William Blake, 'Vala or the Four' Zoas, Night III, led by Luisa Calè
When:
—
Venue:
Birkbeck 43 Gordon Square
No booking required
William Blake’s prophetic poem Vala was first conceived as ‘a dream of nine nights’, following the structure of Edward Young’s Night Thoughts (1742-7). In 1795-7, Blake illustrated Young’s poem with 537 watercolours on enlarged margins obtained by mounting the pages of Night Thoughts onto folio sheets with windows cut into the middle of each to host the pages of the original book. 43 of these illustrations were selected for engravings published in Richard Bentley’s edition of the poem in 1797. The page layout of this edition functioned as a model for the distribution of text and illustrations in Blake’s Vala manuscript. From the middle of Night III to the end of the poem, Blake inscribed the poem in the blank text-boxes of his Night Thoughts engravings.
This session included a brief introduction by Luisa Calè; a reading in the spirit of visionary theatre, in which reading group participants will be invited to read the lines allotted to particular characters; and a general discussion.
Contact name:
Ann Lewis