English poet · 1757–1827
William Blake
William Blake was a London poet, printmaker and visionary artist whose illuminated books joined verse and image in a form he controlled from engraving to colouring.
Songs of Innocence and of Experience sets apparently simple lyrics against poverty, repression, faith and imaginative freedom, often making a childlike voice carry an adult social argument.
How to read William Blake
- Compressed symbols make lambs, tigers, roses and cities carry several meanings at once.
- Song rhythms and repeated questions create memorable surfaces while leaving moral answers unsettled.