I would like to take this opportunity to express my deep gratitude to my supervisor,professor Lu yun, who has offered me constructive guidance for the planning of the thesisand invaluable advice and encouragement for its completion and improvement. She is sucha devoted teacher that though busy in her teaching and research, she never hesitates to offerme timely and spiritual support. She spares no effort to read, comment on and polish mythesis.
Besides, I wish to extend my sincere gratitude to all the teachers in the School ofForeign Languages in Guangxi Teachers Education who have taught me and given meunselfish support during my three postgraduate years. It is my great honor to have knownall those respectable teachers.
Furthermore, I would like to thank my classmates, Mao xiang, Zhu Jingyan, Zou qin,etc. They have helped me and encouraged me a lot in my writing. Without them, mypostgraduate life will lose much happiness.
Finally, I feel indebted to my parents, for their understanding and love in life. I lovethem.
Upon the completion of the thesis, I would like to take this opportunity toexpress my sincere gratitude to my supervisor, Professor Peng Xiaohua, who hasgiven me important guidance on the thesis. Without his help and encouragement,my thesis would have been impossible. Besides his help with my thesis,he hasalso given me much advice on the methods of doing research, which is of greatvalue to my future academic life.
I am also obliged to other teachers whose lectures have broadened my scopeof vision in British and American literature and help me lay a necessaryfoundation for the writing of the thesis. I am also grateful to all the members ofthe faculty and staff in the College of Foreign Languages who have provided mewith a lot of help and guidance.
Last but not least, I would like to express my gratitude to all the friends andfamily members who have offered me help. Without their help,I could not havefinished my study and this thesis.
This thesis would not have been possible without constructive advice and helpfrom many persons.
First and foremost, I wish to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor inChina Foreign Affairs University, Professor Ran Jijun, for his great advice andguidance on the content and format of this thesis, which is critical for revision.
Without his academic guidance, I could not have accomplished this thesis.
I would like to express my appreciation to all my teachers in the EnglishDepartment of China Foreign Affairs University, especially to Professor He Yinghong,Professor Guo Liqiu, Professor Sun Jisheng, Professor Zhang Lei, Professor SongAiqun, Professor Wei Lamei and Professor He Qun for everything I have learned fromthem during the two years at this university.
Also, the emotional support from my parents and my husband is no less importantthan the academic assistance.
In the end, I would like to express my thanks to my colleagues who helped collectuseful reference books and materials for me.
This thesis would not come into being if I had not received help from mysupervisor, teachers, classmates, and family. They offered me so much encouragement,without which I could have already given up. But before I express my sincerestgratitude to them, I would thank my God. It was always He who first came to help mewhen my faith was influenced by Blakes unorthodox theological thinking. Again itwas He who gave me wisdom and patience to do whatever I did for his glory.
“Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might.” (NIV, Ecclesiastes 9:10)And here is the prayer when I was in the valley of despair: “May the favor of the Lordour God rest upon us; establish the work of our hands for us-yes, establish the workof our hands.” (Psalm 91:17) It is His faithfulness and unfailing love that urged me towrite the thesis with all my might.
My supervisor Xu Xiaodong did offer me so much help that I feel so grateful tohim. He has lent me over thirty valuable monographs, biographies, anthologies, andcollections of essays. Nearly all of the books were bought from abroad at his ownexpense. His fervent love for literature, his relentless pursuit of knowledge, and hismeticulous attitude towards research manifest the personalities and qualities I shouldcultivate as a qualified scholar. Whenever I sent him an article he always gave meprecious suggestions that really improved my critical thinking a lot. For many times Ifailed to keep my promise, he forgave me and kept encouraging me to pursue mystudies. I give my most genuinely gratitude to him for his generous help.
Besides my supervisor, I have benefited from many other teachers. Prof. ZhangRuwen, Prof. Yi Jianhong, Prof. Jiang Yuebin, Sun Jiurong and Wei Lina, they havetaught me many critical approaches and broadened the scope of my knowledge invarious fields of literature. Moreover, I would like to extend my gratitude to myclassmates and roommates. They taught me how to balance study and rest. I alsothank my family, especially my sister, who came to my school many times to visit me.
Her support and comfort gave me much strength.
Lastly my gratitude would be expressed to Charles Gardner, Paul Berger, HelenC. White, Maung Ba-han, S. Foster Damon, J. G. Davies. Even though some of themhave gone to the land where no traveler returns back, their results of years of researchwill be passed down to future generations. Without their researches, students ofWilliam Blake would fumble many more years in the mystical land of the mystic-poet.
William Ralph Inge, Miss Evelyn Underhill, Emily Herman, Joseph B. Collins,without whose systematic exploration of mysticism I would be totally at loss in thevast ocean of this particular human experience.
Time is a bird forever on the wing. For the past two years' post-graduate study, Ireally had a fulfilling life here. Not only have I met many knowledgeable teachers, butalso truthful friends. I would like to give my deep gratitude to many of them. First of all, Iam most grateful to Professor Zhang Ruwen, my supervisor, who offers me invaluableguidance and help both in my study and my life. Without her enlightening suggestions andinstructions, it would be a tough task for me to finish my thesis. Besides, I also appreciatemany other teachers who have offered their useful suggestions and inspire me a lot. Mythanks also go to my parents, grandparents, my classmates and my loving friends. Theircompany is a great consolation to me. I wish everyone could live in peace and happiness.
First of all, I would like to exPss my gratitude to all those who helped me during the writing of this thesis. I gratefully acknowledge the help of my supervisor, Ms**, who has offered me valuable suggestions in the academic studies. In the Pparation of this thesis， she has spent much time reading through each draft and provided me with inspiring advice. Without her patient instruction, insightful criticism and expert guidance, the completion of this thesis would not have been possible.
Second, I also owe a special debt of gratitude to all the professors in Foreign Languages Institute, from whose devoted teaching and enlightening lectures I have benefited a lot and academically Ppared for the thesis.
Last, I should finally like to exPss my gratitude to my beloved parents who have always been helping me out of difficulties and supporting without a word of complaint.
