William Blake
Not Your Typical Romantic He never travelled He was relatively happily married He and his wife lived in poverty He was very interested in the Bible and much of his poetry dealt with complex views of Christianity
Blake the Artist Blake is known for his art as much as his poetry. He was sent to London’s finest drawing school at ten. He was apprenticed to an engraver at fourteen. He usually added drawings or engravings to his poetry himself. He usually published and engraved his own poems.
Songs of Innocence and Experience “The two contrary states of the human soul” Published in one volume Innocence is “a state of genuine love and naïve trust toward all humankind, accompanied by unquestioned belief in Christian doctrine.” Experience “is a profound disillusionment with human nature... sees cruelty and hypocrisy only too clearly but is unable to imagine a way out.”