To T o the th e Evening Eve ning Star
by William Blake
William Blake, the son of a draper from Westminster Westminster was born on 28th November, in London Two of his si! siblin siblings gs died in infan"y infan"y #e was an imaginative imagin ative "hild, "hild , $di%erent& from the beginning, so he was not sent to s"hool, b't ed'"ated at home (rom early "hildhood, Blake spoke of having visions)at fo'r he saw *od+ at -, he saw a tree .lled with wi th angels when he was walking in the "o'ntryside /t the age of Blake entered 0ar1s rawing S"hool in the Strand Three years later l ater he apprenti"ed to an engraver to the 3oyal So"iety of /nti4'aries 5ne of his assignments as apprenti"e was to sket"h the tombs at Westminster Westminster /bbey, e!posing him to a variety of *othi" styles6 a task whi"h bro'ght him to his lifelong l ifelong love of *othi" art /fter his 7year term ended, he st'died brie9y at the 3oyal /"ademy and "ontin'ed to s'pport himself making engraved book ill'strations /fter marrying :atherine Bo'"her6 the illiterate ;'ned'"ated< da'ghter of a market gardener on 8th /'g'st 782, moved to *reen Street, near Lei"ester S4'are #e ta'ght her reading and writing and draftsmanship and she later assisted him in "reating " reating his ill'minated books Blake=s marriage to :atherine remained a "lose and devoted one 'ntil his hi s death Blake1s beloved yo'nger brother 3obert, who had been living with them sin"e 78> died of t'ber"'losis Blake "laimed that he had seen that his so'l rise thro'gh the "eiling at death and the spirit of 3obert "ame to him in a vision in the night, and revealed the te"hni4'e of "ombining te!t and pi"t'res on one engraved plate This relief et"hing ;engraving ? drawing? design< allowed Blake to "ontrol all aspe"ts of a book=s prod'"tion+ he "omposed the verses, designed the ill'strations #e had prod'"ed the Songs of @nno"en"e 'sing this new method in l78Awith the help of his wife Blake wanted to take his poetry beyond being 'st words on a page and felt they needed to be ill'strated to "reate his desired e%e"t @n September 8-- ;>C years old< he left London for (elpham, S'sse! ;abo't D- miles so'th west of London on the so'th "oast<, to live li ve near William #aylay an e""entri" ;pe"'liar ? strange < poet who had written biographies of ilton il ton and :owper :owper #ayley also employed Blake to de"orate his library with eighteen heads of poets While at (elpham he began work on his epi" poems, $ilton& F $Ger'salem& @n these poems Blake provides a "omple! mi!t're of prophe"y, so"ial "riti"ism and bibli"al legend #e moved ba"k to 7, So'th o'lton Street, near Tyb'rn Tyb'rn ;now arble /r"h< in 8-C #e had "ome to believe that only in London, "o'ld he "arry on his visionary st'dies, and spent his entire life in London Blake lived the last l ast years of his life in obs"'re poverty, relieved only a little by the admiration and patronage of a gro'p of yo'nger painters known as $The /n"ients& William Blake fell ill and died in 827 #is last drawing was a portrait of his wife :atherine, drawn on his deathbed #aving "ompleted this portrait ;now lost<, Blake laid down his tools and began to sing hymns and verses /t si! that evening, after promising his wife that he wo'ld be with her always Blake died 5n the day of :atherine1s death, in 5"tober 8C, she was as "alm and "heerf'l as her h'sband, and "alled o't to him to say she was "oming to him 0lease read the poem read the following poem To To the Evening Star William William Blake1s $Songs of E!perien"e& E!perien"e& given below6 To To the Evening Star
Tho' fairhair=d angel of the evening 2 Now, whilst the s'n rests on the mo'ntains, light C Thy bright tor"h of love6 thy radiant "rown > 0't on, and smile 'pon o'r evening bedH D Smile on o'r loves, and, while tho' drawest the I Bl'e "'rtains of the sky, s"atter thy silver dew 7 5n every 9ower that sh'ts its sweet eyes 8 @n timely sleep Let the west wind sleep on A The lake6 speak silen"e with thy glimmering eyes - /nd wash the d'sk with silver Soon, f'll soon, ost tho' withdraw6 then the wolf rages wide, 2 /nd then the lion glares thro'gh the d'n forest6 C The 9ee"es of o'r 9o"ks are "over=d with > Thy sa"red dew+ prote"t them with thine in9'en"e @n his poem $To the Evening Star&, English poet William Blake admires the planet Jen's, whi"h is also known as the $evening starK The poet is symboli"ally referring lo types of people in so"iety
