William Blake'S Writings

William Blake (London, November 28, 1757 – London, August 12, 1827) was an English poet, typographer, and painter, whose painting was defined as fantastic painting.
Blake lived during a significant period in history, marked by the Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution in England. Literature was at the height of what could be called the "Augustan" classicism, a kind of paradise for those who conformed to social conventions, but not for Blake, who, in that sense, was a romantic, "seeing what many refused to see: poverty, social injustice, the negativity of the power of the Anglican Church and the state."
Blake was born at 28 Broad Street, in Soho, London, into a middle-class family. His father was a clothing manufacturer, and his mother provided for the education of Blake and his three siblings. Early on, the Bible had a profound influence on Blake, becoming one of his greatest sources of inspiration.
From a very young age, Blake claimed to have visions. The first of these occurred when he was about nine years old, when he stated that he saw angels hanging sequins on the branches of a tree. Later, one day while observing haymakers at work, Blake had a vision of angelic figures walking among them.
At just over ten years old, Blake began printing copies of drawings of Greek antiquities that his father had bought, as well as writing and illustrating his own poetry.
On August 40, 1772, Blake became an apprentice to the famous printer James Basire. This apprenticeship, which lasted until he was twenty-one, made Blake a professional in the art. According to his biographers, their relationship was harmonious and peaceful.
Among the works carried out during this period, the printing of images of London Gothic churches stands out, particularly Westminster Abbey, where Blake's own style flourished.
In 1779, Blake began his studies at the Royal English Academy, a respected artistic institution in London. His scholarship allowed him to pay for classes without any fees, however, the student was responsible for providing the materials required for the six-year course.
This period was marked by the development of Blake's character and artistic ideas, which clashed with those of his teachers and colleagues.
In 1782, after a happy relationship that ended with her rejecting his marriage proposal, Blake married Catherine Boucher. Blake taught her to read and write, as well as typography skills. Catherine reciprocated by devotedly assisting Blake in his work throughout his life.
Blake wrote and illustrated more than twenty books, including "The Book of Job" from the Bible, Dante Alighieri's "The Divine Comedy"—a work interrupted by his death—as well as titles by major British artists of his time. Many of his works were marked by his strong libertarian ideals, particularly in the poems of the book Songs of Innocence and of Experience, where he pointed to the church and high society as exploiters of the weak.
In the first volume of poems, Songs of Innocence (1789), traces of mysticism appear. Five years later, Blake returns to the theme with Songs of Experience, establishing a dialectical relationship with the previous volume, emphasizing the wickedness of society. Initially published separately, the two volumes are then printed together as Songs of Innocence and Experience - Revealing the Two Opposite States of the Human Soul.
William Blake expressed his rejection of authoritarianism in "There Is No Natural Religion" and "All Religions Are One," prose texts published in 1788. In 1790, he published his best-known prose work, "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell," in which he formulated a religious and political position that was revolutionary at the time: "the denial of the reality of matter, of eternal punishment, and of authority."
Despite his talent, engraving was very popular in his time, and Blake's books were considered strange by most. Because of this, Blake never achieved significant fame, living very close to poverty.
On the day of his death, Blake was working exhaustively on Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy, despite the poor physical condition that would ultimately lead to his death. His rather humble funeral was paid for by the person responsible for the book's illustrations, and despite his constantly precarious financial situation, Blake died without debt.
Today Blake is recognized as a saint by the Gnostic Catholic Church, and the Blake Prize for Religious Art is awarded annually in Australia in his honor.