William Blake Now: Why He Matters More Than Ever

by John Higgs, J.M.R. Higgs

The visionary poet and painter William Blake is a constant presence throughout contemporary culture - from videogames to novels, from sporting events to political rallies and from horror films to designer fashion. Although he died nearly 200 years ago, something about his work continues to haunt the twenty-first century. What is it about Blake that has so endured? In this illuminating essay, John Higgs takes us on a whirlwind tour to prove that far from being the mere New Age counterculture figure that many assume him to be, Blake is now more relevant than ever.

Genres: Nonfiction, Poetry, Art, History, Philosophy, Essays, Biography

79 pages, Paperback

First published January 31, 2020

About the author

Also see J.M.R. Higgs

Reviews

[Alex Sarll]

Perfect timing for John Higgs' latest, in which he points out that Britain is finally starting to catch up to our great poet: the sole review of his exhibition during his lifetime described him as "an unfortunate lunatic", which is exactly how we now look to the world. Or what about his convoluted personal mythology? Too odd for a 20th century where everything big had to fit a Joseph Campbell structure, but ideal for an age where the tangles of Westeros or the MCU have enthralled millions. Some of it is reaching - though he does reach very well - and I wouldn't rank it up with Our Pet Queen, let alone the KLF book. But after my disappointment with The Future Is Now, it does cement me in the opinion that he does better starting from an apparently small subject and finding the vastness within it than beginning big.

[Elena · Rating 3 out of 5]

"His willingness to explore what is useful in seemingly opposite extremes makes him almost a textbook definition of metamodernism, as does his statement that ‘Without Contraries is no progression.’ In this way, he is entirely in tune with contemporary times. It has taken us a while, but
we are finally catching up with him."

Although this was totally useless for my research, it was interesting to read this (somewhat comedic) essay on how Blake appears in modern culture and the ways in which his work manifests.

[Dan Sumption · Rating 5 out of 5]

A short, sweet and uplifting essay about Blake's relevance to the 21st century. Higgs briefly touches on Blake's importance to the 1960s counterculture, due to his anti-authoritarianism and individualism - before demonstrating that there is much more to Blake than that, and that it's his embracing of opposites, and his willingness to explore what is useful in seemingly opposite extremes - "Without Contraries there is no progression. Attraction and Repulsion, Reason and Energy, Love and Hate, are necessary to Human existence ...Opposition is true Friendship" - which makes him so relevant to "metamodern" and highly divided 21st century Britain.

The book ends with a reminder of the so-recent-yet-so-far-away 2012 Olympics opening ceremony, inspired by Blake's works, which briefly united the nation. That Britain has shifted "from a dull productive island to an island of creativity" is seen as a result of the application of the Blakean imagination, and it is this imagination and creativity which is needed to lift us out of our current Brexit woes.

[Andy McLellan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this inspiring little book, which draws together ideas from music, art, video games, the 2012 Olympics, Brexit and much more in assessing the influence of William Blake on British culture and thinking, concluding us to be a nation of 'unfortunate lunatics', but not in a totally bad way!

Reading it has been sufficient to dig out my penguin copy of The Complete Poems of Blake and dig deep into it again, in addition to some internet searches for Blake's art. If John Higg's can encourage many more people to do the same, I would imagine he will see this book fulfulling its aims.

Hear the voice of the Bard!
Who Present, Past & Future sees
Whose ears have heard,
The Holy Word,
That walk'd among the ancient trees.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’d like to start exploring the poetry and the art of William Blake, but am intimidated by the difficulty of the task. As John Higgs says in this wonderful little essay, “A frequently repeated truism, used even by Blake scholars, is that ‘nobody really understands Blake.’”

I hoped this essay would help ease me in, and it has. Higgs reassures: “Understanding Blake is not knowledge you possess, but an activity that you undertake. You do not need permission, and you can start at any age. Ironically, the difficult nature of his work has helped make the Blake world feel relatively inclusive and welcoming. Ignorance is assumed, rather than something to be ashamed of.”

