William Blake, Painter and Poet — Context and Discussion

Garnett's Critical Method

Garnett's approach is evaluative and comparative. He judges Blake's blank verse as monotonous, claiming that Blake's "originally exquisite perception of harmony had waned with his lyrical faculty." Yet he praises the "general grandiose effect" of Jerusalem, comparing it to "the booming of the billows, or the whisper of the winds in the wood." This tension between critique and admiration runs throughout the book. Garnett also relies heavily on Alexander Gilchrist's earlier biography, warning that Jerusalem cannot be judged without seeing Lord Crewe's "incomparable" copy. The excerpts show Garnett weaving together his own observations with those of other scholars, creating a layered commentary.

Poetry as Pictorial Imagination

A central argument in Garnett's analysis is that Blake's poetry depends on his pictorial imagination. He illustrates this with a passage from Jerusalem describing a woman who "creates at her will a little moving night and silence, / With spaces of sweet gardens and a tent of elegant beauty." Garnett calls this a "magnificent expansion" of a glowworm idyll, linking it to Beddoes' phrase "with her little drop of moonlight." He contends that Blake's verse often reads as a verbal translation of visual scenes. The excerpts also include a description of designs from Milton and Jerusalem, where "female figures lie among waves full of reflected stars" and "serpent-women are coiled with serpents," reinforcing the fusion of word and image.

The Felpham Influence on Later Works

Garnett asserts that Milton and Jerusalem, both dated 1804, must have been composed at Felpham, where Blake lived from 1800 to 1803. He argues that "nothing save actual and present contact with country scenes could have inspired" the passage in Milton where the lark "springing from the wavy corn-field loud / He leads the choir of day: trill, trill, trill, trill." This attention to biographical context is typical of Garnett's method: he uses external evidence to ground his interpretations. The excerpts do not reveal whether Garnett provides further proof of this claim, but the connection between place and poetic detail is a recurring thread in his analysis.

Blake's Mythic and Symbolic Vocabulary

Garnett describes Blake's later works as "a gigantic arabesque, imbued with a passion and pathos not elsewhere attempted in this branch of art." He notes the presence of "Assyrian-looking, human-visaged bulls" and "eagle-headed creatures" in the designs, and explains that the subject of Milton is, in Swinburne's words, "the incarnation and descent into earth and hell of Milton, who represents redemption by inspiration." Garnett draws a parallel to the oldest Assyrian poetry, suggesting a universal theme of pilgrimage through a lower sphere. The excerpts show that Garnett is more comfortable describing visual elements than explicating Blake's complex mythology, often deferring to other critics for interpretation.

Garnett's study offers a late-Victorian perspective on Blake, balancing admiration with critical distance. Readers should note that the excerpts are drawn from the opening and middle sections, focusing on Blake's major works and Garnett's method. The later chapters, not excerpted here, likely cover Blake's final years and posthumous reputation. As a first reading, pay attention to how Garnett uses quotations from Blake's poetry and from contemporary critics to build his arguments, and consider how his own position as a librarian and scholar shapes his judgments.