Professor Borges - A Course on English Literature

oeuvre was forgotten by his contemporaries. DeQuincey, in the fourteen volumes of his work, refers only once to him as “that mad printmaker William Blake.” But later, Blake wields a powerful influence over BernardShaw. There is one act—the act of John Tanner’s dream in
Man and Superman
, by Bernard Shaw—that is like a dramatic expression of the doctrines of Swedenborg and Blake. Now Blake is considered one of the classic English poets. Moreover, the complexity of his work has lent itself to multiple interpretations. There is a book, which I’ve ordered but have not yet received; it is a dictionary of Blake. 14 That is, a book that deals, in alphabetical order, with all of Blake’s gods and divinities. Some symbolize time, others space, others desire, others moral laws. And attempts have been made to reconcile Blake’s contradictions, for he was not completely a visionary—that is, not completely a poet, not completely a man who thinks through images, which would have made his work easier—he was also a philosopher. So in his work there is a kind of easy coming and going between images—they are usually splendid, like the one I talked about with “girls of mild silver and furious gold”—and long abstract stanzas. Moreover, the music of his verses is sometimes rough, and this is odd because Blake began by using traditional forms and a very simple, almost infantile language. But then he finally comes to free verse. . . . One finds in Blake an ancient belief of sailors: that a man and a woman can lose their humanity. He also suggests the idea of an old maritime superstition: that the sailor who kills an albatross is thus condemned to eternal penitence. What we see in Blake’s beliefs is this concept: that small acts produce terrible consequences. And so he says: “He who tortures a caterpillar sees the terrible and mysterious, descends into a labyrinth of infinite night, and is condemned to infinite torments.”
    Blake, as a writer, is unique in the English literature of his time. He cannot be fit into romanticism or pseudo-classicism; he escapes, he does not follow trends. Blake is unique in his era—in England and in Europe, as well. And in this regard I would like to recall a probably well-known phrase, which is: “Each Englishman is an island.” That can be applied very well to Blake.

CLASS 16

    LIFE OF THOMAS CARLYLE. SARTOR RESARTUS BY CARLYLE. CARLYLE, PRECURSOR OF NAXISM. BOLÍVAR'S SOLDIERS, ACCORDING TO CARLYLE

    WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 1966
    Today, we will discuss Carlyle. Carlyle is one of those writers who dazzles the reader. I remember when I discovered him, around 1916, I thought that he was really the only author. The same thing then happened to me with Walt Whitman; it had already happened with Victor Hugo, and it would happen with Quevedo. 1 In other words, I thought that all other writers were wrongheaded simply because they were not Thomas Carlyle. Now, those writers who dazzle you, who seem like the prototype of the writer, tend to end up being overwhelming. They start out by dazzling you, but run the risk of becoming intolerable in the end. The same thing happened to me with the French writer LéonBloy, with the English poet Swinburne, and with many others throughout my long life. 2 In all these cases, they were highly personal writers, so personal that one ends up learning the formula for the dazzle, the stupor they provoke.
    Let’s take a look at some of the facts of Carlyle’s life. Carlyle was born in a village in Scotland in the year 1795 and died in London—in Chelsea, where his house has been preserved—in the year 1881. That is, his was a long and industrious life devoted to literature, reading, scholarship, and writing.
    Carlyle had humble origins. His parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents were all peasants. And Carlyle was Scottish. It is common to confuse the Scots and the English, but they are, in spite of their political unification, two essentially different peoples. Scotland is a poor country with a bloody history of warring among the many clans. Moreover, the Scots in general tend to be more intellectual than the English. Or better said, the English are usually not intellectual, and almost all the Scots are. This may be because of all the religious controversies, but if it is true that the people of Scotland devoted themselves to discussing theology, it is because they were intellectuals. This often happens with causes that tend to be effects and