Eternity's Sunrise: The Imaginative World of William Blake

by Leo Damrosch

William Blake, overlooked in his time, remains an enigmatic figure to contemporary readers despite his near canonical status. Out of a wounding sense of alienation and dividedness he created a profoundly original symbolic language, in which words and images unite in a unique interpretation of self and society. He was a counterculture prophet whose art still challenges us to think afresh about almost every aspect of experience—social, political, philosophical, religious, erotic, and aesthetic. He believed that we live in the midst of Eternity here and now, and that if we could open our consciousness to the fullness of being, it would be like experiencing a sunrise that never ends.
 
Following Blake’s life from beginning to end, acclaimed biographer Leo Damrosch draws extensively on Blake’s poems, his paintings, and his etchings and engravings to offer this generously illustrated account of Blake the man and his vision of our world. The author's goal is to inspire the reader with the passion he has for his subject, achieving the imaginative response that Blake himself sought to excite. The book is an invitation to understanding and enjoyment, an invitation to appreciate Blake’s imaginative world and, in so doing, to open the doors of our perception.

Genres: Poetry, Art, Biography, Nonfiction, History, Criticism, Literature

344 pages, Hardcover

First published October 27, 2015

About the author

Leo Damrosch is an American author and professor. In 2001, he was named the Ernest Bernbaum Professor of Literature at Harvard University.[1] He received a B.A. from Yale University, an M.A. from Cambridge University, where he was a Marshall Scholar, and a Ph.D. from Princeton University. His areas of academic specialty include Romanticism, the Enlightenment, and Puritanism.[1] Damrosch's "The Sorrows of the Quaker Jesus" is one of the most important recent explorations of the early history of the Society of Friends. His Jean-Jacques Rousseau: Restless Genius (2005) was a National Book Award finalist for nonfiction and winner of the 2006 L. L. Winship/PEN New England Award for best work of nonfiction. Among his other books are "Symbol and Truth in Blake's Myth" (1980), "God's Plot and Man's Stories: Studies in the Fictional Imagination from Milton to Fielding" (1985), "Fictions of Reality in the Age of Hume and Johnson" (1987), and "Tocqueville's Discovery of America" (2010).

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Let me begin by saying that the book is worth the price for the many color plates and black-and-white figures alone. The writing is somewhat pedestrian but serviceable. It represents more an attempt to create a picture of Blake's mental universe than a strictly biographical sketch of his life, in which relatively little happened (according to Damrosch) apart from the relentless creation of Blake's art. Was Blake mad? Probably, at least part of the time. He was never institutionalized (unlike Cowper, Clare, or Nietzsche), but he worried about his own sanity, as did a number of his contemporaries. Damrosch does a nice job of showing the progression of Blake's thought from support of revolutionary social reform in the real world to an attempt to understand in an imaginative way the fragmentation of the human psyche and the possible scenarios through which it might be reintegrated, even as the fragments exhibit their own forms of creativity. It is not surprising that C. G. Jung was fascinated with Blake's work. Damrosch gives great and deserved credit to Catherine, Blake's wife, for her help in the creation of his work and for providing the stability that enabled him to continue working on his art until the very end of his life. Their compatibility may have owed something to her own madness or at least to her willingness and ability to enter into Blake's imaginary world and accept it as her own. I was fascinated to read details of the complicated processes of engraving, etching, and relief etching through which Blake created his illuminated books. His aim was to create a Gesamtkunstwerk that integrated outline and color with text in a unique way. Damrosch does a very good job of describing the books and their manufacture. He is perhaps less successful in interpreting the symbolism of both the visual art and the poetry, particularly that in the later books. But then who could overcome the difficulties in interpreting the sui generis mythology of a mad genius like Blake? The book left me wanting to see Blake's original art, because, as Damrosch repeatably points out, even the best color plates cannot do justice to Blake's brilliant artistry. Blake was a man very much of his time but also very different from any of his contemporaries. He wasn't understood in his lifetime and he isn't understood today, but his art, both then and now, is the stuff that dreams are made on.

[Mesoscope · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is everything I would want in an introduction to Blake's life and work for the general reader. Eternity's Sunrise interleaves biographical and critical material in an entertaining and illuminating way, giving the relative newcomer a basis for making sense of the enigmatic colossus. All of his major poetical works and a large number of his engravings are considered, including an analysis of forty beautifully-reproduced full color plates. I would highly recommend this book to any interested reader.

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been a Blake admirer from a distance. I know and can quote from the best anthologized poems, have looked at a few of his prints - even visited a room size show at the Tate, and was, I hesitate to say, unimpressed - and have had a few off-hand references from Allen Ginsberg, and Michael McClure about his visions, but my knowledge has been as surface as you can get.

Mr. Damrosch's study is, dare I say, "illuminating." It is an accessible entry into Blake's life and world, the depth of his visions and personalized cosmology, his, here beautifully reproduced, drawings and etchings and their techniques, and his fraught personal/professional life. Of interest, here's another artist who was poisoned, and possibly killed by his work - the chemicals he used for his etchings were highly toxic, and Blake suffered poor health most of his life. It appears they may have even accounted for his topsy-turvy psychic life.

No doubt, Wm. Blake was an "eccentric" genius, and as a world creator he's probably matchless.

All thanks to Mr. Damrosch for this book. If you have even a passing interest in Wm. Blake, this is a good read.

[Nick Rotoli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent exploration of a very complex and creative mind. His engravings and paintings shed light on some of his most challenging, as well as his most well known, works

[Lily · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't always agree with this criticism, but my heart was beating a lot in the best way while reading it.

[Andrea Engle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This wide-ranging, well-illustrated overview of the brilliant artist/poet William Blake attacks head-on his critical reputation for madness and incomprehensibility … penetrating in its analyses, the book covers his life and art with intensity and passion … a scholarly tour de force …

[Jacky Chan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant.

[Alex Stephenson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A 4 star book mainly because of the beautiful illustrations and Damrosch's colorful descriptions of Blake's poetic motives. The analysis of the man himself is a bit lacking, however, and the non-chronological structure disrupts the flow for me.

[Petro Kacur · Rating 3 out of 5]

Here are a few suggestions for a Blake binge. Damrosch's book is a great starting point for a casual Blake admirer. It offers an overview of his major works in a biographical format and includes good color plates. His work is a good modern overview (published in 2015). Pair this with a few books that contain his illustrations. These are the ones that my library offered: The Complete Illuminated Books large excellent color plates; Songs of Innocence and of Experience smaller reproductions but good notes and separate section with text of each poem; The Complete Graphic Works of William Blake only black and white but this 1978 edition includes all Blake illustrations and major variants. Enjoy!

[Tom Axworthy · Rating 4 out of 5]

William Blake was a genius both in poetry and in art/ engraving and Leo Damrosch has written a book which both explains Blake's poetry and reproduces in glorious colour plates his art.Blake wrote his poems as part of his engravings( so very limited editions) and as Damrosch explains Blake intended the two art forms to be experienced simultaneously. His engravings might have a different message than his words: his famous poem Tyger asks God why he has created such a fierce creature but the engraving shows a pussycat , not a monster.Since he sang his verses, Blake may have intended to use three art forms to get his message across( many modern troubadours have sung his poems).Damrosch explains this complicated, creative man well and Blake seems to be more of a prophet than the madman that his contemporaries saw.

[Paul Taylor · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a book for the casual reader, this is more like a PhD thesis. The author is not helped by the fact that all the colour prints are in the middle of the book and one quickly tires of going back and forth.Lessons to be learnt from the Phaidon publication of Gombrich's History of Art classic ie text facing the image to which the text refers. Also the habit of quoting short pieces of the poetry instead of reproducing the wholw poem and then providing the commentary. Such a sad contrast to Taschen's book on Blake's ilustrations of the Divine Comedy. It was however delicious that as I neared the end the self assured Mr Damrosch was tripped up by a typographical error; Blake did not die in 1727.

[Brian Willis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply one of the (far too few) great books on Blake. Accessible, lively, insightful without being arcane, it does follow the chronology of his life but the focus is not on the minutiae of biographical detail, but rather the development of Blake as an artist (both verbal and visual). It's a compulsive read and (FINALLY) we have a study of Blake where we have high quality digital (without pixellation) reproductions of the engravings to accompany the study with the images directly facing the page of the author's explication of the images. The effect is how one should first encounter Blake, and is as insightful as Frye, without some of the dry academic prose. Mandatory for all Blake fans.

[Anne Haack · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinatingly, Blake's Jerusalem: Emanation of the Giant Albion influenced a Japanese artist (Makoto Fujimura sp?) I met, who influenced me (such that I read/viewed Blake's later opus) which influenced my book, Petal and Poultice: Memories of Destiny. Only now reading Eternity's Sunrise, I am appreciative of the color plate images and insights to Blake's life in the context of history. That said, I am shocked by the author's reticence to appreciate Blake's understanding of salvation individually and corporeally.

[Rain · Rating 5 out of 5]

An outstanding biography, let alone one of an artist so hard to summarize.

Damrosch tells us right away that the bio will focus on Blake's life as a man of his time, and a businessperson in the new industry of printmaking, and that is what we get. Much has been written on Blake's mythology and spirituality, and Damrosch contextualizes these ideas in an accessible but original way. A brilliant introduction to Blake the man, with plenty of personal input and ideas that Blake fanatics can appreciate and enjoy.

Time to get interested in Swift, just to read Damrosch's biography of him.

[Leif · Rating 4 out of 5]

My interest in Blake is primarily one of graphic design, not poetry. I felt I should try to understand a little more his written work, so this book was exactly what I was looking for, i.e. It has a pretty equal distribution of commentary on his visual AND poetic art.

The book itself is lavishly illustrated and simply written. I am a neophyte in "Blake Studies" (and will most likely remain so) so I can recommend this book wholeheartedly as a good introduction.

