Visual, Verbal Texts And Vision Poetics

William Blake, as a poet and painter, is a great artist of Pre-romanticism, whose works consist of visual texts and verbal texts. For these significant textual characteristics, this dissertation first focuses on the foundation of these two aspects, then tries to figure out how these two aspects unite as a kind of "composite art" which plays a major part on function of Blake’s own visionary poetics."Imagination" is the essential concept of romantic poetics. Blake’s poetic foundation, compares to other romantic poets, consist of distinct visual characteristics. This feature constitutes the essential attribution of his poetic imagination as well as the unique expression of his poetry and painting.In order to study Blake’s visual text and verbal text, we should first determine the relationship between them, which, according to the author of this paper, is no longer confined in Sister Arts of traditional art theory, but relied on Blake’s own concept of "Contrary Relation".Beyond the foundation of his verbal and visual text, we should also pay more attention to the role which Imagination plays on the expression of Blake’s poetry and painting. Through the relationship of painting and poetry, Blake’s unique Imagination has two major features:First, at the level of his poetic foundation, Blake suggested that the Imagination is derived from Poetic Genius, and it could be considered as an opposition power to Reason, which determines the way human observe the religion and nature. By doing this, Blake exchange the expression of time and space in his painting and poetry, so that both of human beings and animals in his works achieve symbolic meanings. Furthermore, for reader’s reception, Blake’s painting and poetry did not correspond to each other, nor did as a complementary expression as traditional "Illuminated Books", but to arouse reader’s imagination, invited them to participate in the construction of symbolic system.Finally, this unique combination of poetry and painting unified in Vision.Vision, which is Blake’s ultimate poetic purpose, has fourfold level:first level of vision is bonded by Reason, Time and Space, the second level of it is lead by Imagination, and the third and fourth level is related to Infinite and Creativity. The author of this paper will try to figure out the elements and expressions of it in order to explore the "vision" poetics in the research value of Blake’s later works, as well as Blake’s literary influence on future generations of writers. Also, in the aspect of Cultural Studies, this research will reveal the relationship between Blake’s composite art and current era of Image.