The most insightful poet that ever lived. Iain McGilchrist & Mark Vernon on William Blake

Iain McGilchrist calls William Blake “the least cosy of poets and one of the most insightful that ever lived.” Blake is cited more often than most figures in Iain’s great book, "The Matter With Things".

So what did Blake express that might much matter now? How did he understand key features of our humanity such as the imagination and inspiration, as well as the character of our day?

In this conversation, prompted by the publication of "Awake!", Iain and Mark often land on wonderful quotes of Blake to unpack them. ”To the eyes of the man of imagination, nature is imagination itself.” “As a man is, so he sees.” "If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is: infinite."

They explore Blakean imagery such as the spiral shape of Jacob’s Ladder. Contemporary concerns are central too, from architecture to AI. 

Above all, they celebrate Blake as a figure who can guide our desires, aid us with the contraries of modern life, and sustain our faith that life is good, for all the ills that surround us.

For more on Iain’s work - https://channelmcgilchrist.com
For more on Mark’s work - https://www.markvernon.com

Mark’s new book on William Blake is “Awake! William Blake and the Power of the Imagination” - https://www.markvernon.com/books/awake-william-blake-and-the-power-of-the-imagination

0:00 No-one has imagination!
05:27 The narrowing of imagination
08:36 Fantasy and uncoupling
11:55 The misenchantment of the world
13:08 Place, space and architecture
16:26 Spiritually aware consumerism
19:43 The glowing presence of infinity
21:13 Cleansing the doors of perception
24:38 Speaking from the outside in
26:38 The failure of empathy and need for the sacred
31:24 Primary connection not separation
33:10 Blake’s orthodoxy
34:37 Jacob’s Ladder as a spiral
38:12 The good can hold the bad
39:55 Data, memory and AI
42:33 Memory that inspires
45:44 The enlivening of ritual
48:10 Blake on divine science
53:37 The character of things and insights
57:17 Distinctions without difference
59:28 Illuminating Blake and Dante