In recent years the poetry of William Blake has received a considerable amount of scholarly attention, but Professor Northrop Frye's book, Fearful Symmetry, will stand out as an important contribution to the understanding of the poet. Believing that poetry has a dignity far beyond mere relaxation with a cigar, and pleading that Blake be given the concentrated intellectual effort required in any first-class pursuit of the human mind, Prof. Frye has tackled the most difficult problem of all: the exposition of Blake's esoteric and complicated symbolism. To this task he has brought wide learning and a spirited style, which characteristics will attract both the expert and the casual reader of Blake.

Brushing aside the facile objection that Blake was merely an unbalanced visionary or an inspired artist who also wrote queer poetry, Prof. Frye plunges into the assessment of Blake's intellectual system. The book proceeds to demonstrate the...