First published in 1979, this is a very welcome reissue of
Kathleen Raine's seminal study of William Blake - England's only
prophet. He challenged with extraordinary vigour the premises which
now underline much of Western civilization, hitting hard at the
ideas of a naive materialist philosophy which, even in his own day,
was already eating at the roots of English national life. In his
insistence that ?mental things are alone real?, Blake was ahead of
his time. Materialist views are now challenged from various
quarters; the depth psychologies of Freud and Jung, the study of
Far Easter religion and philosophy, the reappraisal of myth and
folk lore, the wealth of psychical research have all prepared the
way for an understanding of Blake's thought. We are ready to
acknowledge that in attacking ?the sickness of Albion? Blake
penetrated to the inner worlds of man and explored them in a way
that is quite unique.
Dr Raine, who has made a long study of Blake's sources, presents
him as a lonely powerful genius who stands within the spiritual
tradition of Sophia Perennis, ?the Everlasting Gospel?. From the
standpoint of this great human Norm, our immediate past described
by W.B. Yeats as ?the three provincial centuries?, is a tragic
deviation; catastrophic, as Blake believed, in its spiritual and
material consequences. Only now do we possess the necessary
knowledge to understand William Blake and the ever-growing number
of people who turn to him surely justifies his faith in the eternal
truths he strove to communicate.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!