William Blake

by William Blake

Overview

'To see the world in a grain of sand, and to see heaven in a wild flower, hold infinity in the palm of your hands, and eternity in an hour' William Blake

William Blake was a poet and artist. Born in Soho in the eighteenth century, the son of a shopkeeper, he is now acclaimed as a radical left-field artist. Most recently, the Tate held an exhibition of his work: 'Magnificent ... reveal's Blake's vision at its most vivid and strange' GUARDIAN

Blake's written work was equally vivid. A major poet of the Romantic age, the full range of his poetry includes the joyful and sorrowful, the childlike and complex - and illustrates his original and prophetic vision. Considered mad by contemporaries for his idiosyncratic opinions, he is now revered for the depth of his poetry and art, and the philosophical undercurrents intrinsic to all his creative work.

'If the Sun and Moon should ever doubt, they'd immediately go out'

'The imagination is not a state; it is the human existence itself'

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781474625715
Publisher:	Orion Publishing Group
Publication date:	01/10/2023
Series:	EVERYMAN POETRY Series
Pages:	128
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.25(d)
Age Range:	8 Years

About the Author

William Blake was born in 1757, the son of a Soho shopkeeper. He showed an early interest in art, engraving copies of drawings given to him by his father. At 21 he became a professional engraver, and later a studied at the Royal Academy. As well as painting, Blake illustrated collections of his own poetry. He is best known for 'Songs of Innocence and Experience', 'The Tyger' and the artworks 'The Ancient of Days' and 'Newton'. In 2021, The Tate held a sell-out exhibition of his work.

Table of Contents

Note on the Author and Editor vii

Chronology of Blake's Life and Times viii

Introduction xvi

from Poetical Sketches

To The Evening Star 3

Song: 'How sweet I roam'd' 3

Song: 'My silks and fine array' 4

Song: 'Love and harmony combine' 5

Song: 'I love the Jocund dance' 5

Song: 'Memory, hither come' 6

Mad Song 7

from There Is No Natural Religion 8

Songs of Innocence and of Experience

Songs of Innocence

Introduction 9

The Shepherd 10

The Ecchoing Green 10

The Lamb 11

The Little Black Boy 12

The Blossom 13

The Chimney Sweeper 14

The Little Boy Lost 15

The Little Boy Found 15

Laughing Song 15

A Cradle Song 16

The Divine Image 17

Holy Thursday 18

Night 18

Spring 20

Nurse's Song 21

Infant Joy 22

A Dream 22

On Another's Sorrow 23

Songs of Experience

Introduction 25

Earth's Answer 26

The Clod and the Pebble 27

Holy Thursday 27

The Little Girl Lost 28

The Little Girl Found 30

The Chimney Sweeper 31

Nurse's Song 32

The Sick Rose 32

The Fly 33

The Angel 33

The Tyger 34

My Pretty Rose Tree 35

Ah! Sun-flower 35

The Lilly 36

The Garden of Love 36

The Little Vagabond 37

London 37

The Human Abstract 38

Infant Sorrow 39

A Poison Tree 39

A Little Boy Lost 40

A Little Girl Lost 41

To Tirzah 42

The School Boy 43

The Voice of the Ancient Bard 44

A Divine Image 44

from Blake's Notebook (c. 1791-3)

'Never pain to tell thy love' 45

'I saw a chapel' 45

'I asked a thief' 46

A Cradle Song 46

'Silent, Silent Night' 47

To Nobodaddy 48

'Love to faults is always blind' 48

Eternity 49

Riches 49

'The look of love alarms' 49

The Book of Thel 50

from The Marriage of Heaven and Hell 55

from Visions of the Daughters of Albion 61

from America 63

from Europe 65

from The Book of Urizen 66

from Letters

From a letter to Dr Trusler 68

'To my Friend Butts I write' 68

from Blake's Notebook (c. 1802-4)

'Mock on, Mock on' 71

from The Pickering MS

The Mental Traveller 72

The Land of Dreams 75

The Crystal Cabinet 76

Auguries of Innocence 77

from The Four Zoas 81

from Milton 85

from Jerusalem 93

from For the Sexes: The Gates of Paradise

The Gates of Paradise 102

To the Accuser Who Is the God of This World 102

Notes 103