Fearful Symmetry: A Study of William Blake

by Northrop Frye

Overview

This brilliant outline of Blake's thought and commentary on his poetry comes on the crest of the current interest in Blake, and carries us further towards an understanding of his work than any previous study. Here is a dear and complete solution to the riddles of the longer poems, the so-called "Prophecies," and a demonstration of Blake's insight that will amaze the modern reader. The first section of the book shows how Blake arrived at a theory of knowledge that was also, for him, a theory of religion, of human life and of art, and how this rigorously defined system of ideas found expression in the complicated but consistent symbolism of his poetry. The second and third parts, after indicating the relation of Blake to English literature and the intellectual atmosphere of his own time, explain the meaning of Blake's poems and the significance of their characters.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781400847471
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	04/04/2013
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	488
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Northrop Frye (1912-1991) was one of the twentieth century's most influential English scholars and literary critics. Northrop Frye was a professor in the Department of English at Victoria University in the University of Toronto from 1939 until his death. His works include Words with Power and Anatomy of Criticism.

Table of Contents

PART ONE - THE ARGUMENT
1. The Case against Locke 3
2. The Rising God 30
3. Beyond Good and Evil 55
4. A Literalist of the Imagination 85
5. The Word Within the Word 108
PART TWO - THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SYMBOLISM
6. Tradition and Experiment 147
7. The Theif of Fire 187
8. The Refiner in Fire 227
9. The Nightmare with Her Ninefold 269
PART THREE - THE FINAL SYNTHESIS
10. Comus agonists 313
11. The City of God 356
12. The Burden of the Valley of Vision 404
GENERAL NOTE: BLAKE'S MYSTICISM 431
NOTES ON THE ILLUSTRATIONS 433
NOTES TO THE TEST 435
INDEX 451

Editorial Reviews

"A magnificent, extraordinary book. . . . Several great poets have written of Blake, but this book is the first to show the full magnitude of Blake's mind."

The Spectator

"A magnificent, extraordinary book. . . . Several great poets have written of Blake, but this book is the first to show the full magnitude of Blake's mind."—The Spectator

From the Publisher