Also, to note another good book on Blake; Peter Ackroyd's "Blake" is a fascinating biography.

[Don · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not being familiar with Blake I bought this as a biography. While it has biographical details, it's much more an analysis of his work, and it has numerous illustrations.

[TMG · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book with some wonderfully insightful analysis of Blake's work.

[Connor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Evenly surveys Blake criticism and organizes Blake's complicated system of symbols.

[Anthony · Rating 5 out of 5]

A sympathetic guide to the work of a mad genius.

[Judith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is wonderfully illustrated, with some 40 full color photos of Blake's art plus numerous BW drawings and etchings. It discusses his various ideas in terms of events of his life and gives a clear analysis of his otherwise mystically obscure thoughts about the soul and its divisions, how society should be structured (both economically and along lines of gender), with some speculation as to why he had visions that were so real to him. His was a hard life, for his poetry and style of art were not appreciated by contemporaries, and he was fairly poor for most of his life. Damrosch analyzes his art in terms of his poetry and vice versa; one does not have to be acquainted with any of Blake's work (though I do remember reading "Little Lamb" and "Tigre" in high school) for many of Blake's short poems are quoted in full, and the more theological, long ones quoted from extensively. I was surprised to find that though Blake wished society to be organized more fairly, both in terms of opportunities and politics, he did not want women to have more equality. Shocking to me was the one incident when his wife disagreed with his youngest brother (then age 17 or so) and Blake made her apologize on her knees! to Robert, who then said she was right in the argument. In one of his mystical, quasi-religious poems the woman is abandoned by her lover, but stays true to him and is rewarded by Blake describing her as joyfully watching her lover make love with other women; she acquiesces in her abandonment and still constant love for the man. Damrosch's analysis of the longer poems do not entice me to read them; they read like an alternate of Milton, tendentious and dull. But I am glad to have read this book for I was familiar with many of the drawings from these longer, mystical poems and now I can place them in their context.

[Rosemary Szczygiel · Rating 5 out of 5]

As the first full length biographical work concerning William Blake I have read, I am impressed by the historical settings described by the author. Having seen many illustrated poems by Blake in person, the color plate reproductions in this book are worthy of much praise. Damrosch eloquently associates them to the text, and gives what seems to me to be an accurate account of Blake and the historical period in which the art was imagined and executed. Bravo.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the focus on Blake as Printmaker. excellent book, worth getting the hardcover edition on shelves now. More detailed review forthcoming.

[Ruth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've loved William Blake's poetry, never knew about the prints and paintings until this book. Seeing the poems with their intended artwork was amazing. The color plates are fabulous.

[John Adams · Rating 4 out of 5]

An insightful, engaging, and clearly written introduction to the wild and wonderful world of William Blake.

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just love William Blake. His ideas, his art, his poetry, his character.

[John]

I first attempted to read Blake's poetry about 50 years ago - as an undergraduate. At that time his work was all the rage. [Ahh - the 60's! Wonderful, incomparable years!] But I found the material altogether impenetrable - when not apparently trivial (as in Songs of Innocence). There followed repeated attempts (unguided) decade after decade to discover what all the fuss was about - to no avail.

In the meantime, I've learned how I might best approach certain authors, e.g. Proust, Henry James, Virginia Wolff, Emily Dickinson, all writers whose work I would like to read and understand - at least to gain a finger-tip grasp of their projects and meaning. First - read as many biographies that come to hand. Then with some nodding acquaintance with a writer and his/her project, undertake a reading of works in the order they appeared. That approach does not assure that I will like - or even finish - what I read. As in the case of Henry James. I have found his late style acceptably clear, but I also found his characters altogether revolting - so I can't spend more than a little time with them.

Now for William Blake. I've read Ackroyd and Bently, at least twice, and I think I get the man - at least sufficiently well to undertake a reading of his poetry - from start to finish. But in his case, I'd say that biography just isn't sufficient as a point of departure for reading his poetry. Enter Leo Damrosch and his "Eternity's Sunrise," which to my mind is an excellent introduction to Blake's poetic enterprise. The book isn't lengthy. I have to believe that a full and competent treatment of Blake's imaginative world would cover several thousand pages. If it existed, I would read it, of course, one volume at a time. But insofar as I can tell, it doesn't. Instead what Damrosch has given us is the barest outline both of the development of Blake's artistic/poetic career, and, more importantly, of the mythology he developed to account for his experience. That mythology was anything but fixed and settled in the 1790s. After 1804 Urizen and Orc morphed into the four Zoas and their four "emanations". and on and on. Now it all begins to make sense. But that's Damrosch's account - after grappling with Blake for fifty years, as he says, but obviously with a professional interest in the outcome.

This isn't to say that Damrosch is a substitute for Erdman's edition of Blake's poetry. Far from it. But it does allow me, for one, equipped with a certain fund of information, to read and grapple with Blake's poems and wonderful illustrations and paintings - without closing the volume in complete befuddlement. That's at least a first step for me - and a very long time in the taking.

[Mills College Library]

Biog B636da 2015