff in the world, and then the speaker makes his
commitment clear, his sword not sleep until Jerusalem is built (again) in England‘s green
and pleasant land (the whole process of building Jerusalem again is a metaphor for
changing the world for better), the word ―we‖ in ―till we have built Jerusalem‖ it may
refers to the revolutionary band, they are going to make the future just like the past so
that Jerusalem is one again in England.
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CHAPTER V
CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION
5.1 Conclusion
Symbol is a representation of meaning through another of expression. It refers to
connotative expression for conveying ideas or feelings. One of meaning through symbol
could be personal or even general. It is personal because it deals with a person‘s
expression personally upon a symbol she or he uses; while it is general when the symbol
is well known general.
In the seven poems of William Blake, the spiritual symbols are very obvious,
where there are the elements of divinity that descended to humans through the symbols.
In William Blake‘s selected poems there are spiritual symbols, they are:
1. The Angel is the symbol of the messenger of God or the divinity creature. In this
poem Blake uses the divine images to describe the angel such as‖ Guarded by an
Angel mild, Witless woe was ne'er beguiled! And he wiped my tears away‖.
Those sentences show how angel can do things like God can do.
2. Lamb is symbol of Jesus Christ as written on the bible. In this poem Blake
wondered about who made the Lamb (Jesus Christ). Beside ―The Lamb‖ there is
also another spiritual symbol such as: child, child here refers to Jesus when he
appears to this world as a child (son of God).
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3. Tiger is a symbol of God‘s power in creation. The key image is the tiger as seen
by Blake‘s poetic imagination : ―fearful‖, symmentry‖, burning, ―bright‖, ―fire‖,
―hammer‖, ―chain‖, ―furnance‖, ―anvil. The blacksmith ( hammer, chain,
furnance and anvil) that Blake used in this poem is a symbol of the power of the
tyger, and another spiritual symbols in this poem are ―deeps‖ means hell, ―skies‖
means heaven, and ―Lamb‖ means Jesus.
4. In the ―Hear the voice of the Bard‖ poem the Bard much like the God can foresee
the future. When Adam and Eve were evicted from the Garden of Eden, Christ
wept for them. The Bard or the prophet is compassionate and tries to awaken
Earth. Darkness and night have enveloped the Earth. However, the bard asserts
the glory and regaining of the lost splendor upon the harboring of the rays of the
sun. Similar to Christ‘s call for the lapsed soul, the bard calls the doomed earth.
The spiritual symbol that can be found in this poem is ―the ancient tree‖ which
means garden Eden.
5. A poison tree a symbol of Wrath (anger) and desire to triumph over enemies; the
dark side of human nature and ―the apple‖ is a symbol of irresistible of
temptation, it‘s the fruit of wrath. This poem talks about the anger towards an
individual emotion which eventually leads to murder.
6. The Divine image poem tells about human who come to God when they in a bad
condition, they ask forgiveness and sympathy from God, and when their prayers
answered they give gratitude as a return for their thankfulness. The divine image
refers to virtues of delight (Mercy, Pity, Peace, and Love) these are symbol of
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Human form divine (Jesus Christ) and (people who have these virtues can
become an avatar of God.
7. Jerusalem is the symbol of a new better world which Blake hopes will be built
again in England as the ancient time before. Blake implies that a visit by Jesus
would briefly create heaven in England, in contrast to the "dark Satanic Mills" of
the Industrial Revolution. Blake's poem asks four questions rather than asserting
the historical truth of Christ's visit. Thus the poem merely implies that there may,
or may not, have been a divine visit, when there was briefly heaven in England.
William Blake‘s poems that has been analyzed consist of conventional symbols and
personal symbols, it can be seen from the way he expressed his idea such as ―The Lamb‖
for Christian people the Lamb is known as Jesus Christ because it is written on the bible
and ―The Angel‖ most of people know that the angels is the messenger God or the divine
creator of God. In The Tyger, Here the voice of the Bard, a poison tree, the divine image
and Jerusalem poems William Blake uses personal symbol to describe the spirituality in
his poems.
5.2 Suggestion
A literary must be analyzed and interpreted, so we can understand and get the
meaning of it, so many elements which can be analyzed and interpreted, such as, in the
poem, we can analyze the symbols in the poem. Analyzed the symbol in a poem is very
good because we effort to found what the real meaning of the symbol. So, we didn‘t only
use our imagination to give the meaning of the symbol we must be easy to understand all
the body of poem. I hope that the analysis will be useful especially for the student of
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collages and the readers get the knowledge and good information after reading it. As the
analysis only focuses on the spiritual symbols in William Blake‘s poems. Finally, I
realize that I need the critics and comments from the read
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REFERENCES
Abrams M.H. 1981. A Glosarry of Literary Terms. New York: Hold, Rinehart and
Winson.
