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Sara Hendrickson
English

Forest Pyle, Mentor
Karen Shaup, Mentor

The Rose of Mysterious Union: The Influence of William Blake on Jim Morrison as a Poet

Jim Morrison is often disregarded as being a simple poet, and his poetry is regarded at times as simple rhymes.  The same could be said, however, of William Blake, one of the most famous Romantic poets of all time, especially in light of his Songs of Innocence and Experience.  Both artists were viewed as eccentric in their times and both had an interest in social and political revolution and revolutionary aims.  It is commonly acknowledged that Blake influenced Morrison as far as the name of his band, The Doors, but Blake's influence and the themes of Romanticism extend much further into the body of Morrison's work than previously realized.