[Leah · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really enjoyable short & sweet essay on Blake’s relevance in the 21st century & his influence on music, art & video games etc

I particularly liked the section on Blake’s meaning of imagination & I think this essay did an excellent job of looking at all the difference views/sides of Blake, not just his anti-establishment views, & how that’s made him relatable in today’s society

[Josh Preston · Rating 5 out of 5]

slim volume but chock full of ideas and information. a teaser to Higgs forthcoming book on Blake (2021). Has suitably whet my appetite and down the rabbit hole I go...

[Kilburn Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

William Blake Now: Why He Matters More Than Ever by John Higgs is a collection of nine essays that explore the lasting impact of William Blake's visionary work on literature, art, and culture. Higgs discusses Blake's influence on individual artists like Allen Ginsberg and Patti Smith, and the broader cultural significance of his poetry in shaping Englishness and national identity in the context of Brexit. The book offers personal reflections on the process of understanding and remembering Blake, and argues that his work remains relevant and important today as a powerful alternative to dominant cultural narratives.

[Cameron Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic feckin essay
I absolutely loved this book. Riddled with interesting anecdotes which are humorous and always relevant. Made me genuinely happy and moved in the final few pages; it’s in many ways a 1-sit read (it’s only 70 pages or so) and I think it benefits hugely from taking it all in at once. Encouraged me to dig out my A level, scrawled upon copy of songs of innocence and experience, which I used 4 or so years ago, totally defiled and covered in my own confused comments on his poems, because I had no fucking idea what it meant, but still loved it for it. One thing I think is good to point out is that I hate many of these brexit / trump commentary books which are totally stuffing up an already over saturated market of strongly titled non fiction books which dish out an almost journalistic account of the current problems (they’re important, just overwhelming and often void of nuance). However, this small book cleverly links Blake’s prescience to ‘our times’ in a totally original and interesting way. I won’t say any more. Read it, it’s £5.99 and worth so much more.

[John Pendrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

My beat generation fed on Blake’s words and pictures. Not that I was ever part of that generation. I was one of the many outsiders. But my eccentric orbit often took me to seek his joyful vision. A philosopher friend gave me this book, saying ‘perhaps its rubbish’. Last night I read with joy the 70 pages. It is packed with interest and like Blake’s poetry inspiring, a pamphlet for Now and Everyone.

I give you the end of a golden string
   Only wind it into a ball,
It will lead you in at Heaven’s gate,
   Built in Jerusalem’s wall.

[Bel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Blake has been at the front of my mind since I came across the new memorial to him in Bunhill Fields Cemetery, surrounded by flowers on the anniversary of his death, and some nearby fly posters with entirely esoteric weirdness that were somehow linked. Around the same time I read the wonderful Drive Your Plow Over The Bones of the Dead, in which the main character is translating Blake. I felt the universe was trying to tell me somebody.

Higgs examines the attitudes of Brits of different stripes to Blake, and recounts the poet's influence on the Beat poets and writers. The main thrust of the essay, however, is that Blake is the artist for Britain of the 21st century: that we have finally caught up with him. Higgs makes a good case. This is only short and I recommend you read it if you are interested.

[Isaac Lewsey · Rating 2 out of 5]

[2.5 Stars] Makes a compelling case but I fear it has dated relatively quickly and tries to cover too much ground for its length. Makes me curious about his longer book on Blake…

Also places the majority of his emphasis on Blake as writer, master of a single medium. Though he mentions Blake as a printmaker and artist he never quite seems to grapple with it (but I think that’s down to length and readership more than deliberate neglect)

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hyper-fixation now gone into hyper-drive.
I love William Blake, I’m obsessed with his art. And now, I think I am beginning to become obsessed with his “imagination”, or at least his idea of imagination.

This book was a little, mind-opening gem.