Bloomfield, Leonard. 1993. Language. New York: Hold, Rinehart
Bradshaw, David and Dettmar, J.H. 2006. Modernist Literature and Culture. UK:
Willey – Blackwell.
Culler, Jonathan. 1997. Literary Theory. New York: Oxford University Press.
Contents of the Bible in the poems Retrieved from https://www.bible.com/
Eastwood, John. 2000. Oxford Learner’s Pocket Dictionary. London: Oxford
University Press.
Endraswara, Suwandi. 2003. Metodologi Penelitian Sastra. Yogyakart: MedPress.
Fathoni, Abdurahmat. 2006. Metode Penelitian dan Tehnik Penyusunan Skripsi.
Jakarta: Rineka Cipta.
Irawan, Hadi. 2012. An Analysis of Non Literal Meanings in Edward Stellin
Cummings‘s Selected Poems. Medan: Fakultas Sastra USU
Kaban, Aventa Raskita. 2003. A Study of Symbols Viewed From Athol Fugard‘s Master
Harold And The Boys. Medan. University of North Sumatra
Kasim, Rajali. 2007. Introduction to Literature. Medan. University of North Sumatra
Katz, J.J 1972. Semantic Theory. New York: Harper & Row, Publisher
Kennedy, X.J. 1991. Literature An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry and Drama.
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London: Harper Collins Publisher.
Kaban, Aventa Raskita. 2003. A Study of Symbols Viewed from Athol Fugard’s Master
Harold And The Boys. Medan. University of North Sumatra
Keraf, Goris. 1991. Diksi dan Gaya Bahasa. Jakarta: Gramedia Pustaka
Leech, Geofrey. 2003. Semantik. Yogyakarta: Pustaka Belajar.
Lyons, John.1977. Semantics I. London: Cambridge University Press.
Martin, H & P.C. Wren. 1990. High School English Grammar and Comparison.
Nawawi, Hadari.1991. Metode Penelitian Bidang Sosial.Yogyakarta: Gajah Mada
University Press.
Hamlyn. 1998. Literature. Great Britain: Reed Consumer Books Limited. Kalaidjian,
Walter."Theodore Roethke's Life and Career." American National
Pardede, Martha. 2009. Understanding Poetry. Medan.
Peck, John and Coyle, Martin. 1984. Literary Terms and Criticism. London: Macmillan
Education
Rogers, Pat. 1987. The Oxford Illustrated History of English Literature. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
Schleiermacher, F.D.E. 1768-1834. Hemeneutics And Criticism And Other Writings.
Halle University
Selden, Raman, Widdowson, Peter and Brooker, Peter. 1997. A Reader’s Guide to
Contemporary Literary Theory. England: Prentice Hall A Pearson Education
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Siswanto, Wahyudi. 2008. Pengantar Teori Sastra. Jakarta: PT Grasindo.
Smith, Stan. 1983. 20th Century Poetry. London: Macmillan Press Ltd.
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Taylor. Richard. 1981. Understanding of Elements of Literature. Hongkong: The
Macmillan Press Ltd.
The biography of Willaim Blake Retrieved from
http://www.biography.com/people/william-blake-9214491
The meaning of spirituality Retrieved from: http://www.dummies.com/how-
to/content/exploring-the-meaning-of-spirituality.html
Warren, Austin and Wellek, Rene. 1956. Theory of Literature. Harcourt: Brace &
World.
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APPENDIX
1.1 The Biography of William Blake
Born in 1757 in London, England, William Blake began writing at an early age and claimed
to have had his first vision, of a tree full of angels, at age 10. He studied engraving and grew to
love Gothic art, which he incorporated into his own unique works. A misunderstood poet, artist
and visionary throughout much of his life, Blake found admirers late in life and has been vastly
influential since his death in 1827.
William Blake only briefly attended school, being chiefly educated at home by his
mother. The Bible had an early, profound influence on Blake, and it would remain a lifetime
source of inspiration, coloring his life and works with intense spirituality. At an early age, Blake
began experiencing visions, and his friend and journalist Henry Crabb Robinson wrote that Blake
saw God's head appear in a window when Blake was 4 years old. He also allegedly saw the
prophet Ezekiel under a tree and had a vision of "a tree filled with angels." Blake's visions would
have a lasting effect on the art and writings that he produced.
Blake was devastated by the review and lack of attention to his works, and, subsequently,
he withdrew more and more from any attempt at success. From 1809 to 1818, he engraved few
plates (there is no record of Blake producing any commercial engravings from 1806 to 1813). He
also sank deeper into poverty, obscurity and paranoia.
