Fearful Symmetry

The landmark book that situates Blake’s poetry within the intellectual movements of his day and unlocks his symbolism for modern readersSince it was first published, Northrop Frye’s Fearful Symmet ...

The landmark book that situates Blake’s poetry within the intellectual movements of his day and unlocks his symbolism for modern readersSince it was first published, Northrop Frye’s Fearful Symmetry has established itself as the defining commentary on the poetic vision of William Blake. Frye gives a complete solution to the riddles of Blake’s longer poems—the so-called “Prophecies”—and demonstrates how Blake’s works form a coherent mythical pattern that broadens our conception of literature. He explains how Blake arrived at a theory of knowledge that was also, for him, a theory of religion, li