"The wild deer, wand'ring here and there,Keeps the human soul from care. The lamb misus'd breeds public strife, And yet forgives the butcher's knife."In the seventh stanza of William Blake's poem called, "Auguries of Innocence" he uses symbols to portray his meanings. Blake uses animals to symbolize a lost soul and Jesus Christ. "The wild deer" is a lost soul that is continually "wand'ring" through sinful acts and seems to have no care for their eternal life. Because of how The Bible represents Jesus Christ as being a "lamb" this is also how Blake chooses to convey Jesus Christ in his poem. Jesus Christ, as He was dying on the cross, prayed to His Father to "forgive them for they know not what they do." Blake identifies this situation with the last two lines of his stanza. Here the lamb "forgives the butcher's knife" in the same way Jesus Christ not only forgave the Romans for crucifying Him, but also forgives those lost souls from their sin that distracts them from being concerned about eternal life.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
William Blake, "Auguries of Innocence"
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Good work, Isis! Why do you think Blake chooses the verb "misused"?
ReplyDeleteAlso, one book that you might find interesting (and that would fit with your theme of love/sacrifice) is called "Master and Margarita." It's a crazy Russian novel, and it is about many different concepts, but to me, the heart of the novel is a love story.
Isis, you might also like the novel "Swamplandia" by Karen Russell or the short story collection by Raymond Carver called "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love." A final suggestion: Haruki Murakami's "After Dark."
ReplyDeleteBy the way, your response is an A++.
Thank you for the suggestions, I will definately look into them!! And thank you for the grade.
DeleteIsis,
ReplyDeleteYou might also like these poets: Amy Gerstler (I really like her "Dearest Creature") and Olena Kalytiak Davis (her "Shattered Sonnets" is one of the best works of poetry of the last 20 years).