In 1819, however, Blake began sketching a series of "visionary heads," claiming that the
historical and imaginary figures that he depicted actually appeared and sat for him. By 1825,
Blake had sketched more than 100 of them, including those of Solomon and Merlin the magician
and those included in "The Man Who Built the Pyramids" and "Harold Killed at the Battle of
Hastings"; along with the most famous visionary head, that included in Blake's "The Ghost of a
Flea."Remaining artistically busy, between 1823 and 1825, Blake engraved 21 designs for an
illustrated Book of Job (from the Bible) and Dante's Inferno. In 1824, he began a series of 102
watercolor illustrations of Dante—a project that would be cut short by Blake's death in 1827.
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In the final years of his life, William Blake suffered from recurring bouts of an
undiagnosed disease that he called "that sickness to which there is no name." He died on August
12, 1827, leaving unfinished watercolor illustrations to Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress and an
illuminated manuscript of the Bible's Book of Genesis. In death, as in life, Blake received short
shrift from observers, and obituaries tended to underscore his personal idiosyncrasies at the
expense of his artistic accomplishments. The Literary Chronicle, for example, described him as
"one of those ingenious persons ... whose eccentricities were still more remarkable than their
professional abilities."Unappreciated in life, William Blake has since become a giant in literary
and artistic circles, and his visionary approach to art and writing have not only spawned
countless, spellbound speculations about Blake, they have inspired a vast array of artists and
writers.
2.2 The Selected Poems of William Blake
2.2.1 The Angel
I dreamt a dream!
What can it mean?
And that I was a maiden Queen
Guarded by an Angel mild:
Witless woe was ne'er beguiled!
And I wept both night and day,
And he wiped my tears away;
And I wept both day and night,
And hid from him my heart's delight.
So he took his wings, and fled;
Then the morn blushed rosy red.
I dried my tears, and armed my fears
With ten thousand shields and spears.
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Soon my Angel came again;
I was armed, he came in vain;
For the time of youth was fled,
And grey hairs were on my head
2.2.2 The Lamb
Little Lamb who made thee
Little Lamb who made thee
Dost thou know who made thee
Gave thee life & bid thee feed.
By the stream & o'er the mead;
Gave thee clothing of delight,
Softest clothing wooly 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 & he is mild,
He became a little child:
I a child & thou a lamb,
We are called by his name.
Little Lamb God bless thee.
Little Lamb God bless thee.
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2.2.3 The Tyger
Tyger Tyger, burning bright,
In the forests of the night;
What immortal hand or eye,
Could frame thy fearful 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, & what art,
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand? & 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 water'd heaven with their tears:
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the Lamb make thee?
Tyger Tyger burning bright,
In the forests of the night:
What immortal hand or eye,
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry
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2.3.4 Here the voice of the Bard -Books
Hear the voice of the Bard !
Who present, past, and future sees;
Whose ears have heard
The Holy Word,
That walked among the ancient trees,
Calling the lapsed soul,
And weeping in the evening dew;
That might control
The starry pole,
And fallen, fallen, light renew!
'O Earth, O Earth, return!
Arise from out the dewy grass;
Night is worn,
And the morn
Rises from the slumberous mass.
'Turn away no more;
Why wilt thou turn away?
The starry floor,
The watery shore,
Is given thee till the break of day.'
2.2.5 A Poison Tree
I was angry with my friend;
I told my wrath, my wrath did end.
I was angry with my foe:
I told it not, my wrath did grow.
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And I waterd it in fears,
Night & morning with my tears:
And I sunned it with smiles,
And with soft deceitful wiles.
And it grew both day and night.
Till it bore an apple bright.
And my foe beheld it shine,
And he knew that it was mine.
And into my garden stole,
When the night had veild the pole;
In the morning glad I see;
My foe outstretched beneath the tree.
2.2 6 The divine image
To Mercy, Pity, Peace, and Love
All pray in their distress;
And to these virtues of delight
Return their thankfulness.
For Mercy, Pity, Peace, and Love
Is God, our father dear,
And Mercy, Pity, Peace, and Love
Is Man, his child and care.
For Mercy has a human heart,
Pity a human face,
And Love, the human form divine,
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And Peace, the human dress.
Then every man, of every clime,
That prays in his distress,
Prays to the human form divine,
Love, Mercy, Pity, Peace.
And all must love the human form,
In heathen, Turk, or Jew;
Where Mercy, Love, and Pity dwell
There God is dwelling too
2.2.7 Jerusalem
And did those feet in ancient time
Walk upon Englands mountains green:
And was the holy Lamb of God,
On Englands 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!
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I will not cease from Mental Fight,
Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand:
Till we have built Jerusalem,
In Englands green & pleasant Land
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