William Blake (1757–1827) was an English poet, painter and engraver, almost unknown in his lifetime and now regarded as one of the greatest artists of the Romantic age. He wrote and illustrated the Songs of Innocence and of Experience, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell and long prophetic books, printing them himself by a technique he invented.
Works
Songs of Innocence, Songs of Experience, Auguries of Innocence
A visionary child
Blake was born in London in 1757, the son of a hosier. He did not go to school but was taught to read at home, and from childhood saw visions: at about eight or ten he said he saw a tree filled with angels on Peckham Rye. His parents encouraged his gift for drawing.
At fourteen he was apprenticed to the engraver James Basire, who sent him to draw the tombs in Westminster Abbey, and he later studied briefly at the Royal Academy. In 1782 he married Catherine Boucher, a market gardener's daughter whom he taught to read and to help him print.
Illuminated books
Blake invented a method he called relief etching, which allowed him to print text and pictures together on copper plates, then colour each copy by hand with Catherine. He said the method had been revealed to him in a dream by his dead brother Robert.
In this way he produced Songs of Innocence (1789) and Songs of Experience (1794), The Marriage of Heaven and Hell and his prophetic books, which build a personal mythology of spiritual liberation. Only a few copies of each were made, and they sold very poorly.
Poverty and late recognition
Blake earned his living mainly as a commercial engraver. In 1803 he was tried for sedition after a quarrel with a soldier in his garden at Felpham, and acquitted. An exhibition of his paintings in 1809 was a failure, and he lived in increasing poverty.
In his last years a group of young painters, who called themselves the Ancients, gathered around him. He illustrated the Book of Job and Dante's Divine Comedy, and died in London in 1827, singing, according to witnesses. His reputation grew steadily after his death.
Anecdotes
A lost grave
Blake was buried in an unmarked common grave at Bunhill Fields in London. The exact spot was forgotten until two researchers located it in the early twenty-first century, and a new gravestone was unveiled there in 2018.
Jerusalem
The short poem known as Jerusalem, which comes from the preface to Blake's prophetic book Milton, was set to music by Hubert Parry in 1916 and has become one of the most popular songs in England, sung at the Last Night of the Proms.
Frequently asked questions
What are Blake's most famous poems?
The Tyger, The Lamb, London, The Chimney Sweeper, the lyrics of the Songs of Innocence and of Experience, and Jerusalem.
How did Blake print his books?
By a technique he invented, relief etching, which reproduced text and illustration together from copper plates; each copy was then coloured by hand.
Was Blake famous in his lifetime?
No. He was known mainly as an engraver and regarded by many as eccentric or mad; his genius was recognised only after his death.