Abstract

In this source study of the hermetic and prophetic poetry of William Blake, Kathleen Raine adds strength to the theory that it takes a poet to explain one. The present volumes, expanded from the 1962 Mellon Lectures in the Fine Arts, are the result of twenty years' research; in scholarship and in style, they well might serve as a model for all source studies to come. Raine traces Blake's borrowings from Neoplatonism, from alchemy, from classical and hermetic sources, from gnosticism and Christianity. Her development avoids the rigid chronological installment method so often used and moves along lyrically in chapter divisions sometimes source inspired, more often determined by particular characters created by Blake himself. Two very complete indexes, both of Blake's works and of general subjects, allow for immediate reference within the author's rather fluid organization. Mention must be made also of the beautiful plate reproductions which encourage a more integrated appreciation of Blake's two media of expression. Raine communicates the universal nature of visionary poetry, the basic sources of which have not changed significantly throughout the centuries. She thus opens up for the reader the possibility of understanding a whole tradition of the most awesome and most inaccessible literature.--C. M. R.