Fearful Symmetry: A Study of William Blake

by Northrop Frye

Overview

This brilliant outline of Blake's thought and commentary on his poetry comes on the crest of the current interest in Blake, and carries us further towards an understanding of his work than any previous study. Here is a dear and complete solution to the riddles of the longer poems, the so-called "Prophecies," and a demonstration of Blake's insight that will amaze the modern reader. The first section of the book shows how Blake arrived at a theory of knowledge that was also, for him, a theory of religion, of human life and of art, and how this rigorously defined system of ideas found expression in the complicated but consistent symbolism of his poetry. The second and third parts, after indicating the relation of Blake to English literature and the intellectual atmosphere of his own time, explain the meaning of Blake's poems and the significance of their characters.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691012919
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	04/21/1969
Series:	Princeton Paperbacks Series
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	488
Sales rank:	679,863
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

Northrop Frye (1912-1991) was one of the twentieth century's most influential English scholars and literary critics. Northrop Frye was a professor in the Department of English at Victoria University in the University of Toronto from 1939 until his death. His works include Words with Power and Anatomy of Criticism.

Table of Contents

	Illustrations	vii
	Editor's Preface	ix
	Note on the Citation of Blake's Works	xv
	Abbreviations	xix
	Introduction	xxiii
	Frye's Dedication	3
	Preface to the 1969 Edition	5
Part 1	The Argument	9
Chapter 1	The Case against Locke	11
Chapter 2	The Rising God	37
Chapter 3	Beyond Good and Evil	61
Chapter 4	A Literalist of the Imagination	90
Chapter 5	The World within the Word	112
Part 2	The Development of the Symbolism	149
Chapter 6	Tradition and Experiment	151
Chapter 7	The Thief of Fire	189
Chapter 8	The Refiner in Fire	227
Chapter 9	The Nightmare with Her Ninefold	266
Part 3	The Final Synthesis	305
Chapter 10	Comus Agonistes	307
Chapter 11	The City of God	347
Chapter 12	The Burden of the Valley of Vision	392
	General Note: Blake's Mysticism	415
	Notes on the Illustrations	417
Editor's Appendix A	Preface to the Beacon Press Edition	419
Editor's Appendix B	Preface to the Italian Translation	421
Editor's Appendix C	Frye's Shorter Writings on Blake	423
	Notes	425
	Emendations	479
	Index	483

Editorial Reviews

"A magnificent, extraordinary book. . . . Several great poets have written of Blake, but this book is the first to show the full magnitude of Blake's mind."

The Spectator

"A magnificent, extraordinary book. . . . Several great poets have written of Blake, but this book is the first to show the full magnitude of Blake's mind."—The Spectator

From the Publisher