He whose face gives no light, shall never become a star.
—WILLIAM BLAKE.

William Blake was born at Broad Street, Soho, in 1757, & baptised at St James’s, Piccadilly, the third son (and second surviving) of James Blake, haberdasher & hosier, & his wife Catherine.  He grew up & lived almost all his life in London.  William, like his brothers & sister, never attended school, being educated at home by his mother.  The Bible was an early & profound influence on Blake, & would remain a source of inspiration throughout his life.  His writings & pictures reveal how a powerful artistic imagination can mould the world in its own image: “I do not behold the outward creation … it is a hindrance and not action”.

William Blake’s life spanned an age of great social & intellectual ferment.  Blake created a unique form of illustrated verse; one of the most strikingly original and independent bodies of work in the Western cultural tradition.  His lyrics, as in Songs of Innocence (1789) and Songs of Experience (1794), express spiritual wisdom in radiant imagery and symbolism and are often written with a childlike simplicity.  In prophetic books like The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (1790), America (1793), and Milton (1804), he created a vast personal mythology.  He was also a satirist, radical & visionary, with ideas astonishingly ahead of his time.

Blake’s appeal has been extraordinarily wide.  Every schoolchild encounters “The Lamb” & “The Tyger” & most people know a few of his pictures & lyric poems, & also that he wrote the anthem: “And did those feet in ancient time”.  Blake’s genius, largely unrecognized in his life, has ensured that as a poet, painter, engraver and illustrator his place in the front rank of artists is secure.  He died in London, at Fountain Court, Strand, in 1827.  He is still a challenge & an inspiration.

Last modified 22/03/2008 16:05.