Published by: arcadius (Karma: 2802.10) on 5 June 2010 | Views: 2054
14
William Blake (28 November 1757–12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his lifetime, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of both the poetry and visual arts of the Romantic Age. His prophetic poetry has been said to form "what in proportion to its merits the least read body of poetry in the English language". His visual artistry has led one contemporary art critic to proclaim him "far and away the greatest artist Britain has ever produced". Although he lived in London his entire life except for three years spent in Felpham he produced a diverse and symbolically rich corpus, which embraced the imagination as "the body of God",or "Human existence itself". Considered mad by contemporaries for his idiosyncratic views, Blake is held in high regard by later critics for his expressiveness and creativity, and for the philosophical and mystical undercurrents within his work. His paintings and poetry have been characterized as part of both the Romantic movement and "Pre-Romantic", for its large appearance in the 18th century. Reverent of the Bible but hostile to the Church of England, Blake was influenced by the ideals and ambitions of the French and American revolutions, as well as by such thinkers as Jakob Boehme and Emanuel Swedenborg. Despite these known influences, the singularity of Blake's work makes him difficult to classify. The 19th century scholar William Rossetti characterised Blake as a "glorious luminary," and as "a man not forestalled by predecessors, nor to be classed with contemporaries, nor to be replaced by known or readily surmisable successors." Historian Peter Marshall has classified Blake as one of the forerunners of modern anarchism, along with Blake's contemporary William Godwin.
Content:
All Religions are One There is No Natural Religion [a] There is No Natural Religion [b] The Book of Thel Songs of Innocence and of Experience (Index) For Children: The Gates of Paradise The Marriage of Heaven and Hell Visions of the Daughters of Albion America a Prophecy Europe a Prophecy The Song of Los The [First] Book of Urizen The Book of Ahania The Book of Los Milton: a Poem in 2 Books Jerusalem: The Emanation of The Giant Albion frontispiece To the Public Chap: 1 [plates4-27] To the Jews "The fields from Islington to Marybone Chap: 2 [plates 28-50] To the Deists "I saw a Monk of Charlemaine" Chap 3 [plates 53-75] To the Christians "I stood among my valleys of the south" "England! awake! . . ." C[hap] 4 [plates 78-99]
For the Sexes: The Gates of Paradise On Homers Poetry On Virgil The Ghost of Abel [Laocoön] Tiriel The French Revolution The Four Zoas Vala Night the First Vala Night the [Second] Vala Night the Third Vala Night the Fourth Vala Night the Fifth Vala Night the Sixth Vala Night the Seventh Vala Night the Eighth Vala Night the Ninth Being The Last Judgment Poetical Sketches [An Island in the Moon] [Songs and Ballads] (Index) [The Pickering Manuscript] (Index) [Satiric Verses and Epigrams] The Everlasting Gospel [Blake's Exhibition and Catalogue of 1809] [Descriptions of the Last Judgment] [Blake's Chaucer:Prospectuses] [Public Address]
Annotations to: Lavater's Aphorisms on Man Swedenborg's Heaven and Hell Swedenborg's Divine Love and Divine Wisdom Swedenborg's Divine Providence An Apology for the Bible by R. Watson Bacon's Essays Moral, Economical and Political Boyd's Historical Notes on Dante The Works of Sir Joshua Reynolds Spurzheim's Observations on Insanity Berkeley's Siris Wordsworth's Poems Wordsworth's Preface to The Excursion Thorton's The Lord's Prayer, Newly Translated Cellini(?) Young's Night Thoughts [Inscriptions and Notes On or For Pictures] [Miscellaneous Prose] [The Letters] (Index)
