The present literature on Blake’s poetry, puzzling to scholars since his own time, proves unsuccessful in justifying the gloomy tone and perplexing nature of this poet-artist’s oeuvre. This study focuses on three main issues: cyclic movements in “The Mental Traveller” in relation to his other poems, the repetitive themes throughout them, and the continual presence of a certain mood of terror and sorrow in his works. Using the psychoanalytic concepts of symptom, fantasy, and the mental categories, we conclude that Blake’s being a psychotic is the reason for the issues presented, distinguishing him from his peers as a unique figure.
