$43.00


NARRATIVE UNBOUND
is the first full-scale interpretation of
the verbal text of Blake's most complex
long poetic prophecy, The Four Zoas.
Never engraved or published in the
poet/artist's lifetime, the poem remains
m a single manuscript, apparently unfin-
ished and heavily revised, and yet is
widely celebrated as one of Blake's most
powerful narrative works. Ault chal-
lenges the view that the poem is mnrinsi-
cally incomplete and flawed, arguing
instead that the famous difficulties of
the text are aspects of Blake's transfor-
mative narrative strategies. By respect-
ing the integrity of Blake's work, taking
every written mark on the page as
potentially functional, Ault reveals the
intricate interweaving of narrative pat-
terns and interruptions to be instrumen-
tal in conscious reading. The poetic
intent is nothing less than a complete
renovation of the reading experience,
the potential of which is the realization
of what Blake has called "Fourfold Vis-
ion." Ault's approach, which does not
assume previous knowledge of Blake's
work, serves as a guide both to reading
The Four Zoas and to participating in
perhaps the most radical poetic method
in our literature. By demonstrating how
Blake's narrative strategies subvert
habitual ways of reading, Narrative
Unbound engages m the inquiry of con-
temporary poetics: how it is that altered
processes of reading can restructure
consciousness.







Jacket design b Susan Quasha


ISBN: 0-88268-011-0