William Blake
William Blake was an English poet, painter and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake has become a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual art of the Romantic Age. What he called his "prophetic works" were said by the 20th-century critic Northrop Frye to form "what is in proportion to its merits the least read body of poetry in the English language". While he lived in London his entire life, except for three years spent in Felpham, he produced a diverse and symbolically rich collection of works, which embraced the imagination as "the body of God", or "human existence itself".
Did you know?
As a child, Blake claimed to have seen a tree full of angels on Peckham Rye — one of many visions that shaped his poetry throughout his life.
He invented his own printing technique called 'illuminated printing', hand-etching text and artwork onto copper plates to self-publish his books.
Despite his extraordinary talent, Blake died in poverty and was buried in an unmarked communal grave; his exact resting place was lost for many years.
He never attended formal school — his mother educated him at home, and he began drawing and writing poetry before the age of ten.
Poems
56 poems- A Cradle Song21 lines
- A DIVINE IMAGE8 lines
- A DREAM20 lines
- A LITTLE BOY LOST24 lines
- A LITTLE GIRL LOST34 lines
- A POISON TREE16 lines
- A SONG32 lines
- Ah Sunflower8 lines
- Divine Image20 lines
- Earth's Answer25 lines
- Holy Thursday12 lines
- Infant Joy12 lines
- Infant Sorrow8 lines
- Laughing Song12 lines
- London16 lines
- My Pretty Rose Tree8 lines
- Night48 lines
- Nurse's Song16 lines
- On Another's Sorrow36 lines
- Songs of Experience: Introduction20 lines
- Songs of Innocence: Introduction20 lines
- Spring27 lines
- The Angel16 lines
- The Blossom12 lines
- The Book of Ahania245 lines
- The Book of Los181 lines
- The Book of Thel. Part I43 lines
- The Book of Thel. Part II31 lines
- The Book of Thel. Part III29 lines
- The Book of Thel. Part IV22 lines
- The Book of Urizen561 lines
- The Chimney-Sweeper24 lines
- The Clod and the Pebble12 lines
- The Echoing Green30 lines
- The Fly20 lines
- The French Revolution332 lines
- The Garden of Love20 lines
- The Human Abstract24 lines
- The Lamb20 lines
- The Lily4 lines
- The Little Black Boy28 lines
- The Little Boy Found8 lines
- The Little Boy Lost8 lines
- The Little Girl Found52 lines
- The Little Girl Lost52 lines
- The Little Vagabond16 lines
- The Marriage of Heaven and Hell: The Argument22 lines
- The Schoolboy30 lines
- The Shepherd8 lines
- The Sick Rose8 lines
- The Song of Los119 lines
- The Tyger24 lines
- The Voice of the Ancient Bard11 lines
- Thel's Motto4 lines
- Tiriel51 lines
- To Tirzah16 lines