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[[Image:WilliamBlakebyThomasPhillips.jpg|right|frame|<center>Portrait of Wm. Blake by Thomas Phillips</center>]]

[[Image:WilliamBlakebyThomasPhillips.jpg|right|frame|<center>Portrait of Wm. Blake by Thomas Phillips</center>]]

'''William Blake''' (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English painter, [[poet]] and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his lifetime, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the [[history]] of the [[poetry]] and visual arts of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanticism Romantic Age]. His [[prophetic]] poetry has been said to form "what is in [[proportion]] to its merits the least read body of poetry in the English language". His visual artistry led one contemporary art critic to proclaim him "far and away the greatest artist Britain has ever produced". In 2002, Blake was placed at number 38 in the BBC's poll of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/100_Greatest_Britons 100 Greatest Britons]. Although he lived in London his entire life (except for three years spent in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felpham Felpham]), he produced a diverse and [[symbolically]] rich oeuvre, which [[embraced]] the [[imagination]] as "the body of God" or "human existence itself".

'''William Blake''' (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English painter, [[poet]] and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his lifetime, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the [[history]] of the [[poetry]] and visual arts of the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanticism Romantic Age]. His [[prophetic]] poetry has been said to form "what is in [[proportion]] to its merits the least read body of poetry in the English language". His visual artistry led one contemporary art critic to proclaim him "far and away the greatest artist Britain has ever produced". In 2002, Blake was placed at number 38 in the BBC's poll of the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/100_Greatest_Britons 100 Greatest Britons]. Although he lived in London his entire life (except for three years spent in [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felpham Felpham]), he produced a diverse and [[symbolically]] rich oeuvre, 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 characterised as part of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romantic_movement Romantic movement] and "Pre-Romantic", for its large appearance in the 18th century. Reverent of the Bible but hostile to the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_England Church of England] (indeed, to all forms of organised religion), Blake was influenced by the ideals and ambitions of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Revolution French] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Revolution American Revolutions]. Though later he rejected many of these political [[beliefs]], he maintained an amiable [[relationship]] with the political activist [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Paine Thomas Paine]; he was also influenced by thinkers such as [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emanuel_Swedenborg Emanuel Swedenborg]. Despite these known influences, the singularity of Blake's work makes him difficult to classify. The 19th-century scholar [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Rossetti William Rossetti] characterised him as a "glorious luminary", and "a man not forestalled by predecessors, nor to be classed with contemporaries, nor to be replaced by known or readily surmisable successors".

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 characterised as part of the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romantic_movement Romantic movement] and "Pre-Romantic", for its large appearance in the 18th century. Reverent of the Bible but hostile to the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_England Church of England] (indeed, to all forms of organised religion), Blake was influenced by the ideals and ambitions of the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Revolution French] and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Revolution American Revolutions]. Though later he rejected many of these political [[beliefs]], he maintained an amiable [[relationship]] with the political activist [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Paine Thomas Paine]; he was also influenced by thinkers such as [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emanuel_Swedenborg Emanuel Swedenborg]. Despite these known influences, the singularity of Blake's work makes him difficult to classify. The 19th-century scholar [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Rossetti William Rossetti] characterised him as a "glorious luminary", and "a man not forestalled by predecessors, nor to be classed with contemporaries, nor to be replaced by known or readily surmisable successors".

Because Blake's later poetry contains a private [[mythology]] with complex [[symbolism]], his late work has been less published than his earlier more accessible work. The Vintage anthology of Blake edited by Patti Smith focuses heavily on the earlier work, as do many critical studies such as William Blake by D. G. Gillham.

Because Blake's later poetry contains a private [[mythology]] with complex [[symbolism]], his late work has been less published than his earlier more accessible work. The Vintage anthology of Blake edited by Patti Smith focuses heavily on the earlier work, as do many critical studies such as William Blake by D. G. Gillham.

[[Psychoanalyst]] June Singer has written that Blake's late work displayed a [[development]] of the [[ideas]] first introduced in his earlier works, namely, the humanitarian goal of achieving personal [[wholeness]] of [[body]] and [[spirit]]. The final section of the expanded edition of her Blake study The Unholy Bible suggests the later works are the "Bible of Hell" promised in The Marriage of Heaven and Hell. Regarding Blake's final poem "Jerusalem", she writes: "[T]he promise of the [[divine]] in man, made in ''The Marriage of Heaven and Hell'', is at last fulfilled."[62]

[[Psychoanalyst]] June Singer has written that Blake's late work displayed a [[development]] of the [[ideas]] first introduced in his earlier works, namely, the humanitarian goal of achieving personal [[wholeness]] of [[body]] and [[spirit]]. The final section of the expanded edition of her Blake study The Unholy Bible suggests the later works are the "Bible of Hell" promised in The Marriage of Heaven and Hell. Regarding Blake's final poem "Jerusalem", she writes: "[T]he promise of the [[divine]] in man, made in ''The Marriage of Heaven and Hell'', is at last fulfilled."[62]

John Middleton Murry notes discontinuity between ''Marriage'' and the late works, in that while the early Blake focused on a "sheer negative opposition between [[Energy]] and [[Reason]]", the later Blake emphasised the notions of self-sacrifice and forgiveness as the road to interior wholeness. This [[renunciation]] of the sharper [[dualism]] of ''Marriage of Heaven and Hell'' is evidenced in particular by the humanisation of the character of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urizen Urizen] in the later works. Middleton characterises the later Blake as having found "mutual understanding" and "mutual forgiveness".

John Middleton Murry notes discontinuity between ''Marriage'' and the late works, in that while the early Blake focused on a "sheer negative opposition between [[Energy]] and [[Reason]]", the later Blake emphasised the notions of self-sacrifice and forgiveness as the road to interior wholeness. This [[renunciation]] of the sharper [[dualism]] of ''Marriage of Heaven and Hell'' is evidenced in particular by the humanisation of the character of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urizen Urizen] in the later works. Middleton characterises the later Blake as having found "mutual understanding" and "mutual forgiveness".

==See also==

==See also==

*'''''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_blake#Bibliography Blake Bibliography]'''''

*'''''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_blake#Bibliography Blake Bibliography]'''''

[[Category:The Arts]]

[[Category:The Arts]]

[[Category: Languages and Literature]]

[[Category: Languages and Literature]]