“A sense of connection to your land, it can be argued, is necessary for, not opposed to, a deep respect for people of all cultures and creeds… This position… divides the world into those who delight in what they love, and those who focus on what they hate.”

“Wherever we are can become the holy city, if we see it in the correct state of mind. Blake talks about building Jerusalem on Albion’s rocky shore not because there is something special about Britain, but because that was where he was.”

“‘The mind-forged manacles’… tells us that what is holding us back and constraining others is our thoughts and our established ways of thinking… In [Generation Z’s] parlance, realising this is to become ‘woke’”.

“Blake’s awareness of the ‘mind-forged manacles’… gave him an extended circle of empathy that left him unable to accept the prevailing societal values.”

“The art of the future is participatory, not passive. We have the tools to connect up our dreams, but it is our ideas that we need to focus on.”

[Sam Chambers · Rating 3 out of 5]

+ demonstrates to a general audience the Cheshire Cat quality of Blake, why he is liked by people with contrary opinions, and has an enduring influence on popular culture

- argument dies ignominious death by risible Blairite platitudes (e.g., Blake’s Jerusalem means the welfare state, the creative industries and mass communication)

It took me too long to realise that the author is no more educated than me, and I feel like a mug.

I could be much ruder about this book.

[Deb Lancaster · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the 21st century, we've finally caught up with Blake and this essay explains why. An excellent read for enthusiasts and newcomers to Blake and all his visionary truth. Blake speaks to the heart of what it means to be human. Everyone should read him.

[Stagger Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brief but illuminating. I think Higgs is working on a larger volume, which I'm sure will be excellent as usual.

[G. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A friend lent me this trim little volume which made for a breezy in-transit read. Blake is someone who I admit I am only aware of as a great romantic poet but of whose work I haven't read much. A little Blakean ear worm was lodged after a recent episode of Peaky Blinders where ultimate glamourised bad-arse Tommy Shelby quotes the opening lines of A Poison Tree,

I was angry with my friend
I told my wrath, my wrath did end.
I was angry with my foe.
I told it not, my wrath did grow.

From the mouth of such a character it carries a certain veiled threat, and is played for such an effect. As it turns out, there is much more to Blake than edgy gangster chit chat.

Higgs writes in open, clear prose explaining why, in his humble opinion, Blake still has much to give in the here and now. His work was nothing short of slagged off in his own lifetime; galleries of his poetry and art were described by contemporaries as the work of a 'lunatic'. It wasn't until much later that his work was salvaged, re-popularised and now obsessed over by lovers of all things romantic, yes, but also gothic, macabre and otherworldly.

It seems Blake invented nothing short of his own full-blown mythology, populated by both demonic and angelic figures who maintained a balance between absolute light and utter darkness. He was completely misunderstood and, so argues Higgs, remains so. His words to the hymn Jerusalem were not, as has been interpreted by so many figures of the British establishment, a jingoistic call to arms but, instead, a call to spiritual transcendence no matter where someone comes from. It just so happened to be relative to his own 'green and pleasant land; Jerusalem is, rather, a state of mind which can be built anywhere.

As I began this book I was staying in a hostel for the first time in about ten years. My roommate on the last night, a middle aged Italian neurologist, spotted my book and asked me about it. In a casual, almost off-handed way he described Blake in a way which could light even the dullest imaginations on fire. Ahh yes, Blake. I see him in the same way as Galileo; he try to make people see the connectedness of all things. That if you pick a small flower it have impact on the stars. He try to convey this same message through poetry instead of science.

As an introduction to Blake, and why his weird, ethereal and mystical writing is still relevant to us today, this little volume is ideal.

