About the author: Early Life:
On November 28, 1757, in London England, William Blake was born into a period of time that focused on classical ideals, satire and skepticism. This period recognized the age of the Greek empire to be of the greatest periods in history, emulating its various styles and rigid rules that so guided its artists, architects, writers, and musicians. Blake grew up questioning this mindset as he was prone to visions and claimed to have seen God and the prophet Ezekiel on multiple occasions. His childhood education was spearheaded by his mother and was taught predominantly in his childhood home. At age 10, he was sent from home to go to school as Henry Par's drawing school. At 14 he began an apprenticeship at an engraver's where his love affair with Gothic architecture and art began. This style would eventually influence his later works. He stayed in this apprenticeship for seven years, writing poetry all along the way. Adult Life: In 1782, Blake married Catherine Boucher who was illiterate at the time. He taught her to read and write, instructing her all of the skills he had previously learned in his engraving apprenticeship. She would eventually aid him in producing his illuminated poetry that he is so famous for. Catherine and he never bore any children and lead simple lives for the entirety of their marriage. He attempted in 1784 to create his own printshop with a friend but the endeavor failed, unable to get off the ground floor. His brother died a couple years later in 1787, upon the day of which Blake claims to have seen his brother's soul rise joyously out of his body and into the sky to heaven. Blake claims to have been visited on later occasions by his brother's spirit, believing that his brother provided him the inspiration to begin his new method of printing that would be used in his "illuminated works." He would continue to work, create, and print until his death in 1827, in the process of creating illustrations for Dante's Divine Comedy. Works: Blake's first printed work was publish in 1783. Poetical Sketches shows the heavy influence that classical works had over his writing from the start. Yet, his focus on political strife and injustice is emphasized, which appears in his later works. 1789 and 1794 saw the release of his more prominent books, Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience. These poems, written in common language, were easy for all levels of individuals to read and understand. A large part of Blake's mindset in creating his works was that they should be accessible to all peoples, thus, resulting in simple, unostentatious language and dialogue. The miracle here, though, is that his poetry still had quite a large impact, addressing social issues that had so dwelled in the dark parts of people's consciences in an attempt to be forgotten. Source: Academyofpoets.org
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