The French Revolution (poem)
| by William Blake | |
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The French Revolution is a poem written by William Blake in 1791. It was intended to be seven books in length, but only one book survives. In that book, Blake describes the problems of the French monarchy and seeks the destruction of the Bastille in the name of Freedom.
Blake felt that there was a strong connection between the American and French revolutions and that these revolutions had a universal and historical impact.The French Revolution was intended as a poetic history of these current events in Blake's life and was supposed to be an account of Blake's understanding of the French Revolution described in seven books of poetry first published in 1791. Although Blake was not part of any radical political organizations in England at the time of the French Revolution, his works suggest a connection to revolutionary thought and the poem serves as his involvement in the debate over the merits of the French Revolution.
In reaction to the French Revolution and the support of it in England, there was a series of attacks upon the supporters which led to the imprisonment of Joseph Johnson, the printer of French Revolution. This possibly disrupted the completion of the books, as Johnson was just starting to print the first book, and the project was discontinued. The only pages that survived are the original proofs for the first book, which are now in the collection of the Huntington Library. Although it cannot be known why Johnson stopped printing Blake's poem, he did print other works by Blake including For Children and Songs of Innocence. The poem currently appears in only one proof copy, and there are few references to The French Revolution until the 20th century. One of these is from Samuel Palmer, a follower of Blake, who wrote on 10 October 1827 that he wished to find a copy of the poem. The other is from Alexander Gilchrist, an early biographer of Blake, who wrote on 24 November 1860 to John Linnell, a collector of Blake's works, requesting to see the manuscript of The French Revolution
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