Poetic devices used by Blake
Symbols used by Blake
The poem "ontains fo'rteen lines with three 4'atrains three stanMas with fo'r lines in ea"h stanMa and one "o'plet two lines in the stanMa This type of > lined poems is known as sonnets 0lease read the poem with the meanings of the words given
What do yo' think6 the .rst stanMa is referring toO S'rely it is "lear eno'gh that the poet is referring to the evening star whi"h is 's'ally seen in the early evening in the sky also known as Jen's6 the goddess of the night /""ordingly now yo' "an 'nderstand that it is an address to Jen's, the 3oman goddess of love, bea'ty and fertility Blake des"ribes, in a very elegant way, how lovely the evening star is, 'sing this metaphor to e!press the shining star as a bea'tif'l goddess who wat"hes over the people d'ring the dark night The poet or the speaker in this poem is "alling 'pon P#er1 as a Pfairhaired angel of the evening1 who "omes o't 'st after the s'n sets wearing her $radiant "rown& lighting her bright tor"h of love and shines The speaker knows that it is only d'ring night, the evening star holds the power to p't an end to all of daytime1s r'les id yo' noti"e how the poet has s'""essf'lly "onstr'"ted the poem with D metaphors fo"'sing o'r attention on the power of nat're 9ow smoothlyO $Tor"h of love& ;line C< is a typi"al metaphor that transforms one item into mother, whi"h then shares all "hara"teristi"s @n this "ase, the tor"h is literally starlight in the sky
etaphori"ally it is a light empowered with love This s'ggests the warm love of god, whi"h metaphori"ally $shines& 'pon the people of earth @f yo' really want to enoy the poem spend several min'tes "onsidering ea"h metaphor in this stanMa and e!perien"e how ea"h metaphor ;lines F C $fairhairPd angelK $tor"h of loveK $radiant "rownK< adds deeper meaning than literal lang'age to the poem #ope yo' remember Kpersoni."ationK means giving h'man "hara"teristi"s to nonliving things The .rst e!ample of personi."ation "an be seen in line two, when $the s'n rests on the mo'ntains& is 'sed to des"ribe the way the s'n is setting The s'n seems more h'man and gentle with the verb KrestsK rather than $sets& oreover, did yo' noti"e that the KstarK whi"h represents 'nmat"hed moments of str'ggle between oppositions (or instan"e, star is a $bright tor"h& while everything else is dark ('rther noti"e that the bed is Ko'rK and not $mine& whi"h indi"ates that it is a shared territory of himself and other people and the speaker is be"koning Jen's to bless the evening bed of h'mankind or o'r resting bed whi"h "o'ld be earthH Blake 'ses anastrophe inversion the 's'al order of words $Thy radiant "rown 0't on, and smile 'pon o'r evening bedH& witho't inversion it sho'ld be $0't on thy radiant "rown, and smile 'pon o'r evening bedHK to address the star dire"tly and 'rges the star to Ksmile 'pon o'r evening bedsK This anastrophe brings abo't a romanti" and soothing essen"e to the poem and shows Blake=s belief that the star is able to t'rn the dark night into a "alm and dreamy sit'ation LetPs see what Blake has told in the se"ond stanMa6 Smile on o'r loves6 and when tho' drawest the Bl'e "'rtains, s"atter thy silver dew 5n every 9ower that sh'ts its sweet eyes @n timely sleep Let thy west wind sleep on The se"ond 4'atrain fo'r lined stanMa is telling abo't his "ry for prote"tion #e talks abo't every little thing that he wants to happen so they1re prote"ted The poet is pleading the goddess Jen's who is seen in the evenings after the s'n has set and has hidden behind the mo'ntains to smile on the ones we love may it be relatives , lovers animals et" ('rther he 'rges her to draw the bl'e "'rtain making the sky look bl'e and to s"atter or spread her silvery dew drops whi"h "o'ld be a blessing in the form of a li4'id ;in the form of dew in this o""'rren"e< on almost every 9ower that 's'ally sh'ts its petals at night ;Ksh'ts its sweet eyes&< in order to obtain "alm sleep @n addition to that she is asked by the poet to "ommand the west winds to "alm down and sleep witho't destroying the 9oral bea'ty of the forest /s a reader what do yo' feel when the poet tells the 9owers Ksh't its sweet eyesKO on1t yo' feel that it brings abo't a nonthreatening tone to the poemO Now let1s see the 'se of devi"es in this stanMa The evening sky tr'ly "omes alive with Blake1s repeated 'se of devi"es s'"h as metaphor and personi."ation #e 'ses these te"hni4'es to make 's feel the bea'ty of the night sky and to give h'man 4'alities to the stars and sky when he writes K9ower that sh'ts its sweet eyesK instead of sh'tting their petals and $west wind sleepK instead of stop blowing /s yo' know that $the bl'e
