Tag Archives: William Blake

All Must Love the Human Form

By Robin Bates | Published: November 19, 2016

In “The Divine Image,” Blake gives us a poem for our time, a call to pray for mercy, pity, peace, and love and to recognize the human form in diversity. In “The Human Abstract” he adds that prayer is not enough. It must be accompanied by human justice.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "Divine Image", "Human Abstract", Abortion, analysis, Christian Right, classism, homophobia, Islamophobia, Jeff Sessions, Michael Flynn, politics, racism, Steve Bannon | Comments closed

Teachers, Don’t Nip Their Buds

By Robin Bates | Published: August 24, 2016

In “Songs of Experience,” William Blake worries that authority figures will nip the promise of budding schoolboys. “The Schoolboy” serves as a timely reminder for all teachers.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "Schoolboy", Education, public schools, schooling, teachers and teaching | Comments closed

Ted Cruz–Dark and Satanic?

By Robin Bates | Published: January 14, 2016

When NYT columnist David Brooks called Ted Cruz “dark and satanic,” he was referencing a Blake poem. But although the allusion is apt, it struck most people as weird or offensive because they didn’t recognize the source.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "Jerusalem", David Brooks, electoral politics, GOP primary, Marco Rubio, politics, Ted Cruz | Comments closed

The Utterly Amazing William Blake

By Robin Bates | Published: December 17, 2015

William Blake spoke to protesters in the 1960s but that is far from his only audience. A recent “New York Review of Books” articles surveys his greatness.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged poetry of witness, protest poetry | Comments closed

He Doth Sit By Us and Moan

By Robin Bates | Published: August 30, 2015

Last week I was honored by my friend Jean Yeatman when she asked me to sit with her at her mother’s deathbed. We talked about childhood excursions that our families took together and also about the importance of ritual in our lives. Today’s William Blake poem is for her and her brother Clay. Blake finds […]

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "On Another's Sorrow", death and dying, grieving, mourning | Comments closed

Swimming with the Water Babies

By Robin Bates | Published: June 3, 2015

Swimming with my granddaughters put me in mind of Charles Kingsley’s “Water Babies.” Kingsley helped us enter into the rich imaginative lives of children.