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Radical prophet

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From: The Spectator
Date: 20071201
Author:Chisholm, Kate

It's not what you think, we were warned by Jenny Uglow, the far-seeing biographer of Hogarth and Elizabeth Gaskell. Those 'dark Satanic mills' and 'mountains green' of William Blake's epic poem were never intended as an anthem in praise of England's democratic virtues. Blake was neither a conservative, nor nostalgic for an imaginary golden past. On the contrary, he was a republican and a dissenter; an ardent believer in the necessity for personal, social and sexual liberty. In the verses that have become known as 'Jerusalem' he was provoking his readers, warning them that the England of ...

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