Abstract
The first critics of the industrial revolution and the Condition of England were the Romantic poets, Blake, Wordsworth, Coleridge and Southey. Their actual knowledge of the details of industrialism was severely limited, but their prophetic insight into its dehumanising effects on the whole society was deep and far-sighted. Blake wrote of the ‘Satanic mills’, and believed that the industrial revolution was the natural consequence of the limited and perverted rationalism of the eighteenth century. I turn my eyes to the schools and Universities of Europe And there behold the Loom of Locke, whose Woof rages dire, Wash’d by the Water-wheels of Newton: black the cloth In heavy wreathes folds over every Nation: cruel Works Of many Wheels I view, wheel without wheel, with cogs tyrannic Moving by compulsion each other, not as those in Eden, which, Wheel within Wheel, in freedom revolve in harmony and peace (Jerusalem, plate 15, 14–20).
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
