Social Reality as Reflected In the Poetry of William Blake

As one of the most outstanding representatives of the Pre-Romanticism poet in 18th century English literature,Wil liam Blake lived through and witnessed an era of great political and social upheaval and transitional period:the American War of Independence,the French Revolution,the Napoleonic Wars and the Industrial Revolution which brought about significant and essential impact on social and historical progress in England.Coming from the social injustices and the full of the dark-side of the industrial England,Blake caught the pulse of his times through his sharp and deep insight,and employed his symbolism,satiric and allegorical device to condemn and criticize the oppression and exploitation derived from the class inequality,privilege and tyr anny.Through his painting and poetry,Blake lashed the dark and indifferent church and authority,and exposed the hypocrisy and falsehood of the religion and humanity,and also called on the oppressed to shatter mental and physical restriction "The mind-forged manacles" come from the ruling class.In this paper,I want to introduce and interpret the social reality as reflected in the poetry of William Blake through concrete analyzing some of Blake's poems in terms of main ideas,historical settings,rhe torical device and language character which underlay and concealed in his poetry deeply.