William Blake Biography

William Blake (1757-1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker who is widely considered one of the most important figures of the Romantic era. He was born in London, England, and spent most of his life there.

Blake began his career as an engraver and illustrator, and he quickly gained a reputation for his skill and innovation in the field. He also began writing poetry, and his first collection, Poetical Sketches, was published in 1783.

Blake's poetry is known for its spiritual and mystical themes, and his work often explores the relationship between the human spirit and the divine. He is also known for his vivid and imaginative visual art, which often depicts scenes from his own poetry.

Despite his talent and innovation, Blake struggled to gain recognition during his lifetime, and he died in relative obscurity. However, his work was rediscovered in the 20th century and has since become widely celebrated and studied.

Today, Blake is regarded as one of the greatest poets and visual artists in English history, and his influence on modern literature and art cannot be overstated. His work continues to inspire and challenge readers and artists around the world, and his unique vision and voice remain as relevant and powerful as ever.

William Blake and his works have been widely studied and critiqued during the twentieth and now the twenty-first centuries, although he was hardly recognized before that. His biography "Life" by Alexander Gilchrist made him famous in 1863, but it wasn't until the beginning of the twentieth century that he was truly understood and recognized. It appears that his art was too daring and unusual for the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries; perhaps he was even ahead of his time? In any case, he is a well-known figure in Romantic literature whose work is subject to a variety of interpretations, some of which have been known to take a lifetime to uncover. His works are difficult to comprehend, and he as a person has sparked a lot of dispute. Henry Crabb Robinson, who was a diarist and friend of Blake’s at the end of his life asked the question many students of Blake are still unable to conclusively answer:

“Shall I call him artist or genius – or mystic – or madman?” (Lucas, 1998 p. 1)

Blake dropped out of school at the age of 10 to attend the Henry Pars Drawing Academy for five years, despite being a well-read and brilliant man. He began composing poetry at the age of twelve, and in 1783, his friends financed for the printing of his first collection of rhymes, "Poetical Sketches," which is today considered an important poetical event of the 18th century. Despite his poetic abilities, his official occupation was that of an engraver. In 1772, he began his apprenticeship with the engraver James Basire since he could not afford to pursue a painter's apprenticeship. He joined the Royal Academy of Art six years after completing his apprenticeship. He wrote and sketched for fun at this point. In 1784, he founded his own business and published "Island in the Moon," a parody of his contemporaries in the art and literature social circles with whom he associated. He married Catherine Boucher in 1782.

The society in which Blake lived had a major effect on him. During Britain's struggle with republican France, he lived during revolutionary times and witnessed the fall of London. As he grew older, his disdain for society deepened, 'The Songs of Innocence and Experience' depicts this transformation.

Although Blake is not commonly renowned for being a grotesque artist, his experiences and dissatisfaction with late-eighteenth-century London society plainly emulates grotesque features. Due to the impossibility of discussing all of Blake's works, this study will concentrate on 'Songs of Innocence and Experience,' specifically 'Songs of Experience,' to see how he depicted his thoughts on society and how the grotesque fits into that.

Blake's preoccupation with good and evil, as well as his strong philosophical and theological views, lasted the rest of his life, and he never ceased representing them in his poems and engravings. Although the Blake family name perished with him when he died in 1827 at the age of sixty-nine, his reputation as a fascinating, complicated man with various creative abilities will undoubtedly go on long into this century. 'Europe,' 'America,' 'Visions of the Daughters of Albion,' and 'The Book of Urizen' are among his other well-known works.