[Hugh_Manatee · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Blake's verse was written in response to a minor slight Klopstock made about the English language. In response, 'English Blake', as he refers to himself, retaliates with what can only be described as English voodoo shit magic. He starts by taking a crap under a poplar tree at Lambeth, but suddenly stands and spins round nine times, much to the disgust of the watching heavens. This act magically constricts Klopstock's bowels, causing him a great deal of pain, until Blake graciously undoes the spell. He then concludes:

If Blake could do this when he rose up from shite
What might he not do if he sat down to write”

[Mhairi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish I’d had a book like this while studying Blake at university. This is a wonderful essay giving insight into the modern-day relevancy of Blake and the influence he has had on our culture as a whole. This short book also manages to succinctly sum up what it means (or, should mean) to be British in the 21st century, especially for a younger generation, without the tripe and waffle of nationalism. It is pleasantly optimistic in the face of a strange and tumultuous (incompetent, may be more accurate) time in British politics history, looking forward to a country who can accept what it is instead of what it was.

[David Jennings · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this as an entrée for Higgs' longer study of Blake, William Blake vs the World, as the paperback edition of that comes out this month. It certainly works as an appetiser, which is to say that it left me wanting more.

The key understanding that I take from this essay is a better grasp of what Blake means by Imagination and Reason (I'd struggled particularly with the latter in reading him).

In deep imagination, a thought was something that you encountered. It was participatory. It was a living, vital process that you were part of. You were not separate from what you imagined, and imagination was not separate from the world, because the world and imagination could not be understood without each other.

I also found interesting Higgs dichotomy of artists into those who are celebrated in their own time (he uses the example of Tracy Emin and Blake's contemporary, John Flaxman) and those like Van Gogh are revered for centuries having been ignored in their own times. He makes subtle point about the influence of the former:

When an artist such as John Flaxman or members of the 1990s YBA movement achieve great success in their time, they have a small impact on hundreds of thousands of people rather than a large impact on art history. These hundreds of thousands of slight influences are not as easy to quantify as a small number of clear, distinct influences, but their cumulative impact on culture as a whole can be considerably greater. That they disappear after flaring up into a dazzling but brief supernova is nothing to be ashamed of – it is the countless small influences on countless different people that matters.

And then Higgs seems to be saying Blake transcends this dichotomy. Or perhaps that, while clearly ignored in his own time, he was taken up during the 2oth century and thus became influential then — but now he is relevant in the 21st century for a different set of reasons…? As I say, it left me wanting more.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting in places but I wasn't fully sold on some of the political arguments Higgs included in the book and I found the section on the 2012 Olympics very simplistic and naïve. These are admittedly small complaints but they take on added importance when you consider the whole text is less than 70 pages long.

Apparently the author is working on a longer and more detailed book about Blake which I'd definitely be interested in reading.

[Thomas Moulson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intriguing summary of Blake's 21st century relevance

For anyone with an interest in Blake and especially within the context of these current times (2016-2021..)
I would recommend to those sort of people. Brief but somewhat illuminating concerning the importance of imagination over pure reason alone.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely overview of Blake's relevance to the modern world, touching on figures from Allan Ginsberg to Bruce Dickinson (yes, that one) who were influenced by his work. Its only crime is being far too short!

[CJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

John Higgs cloaks his meta-modern take on contemporary society in a discussion of Blake's importance to the modern world.

Bravo. We need more of this.

Five stars. And one of those stars comes straight from Blake's gravestone.

[Fin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very lightweight and spends most of its time gliding over Blake in a slightly clichéd way, but has enough passion that it's an ok enough read. Had a reductive strain of disdain for rap/video games tho lol

[Gareth Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rather too short but an interesting essay on Blake’s relevance to the modern world. I enjoyed its journalistic approach when it tried to strike a balance but was less impressed with the last chapter which was mere political polemic.

[Johan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A while ago I tried reading the complete poems of William Blake. I didn't get it. So I got this book to help me out.
I still don't get it, but it was a very interesting read! Made me wanna have a go at Blakes poetry again.

[Dec · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very simple little book which comes nowhere close to the answer suggested in the title. But interesting in parts

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting view of Blake and his ideas. Lots of links to the contemporary world. Informative and an enjoyable read.

[Clarisa Doval · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant.