English Literature Unseen Poets - Blake and Keats

?
What is the background of William Blake?
He was born in London in the 1700s. His mother taught him to read and write before he was apprenticed to an engraver. He opened his own print shop in 1784 and printed his own poetry as well as revolutionary political works.
1 of 17
What were some of Blake's beliefs?
He held unusual views for his time - he believed in racial and sexual equality. He disagreed with many of the teachings of the church. He was sympathetic towards the French Revolutionaries and their aims. He taught his wife to read and write.
2 of 17
What did Blake often write about?
He wrote about opposites, innocence and experience and freedom.
3 of 17
Can you expand on his idea of opposites?
He was interested in the tension between different forces like good and evil, reason and imagination and cruelty and kindness. He believed that all opposites exist together as you can't understand one without the other.
4 of 17
What did he believe about innocence and experience?
These are the opposites that feature most commonly in Blake's poetry. He saw innocence as a child-like joy and imagination and experience as an adult state of misery, reason and sin. He wrote about the positives and negatives of both.
5 of 17
What did Blake think about freedom?
Blake believed in freedom and fighting oppression, so several of his poems feature a character who fights against a larger force. At the time, the Church and the upper class controlled the lives of others.
6 of 17
What devices are often found in Blake's poetry?
His poems feature symbolism, rhyme and repetition.
7 of 17
Can you expand on his use of symbolism?
He used natural objects like plants and animals to symbolise human strengths and flaws, as well as institutions like the Church.
8 of 17
What is the rhyme like in Blake's poems?
They often have a strong rhyme scheme and a regular rhyme. This makes his poems childlike, sounding like a sing-song. This makes his writing seem simple, but it always has hidden meanings.
9 of 17
What does his use of repetition do?
Blake uses repetition to emphasise the point that he's making. It also adds to the nursery rhyme feel of his poems.
10 of 17
What is the background of John Keats?
His father died when he was 8 and his mother died when he was 14. He never married but was secretly engaged to Fanny Brawne when he died of TB aged 25. His poems only became famous after he had died.
11 of 17
What did he often write about?
He wrote about death, change, nature and love.
12 of 17
What did he write about death and change?
He wrote about the inevitability of death and the contrasts between temporary and permanent things. He believed the most beautiful things were temporary but could be preserved in art (poetry).
13 of 17
What did he write about nature and love?
He was inspired by nature and some of his poems were about the pain of loving someone that you can't be with.
14 of 17
What devices are commonly found in Keats' poems?
He used symbolism, traditional form and an address to inhuman things.
15 of 17
What is meant by traditional form?
A lot of his poems are sonnets or odes. Sonnets have a regular rhyme scheme and a set number of syllables per line. Odes always praise someone or something. He wrote in iambic pentameter as well.
16 of 17
What is meant by an address to inhuman things?
Keats often addressed inhuman objects in his poems, like animals, birds or a star, as if they could reply to him and they were human.
17 of 17

Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

What were some of Blake's beliefs?

Back

He held unusual views for his time - he believed in racial and sexual equality. He disagreed with many of the teachings of the church. He was sympathetic towards the French Revolutionaries and their aims. He taught his wife to read and write.

Card 3

Front

What did Blake often write about?

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

Can you expand on his idea of opposites?

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

What did he believe about innocence and experience?

Back

Preview of the front of card 5
View more cards

Comments

No comments have yet been made

Similar English Literature resources:

See all English Literature resources »See all Unseen poetry resources »