How to William Blake

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To how William Blake one does not need or require madness for there is little to no evidence that William Blake was mad or slightly mad or even feigning madness or touched by madness, i.e., bouffée délirante. William Blake was no Kit Smart. Nor did he venture into the minefield of Richard Dadd. Both completely bonkers. Religious madness claimed Kit Smart. Richard Dadd killed his dad. Dadd killed his dad with a razor blade. The bevel zipped across the soft flesh of the neck on a warm Kent day. William Blake was born in London, England. You are not required to have been born in London, England, but you will need to have a Cockney accent for the period you intend to be William Blake. Here is some useful Cockney Slang: 1. Adam and Eve = Believe. 2. April Showers = Flowers. 3. Bees and Honey = Money. 4. Boat Race = Face. 5. Trouble and Strife = Wife. To be James Joyce just study A: Mr. Duffy. B: Stephen Daedalus. C: Lenehan. Controversial! William Blake was controversial. He upset the applecart. He could be cantankerous, irascible, and downright obstinate. It is best to forego this side of William Blake, unless you are quite handy with your fists and able to out pugilist the pugilist. Picture Eve and Adam sitting in their apple scented Eden expectorating apple seeds. William Blake perched in his tree, in his back garden, would be as naked as Adam. You should forego this too, thinking about it, unless you are twenty-something and fit as a fiddle. William Blake loved music. Hieronymus Bosch thought that Devils created music to stir up Sin. Flowers blossom little or hardly atall in William Blake’s drawings, but sunflowers appear in the poems of William Blake, and so you should consider growing sunflowers, but remember, birds and squirrels absolutely love sunflower seeds, and the first shoots of the sunflower, and when you go out into the garden after a good night’s sleep and see those first shoots picked and poked and nibbled and uprooted be warned it can be utterly demoralizing. William Blake lived in penury all his life. This was demoralizing. More demoralizing than a ruined garden. Today he would be worth millions. Live long, I say. William Blake’s wife was called Catherine Blake née Boucher. Before William Blake married Catherine Boucher, William Blake spent many hours in Westminster Abbey, London, England, alone and hard at work in the glowing penumbra. Read Milton. Where studying he fought bullies we are told. Once again, it is your call, to fight or not to fight is... William Blake always put in a shift and never shied away from arduous work. He was probably the hardest working artist there was or is. Remember this. It is advisable to work hard and never shy away from work. Remember, to paint the living is to paint the dead. Stand or sit or lie before Gothic architecture or Gothic art and duplicate duplicate duplicate duplicate duplicate duplicate. William Blake was not a Pauper, nor was William Blake an Aristocrat, William Blake was Working Class and proud. Like Barry Himes say, to be Working Class. William Blake was of the Kitchen Sink sort. These distinctions are otiose now, I have heard. So, be a loyal husband, though have fantasies of the ménage à trois, never get caught in flagrante delicto up an apple tree, work hard, study, and remember to ink your fingers. R is not for Romantic but for raucous, rowdy, and raunchy. Be irascible, a contrarian, an anarchist, and say aloud what you believe and never duck dive or weave but go headfirst into the storm - the crowd! Warning: The Blakean Method is dangerous to your health. Throw away your Newton and Einstein, throw them in the bin. Read Homer, read Dante, read Chaucer, read Cervantes, read Rabelais, read Shakespeare, read Joyce, although there is little or no evidence that William Blake read James Joyce, there is indeed evidence that James Joyce read William Blake, and the similarities shared by Catherine Blake and Nora Joyce are striking. Here is a list that will help you to be William Blake. It is an incoherent list. A. Angels. B. Bold lines. C. Catherine Blake. D. Drawing. E. Emanuel Swedenborg. F. French Revolution. G. Gods myriad. H. Heaven on Earth. I. Inferno on Earth. J. “And did those feet in ancient time”. Are those feet the feet of Jesus Christ? You do not need to travel to Glastonbury to follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ. You may want to walk the Via Dolorosa. I have heard it is rather epiphanizing. Lack of hair is not imperative. Lack of height not a prerequisite. A thick neck helps somewhat. A bulldog’s countenance scares away the Critics and Philistines. And even the Flea. Watch out for the Flea. A booming voice is no match for an intelligent whisper. A love for Ale and Pie is anachronistic, I suppose. If you do not see Angels in trees don’t sweat it, no Angels means no Demons, and who wants to see Demons. “Clothes maketh the man,” somebody said, but not William Blake. “A man’s home is his castle,” somebody said, but not William Blake. “Hell is other people,” somebody said, but not William Blake. To be William Blake is to be yourself, I suppose. Remember draw, paint, write, sing not what you know but what you desire to know. Could Homer see rocks land on heads? Did Homer see the red wine sea? Did Homer stay one night in that Cave? Write what you know – pish! Show don’t tell! Tell that to The Four Zoas! Stay clear of adverbs as soul swooned slowly, as he heard the snow falling faintly through the universe. Rules! Rules! Rules! Too many fucking rules! I am not mad or slightly mad or even feigning madness or touched by madness, i.e., bouffée délirante, I’m just fuming.

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