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Blake William 1757 - 1827 (70)

To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour.


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Proverbs of Hell


Evening Star



William Blake (November 28, 1757 - August 12, 1827) was one of the most important English poets of the 18th century; he was also painter, engraver and illustrator. He was born in London, the third of the five children of a merchant. At 10 he stopped the conventional school to attend a painting school. At twelve he started writing poems while saying he was watching ecstatic visions. At 15, he became an apprentice to the most famous engraver, stayed with him for 7 years and then, he continued his apprenticeship at the Royal Academy of Painting. In 1782 he married Catherine Boucher, a poor and illiterate girl; he trained her in writing, reading and engraving, so she became a companion, assistant, helper, and supporter in many difficult times they had because of their poverty. In 1783 his first collection of poems entitled "Poetry Drawings" was published, and in 1784, after his father's death, he ran with his brother Robert a shop of design and painting. In 1787, his brother Robert died of tuberculosis and Blake claimed that he saw his soul leaving the body. In 1790 he closed the shop and moved with his wife to Lambeth, where he will continue his feverish work in poetry, engraving and iconography.

In 1800 he moved to Sussex and in 1803 he was wrongly accused of betrayal against the country because he had driven a soldier out of his home. The real reason was his liberal ideas. William believed in the American and French revolution and opposed to the oppression of both the Church and the British Empire. He managed to get out of court dispute and returned with his wife to London. Although he continued to exhibit paintings and publishing poems, criticism was constantly condemning them, so his works did not sell and they were living in poverty. Frustrated by the disapproval, in the period 1809-1818 he created very few works and did not even try to sell them. In 1820, as if awakening from lethargy, he started working again, with the aim, to draw hundreds of historical and imaginary faces that had appeared to him, as he said, in a vision, (King Solomon, Merlin, ancient Egyptians, Satan, Angels etc). In 1827 he began to make 102 watermarks for Dante's Divine Comedy, but he did not manage to finish them as he died on 12 August 1827, leaving many of his works unfinished. In his era, his talent had been neglected and he was mocked as insane; today he is considered a charismatic genius.