"'rtains$are a metaphor for the night sky be"a'se it looks bl'e :onsonan"e on line 7+ Psh'ts its sweet eyes1 has no real in9'en"e "on"erning the poem The lake6 speak silen"e with thy glimmering eyes /nd wash the d'sk with silver Soon, f'll, soonK, ost tho' withdraw6 then the wolf rages wide, /nd the lion glares thro1 the d'n forest+ @n the third 4'atrain also she ;goddess of love bea'ty and fertility< is asked by the poet to make the west winds rest over the lake and spread silen"e and pea"e all over /s st'dents of literat're yo' m'st know that o!ymoron is a devi"e by whi"h "ontradi"tory terms are 'sed in "ombination in order to "reate new meanings and lasting images and to open 'p for new interpretation id yo' noti"e that the poet has 'sed that devi"e in the middle of the .rst line, of the third stanMa in this sonnetO With the 'se of o!ymoron $speak, Silen"e& the poet re4'ests the Evening Star to pro"laim silen"e and order in the forest thro'gh her bea'tif'l and glimmering ;shining< eyes to the world witho't speaking and to paint the "'rtain ;sky at d'sk< with silver whi"h means that the silver stars that appear soon .ll the sky as the night arrives and makes the entire sky look like silver so that their light "an rea"h 's and prote"t 's Then poet tells that he knows that the time "omes too soon for her to withdraw ;leave< and when she goes, the dangers of the night will thrive @n other words as soon as she withdraws the wild animals ;eg lions, wolveset"< will .nd a "han"e to eat the inno"ents ;eg sheep h'mans et"< 0oet1s 'se of metaphor, personi."ation and symbolism is easily seen thro'gh his des"ription of the night The wolf will howl in pleas're and perhaps the lion will pensively stare at a 9o"k of sheep planning to atta"k at night in darkness whi"h are the emblems of evils /gain we have a str'ggle of opposites here, this time symboliMed thro'gh predator and prey that f'rther b'ilds 'p Blake1s theme of the "y"li" and diale"ti" nat're of the 'niverse in whi"h we live The 9ee"e of o'r 9o"ks are "overed with Thy sa"red dew6 0rote"t them with thine in9'en"e (inally, the "o'plet ends it by tying it all together, with his last "ry of prote"tion over his $9o"ksK @n fa"t, the poet is praying to *od ;shepherd< to take "are of his beloved ones who, every now and then, are "onfronted with "orr'pted or s'spi"io's people symboliMed by wolves and lions @n other words his plead is to prote"t all the inno"ent h'mankind ;sheep< who be"omes vi"tims of the lions and the wolves that "ome d'ring night by "overing the mankind ;9o"ks of sheep< from the dew drops ;holy water< that the evening star had s"attered on h'mans Blake m'st have written this poem to show the h'ge e%e"t nat're has on one=s everyday life (or e!ample, witho't the star, the night wo'ld be dark and forbidding #owever, the star makes the night bea'tif'l, pea"ef'l and romanti" #e also goes f'rther to show how nat're even "an prote"t o'r fragile lives #e "laims that the star prote"ts people front the violent lion and wolf l'rking in the forest @n $To the Evening Star&, Blake s'""essf'lly shows how all the elements of nat're "an "ome together to "reate a bea'tif'l, perfe"t sit'ation (or e!ample, the star shines brightly, the lake re9e"ts the light, and the wind gently blows These three a"tions "ome together to prod'"e a bea'tif'l s"enery whi"h many h'mans take advantage of every night
@n "on"l'sion, yo' may have 'nderstood that the lines to the Evening Star are in"omparably sweet and ha'nting be"a'se the verses like these remain like a bea'tif'l e"ho in the memory, having a m'si"al "harm apart from the sense of the words Blake=s manifestation of himself as a designer and painter, has given life for the "reative imp'lse that "lothed his tho'ght in a garment of bea'tif'l words for 's to enoy
