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7 _\ Hirst read the poetry of William Blake when I was a student. € The power of his work caught me at once, and 1 have carried it g “mnhanbhhmm x uuunqmmnmdmm @ about his work. MMEMMM|MwbnhdM om»ammmwmmg j _ Ackroyd is himself a novelist and the mammmrh hmhmbmaamm u\damu&.lhhuamddofiflw- Mmbmhahmigiw & § _ This book begins with Blakes childhood. _ @ Ackroyd goes to some length to establish E the lasting influences of Blake‘s world, in the _‘ """*****@@==== imy'"d""“'mhifi.hbwm working family, his visions, and London itself. Blake spent little time in formal schooling. He was highâ€"strung and sensitive: his father worried about the effects on him of the nigid discipline that was a part of school life. Once Blake learned !Orud.heedntedfimdf,mwamw ing exploration of whatever came his way. The Bible was a book easily available to him, and he devoured «.nfnmhviusvdid\hnmmm' ing as a child. When he reported seeing angels in a tree near his home, he *“b“’"f"WAfiufinfinfim,Mh'sm mtohmaawmr!“m_aamm that he was not lying to them. Blake‘s family were working Londoners, artisans, with a sturdy tradition of dissent in religion and of radical politics. Their son was not forced to accept any kind of orthodaxy, but he was expected to work hard. His parents did their best to develop his early talent in drawing, and they apprenticed him to a "kind master," who instead of choosing life as an artist, Blake became an engraver Nwwmmnmw&smw : The divine arts of the imagination exios Tacater warenr oo i e ANNUAL _ _ S | USED BOOK SALE & | from the Canadian Federation “\ ied 1 | of University Women & § | Fri. Apr. 12 and Sat. Apr. 13 Qfi"\“\ § | 12 noon â€" 9 pm 9 am â€" 1 pm \q\ | ( FIRST UNITED CHURCH c ; King & William St., Waterioo L l m;swfot KW uz‘s'g;otls and art: "I know of no other Christianity and of no other Gospel than the liberty both of body and mind to exercise the Divine Arts of the Imagination." Ackroyd also shows how thoroughly Blake was rooted in Engâ€" Wmmmdrwnibmdynaddmdhsm temporaries. indeed, he hardly ever moved outside of London. He is, Ackroyd decides, one of the great writers of London. As an apprentice, Blake was sent to make sketches of Westminâ€" ster Abbey, hmwtmwmmn was the long hours spent there, within the history of England, which tied Blake‘s life and imagination to the ancient traditions of m.mmmmmhumm Blake turned his attention to Old Britain, to the Gothic. MWMMaMMMMMd WNMMNMMMMWM writer on Blake how dose Blake‘s poetry and illustrations are. They are often studied separately. This book is beautiful with illusâ€" trations, black and white and in colorâ€"Blake‘s etchings. suggests that this choice led him into drudgery which was hard on him, but it also provided an outlet for his prodigious energy, and it kept him close to the real life of the London of his day. There was little that was pretty about that London. it was an old city, gritty and in the throes of the industrial revolution. There were often scenes of violence around Blake, which Ackroyd sugâ€" gests were the influence for much of the grimness in his later work. He did not have to look far, Ackroyd says, for images of hell. . m Ackroyd works out from these early influâ€" with systems of learning or religion. He was interested in Swedenborg until his followâ€" ers began to develop a "church," with rules and rituals and regulations. M'*“&Ml\fim&)fl\emwwwof immediate inspiration. He thought of imagination as the source of wisdom and integrity. Certainly, it was the fountainhead of poetry Trapper Joe‘s Kitchener 2 King St. $ Ziebart Tidy CC Westgate ID, BLO HOURS: M T. re All you