Two hundred and fifty years ago today, Soho born son of a draper,  young William Blake was certainly more acquainted with hosiery than poetry or art.   He was the third of five children and both his parents were Dissenters.  In his lifetime he was a British painter, an English Romantic  poet, and a visionary mystic.  He was also an engraver who illustrated and printed his own books.   He was, in fact, a unique and innovative artist and poet who was not recognized in his time.  Later generations, however, have felt the immense impact and influence he has made and still is making  on musicians, artists and writers.

In his early years, he didn’t have the educational advantages that children have today..  Coming from a very poor family, he only received the very basics in reading and writing,  and yet, by his own work, he has been placed as the 38th most important poet out of the top 100 in a poll organized by the BBC.  This should surely give aspiring poets some hope.

He began to move into the world of art at the age of 11 when he attended Par’s Drawing School in The Strand.  Later, after serving his apprenticeship, he became a freelance engraver, working with the bookseller, Joseph Johnson, who was often referred to as “the father of the book trade” and a man who will be remembered for publishing the books of many radical thinkers.  During this time Johnson introduced Blake to many of these people:  Mary Wollstonecraft, William Godwin, Joseph Priestley and Thomas Paine.

Catherine Boucher, artist, married Blake when he was 25, and it was she who worked with him on most of his artistic creations.  In the world of engraving, William Blake advanced quickly.  Printed words and illustrations were drawn in reverse on copper plates in an impervious liquid and then the plain parts were eaten away with acid.  Afterwards, the prints were coloured by hand.  He always claimed that he learned of this method of printing from a dream he had and that it was  his deceased brother who  planted the idea into his mind.

The first of his illuminated works (Natural Religion) appeared in 1788.   “Songs of Innocence” soon followed in 1789.  (See: 

http://www.newi.ac.uk/rdover/blake/songsinn.htm#SHEPHERD)

Hot on its heels came “Marriage of Heaven and Hell”  in 1790 and  “Songs of Experience” in 1796. 

“Songs of Innocence” describes in poetry the innocence and joy of the natural world, and it is in this book that you will find his famous poem “The Lamb”.  These poems are light, upbeat and are either written about children or from their perspective.  He was a great believer that we should have a closer link to God in our lives.  Most people have heard of his famous poem “The Lamb” (which I love so much), but if you haven’t read it, please do so.  You can find it here: 

http://asms.k12.ar.us/classes/humanities/britlit/97-98/blake/POEMS.htm#LAMB

The Songs of Experience are darker, cynical poems – more worldly wise, satirical and often angry in composition and whereas the Lamb plays a main part in “Songs of Innocence”,  it is the Tyger who presides over The Songs of Experience, with the figure of Christ hovering overhead as the Tyger.  However,  despite writing such contrary works, it is claimed that he wasn’t saying that experience was better than innocence but they are co-related states.  In many of the poems in this book is the hope of transformation for the harlots, the chimney sweeps, soldiers etc.  There is much to read to follow this up if you want to learn more.  I have only scratched the surface here.

Just two things to tell you before I end.  In 1800 Blake moved to West Sussex and spent three very happy years there, but in 1803 he was charged with high treason.  He was much too vocal in his responses to a soldier called John Schofield, who he found urinating in his garden.  Following this event, he moved back to London where he lived until his death in 1827.

We owe this great man a debt of gratitude, and we are still finding reasons to thank him, for only recently Tate Britain has showcased eight lost watercolours with handwritten texts by William Blake which again emphasise the challenging nature of the work of this extraordinary man. 

This is just a small sketch of his life, but there is so much more to read about him and the work that he did on this earth, which I am sure many of us would like to read.

Once again: