William Blake: Poetry – Reading & Analysis (Playlist) – The Educational Hub: Bringing joy to education

Subject Matter: evil, experience, God, good, innocence, nature, vision

Structure: Various

The Tiger, The Lamb & The Marriage of Heaven and Hell: Introduction to the poems of William Blake #1

An introduction to William Blake's central philosophy of contraries and how it shapes all his poetry. This video sets up a series analyzing Blake's poems through the lens of his ...belief that "Without contraries is no progression" - that opposing forces are essential to human existence and creativity.
Drawing on Blake's own words from "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell" (1790-93), I explore how he saw attraction and repulsion, reason and energy, love and hate, good and evil, heaven and hell as necessary contraries. The video introduces the famous pairing of "The Lamb" and "The Tyger" as an example of how Blake expresses these opposing states throughout his Songs of Innocence and of Experience (1794).

What's covered:

Blake's philosophy of contraries from "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell"
The balance of positive and negative elements in poetry
Introduction to Songs of Innocence and of Experience
Preview of the analytical approach used throughout this series

Who it's for:

For students beginning to study Blake, A-Level/university literature courses, or anyone who wants to understand the philosophical foundation behind Blake's most famous poems.

0:00 Intro
0:12 Blake and the balancing of opposites
0:42: "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell"
1:20 "Songs of Innocence and of Experience"
1:30 "The Lamb" and "The Tiger"
2:34 Conclusion

This is the first of a series of videos on the poetry of William Blake (1757-1827). In this introductory video I focus on the way Blake emphasizes opposites, referring to Blake's "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell" ("without contraries is no progression") and to "The Lamb" and "The Tyger", two poems in "The Songs of Innocence and of Experience" (1794).

In this series, I will be analyzing a number of Blake's poems in detail, focusing mainly on the contrasting opposites in his poetry. Playlist link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQtMDbUsOwY&list=PLzVb6yL_jY69kJRNsa_3wE54b8Tf8jp-b&index=2

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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?

The Lamb

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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The Tiger, The Lamb & The Marriage of Heaven and Hell: Introduction to the poems of William Blake #1

An introduction to William Blake's central philosophy of contraries ...

"Never seek to tell thy love". Reading and analysis. Introduction to the poetry of William Blake # 2

A close reading of William Blake's "Never seek to tell thy love" (also ...

A close reading of William Blake's "Never seek to tell thy love" (also known as "Love's Secret"), exploring how the poem operates on multiple levels of opposition: love versus telling ...love, action versus words, silence versus sound. This analysis demonstrates Blake's philosophy of contraries in action.
Working through the poem stanza by stanza, I examine how Blake presents love as a silent, invisible force like the wind, while "telling" love leads to loss and departure. The analysis reveals deeper layers: the verb "told" as a homophone for "tolled" (like a funeral bell), the older meaning of "tell" as "count" or "measure," and the connection to Cordelia in Shakespeare's King Lear - who also refused to measure out her love in words.

What's covered:

The central opposition: love (positive) vs telling love (negative)
Action and movement vs words and speech
Multiple meanings of "tell" and "told"
Blake's friend Fuseli's King Lear painting and its possible influence
How Blake uses verb analysis to reveal meaning

Part of a series on Blake's philosophy of contraries. Next: "A Poison Tree" and the consequences of not telling.

How it's for:

For students studying Blake's Songs of Innocence and Experience, A-Level/university literature courses, or anyone interested in multi-layered poetic analysis.

0:00 Intro
0:30 Never seek to tell thy love: A reading
1:14 Love (positive); telling love (negative)
1:58 Expressing vs. telling
2:09 Looking at the verbs
2:50 Action vs. words
3:05 "Told" and "tolled"
3:35 Telling and counting
4:00 Cordelia in King Lear
4:18 Fuseli's painting
4:29 Conclusion

In this second video in the series on Blake's poetry I examine the way in which Blake creates a contrast between words and action in his deceptively simple poem, "Never seek to tell your love", sometimes known as "Love's secret".

The first video in the series can be found here: https://youtu.be/WXBXodU5qKI

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Never seek to tell thy love
Love that never told can be
For the gentle wind does move
Silently invisibly

I told my love I told my love
I told her all my heart
Trembling cold in ghastly fears
Ah she doth depart

Soon as she was gone from me
A traveller came by
Silently invisibly
He took her with a sighShow More

Reading and analysis of "A poison tree". Introduction to the poetry of William Blake. PART 3

A close reading of William Blake's "A Poison Tree" that challenges ...

A close reading of William Blake's "A Poison Tree" that challenges conventional interpretations. Most critics read this as a warning against repressing anger - but does Blake actually praise the ...narrator who nurtures wrath and defeats his foe? This analysis explores the poem's deliberate ambiguity.

Building on the previous video (on "Never seek to tell thy love") I examine how Blake again contrasts telling (which ends things) with acting (which makes things grow). But this time the question is more troubling: should we express anger through action rather than words? The analysis considers Blake's support for the French Revolution, his praise of "tigers of wrath" in "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell," and his sympathy for Satan in the Garden of Eden story.

What's covered:

Telling vs expressing, words vs action (continued from previous video)
The conventional reading vs Blake's actual philosophy
Historical context: The French Revolution and Blake's politics
The Garden of Eden imagery and Blake's sympathy for Satan
Why the poem's ambiguity matters - great literature asks questions, not answers

Part of a series on Blake's philosophy of contraries. Follows "Never seek to tell thy love."

Who it's for:

Perfect for students studying Blake's Songs of Experience, A-Level/university literature courses, or anyone interested in how poems can resist simple moral interpretations.

0:00 Intro
0:10 A poison tree: A reading
1:10 Telling brings things to an end
1:20 Action vs telling
1:34 Ending and perpetuating anger
1:44 Telling as a negative quality
1:56 Telling in "A poison tree"
2:08 The narrator is glad about defeating a foe
2:18 Expressing one's feelings
2:31 A warning against repressed anger?
2:48 Expressing through action, not words
3:25 Expressing both positive and negative feelings
3:51 The French Revolution
4:10 "The tigers of wrath"
4:26 Necessary enmity
4:40 The Garden of Eden
4:52 Blake is on the side of Satan
5:10 Expressing anger
5:35 Conclusion: Ambiguity

In this third video in the series on Blake's poetry I look at an ambiguity at the heart of Blake's short poem "A poison tree". Is he warning the reader against repressing one's anger by not talking about it, or is he encouraging the reader to express anger through action? Or is it perhaps a bit of both?

I recommend you to watch these videos in order and, in particular, to watch the preceding video ("Never seek to tell your love" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQtMDbUsOwY) before watching this one.

The first video in the series can be found here: https://youtu.be/WXBXodU5qKI

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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.

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 veil'd the pole;
In the morning glad I see;
My foe outstretched beneath the tree.

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