William Blake

William Blake was an artist and poet in England during the Romantic Age. Blake’s was a very imaginative person from the start, his poetry coming quite naturally. Something that I related to about him was that in his early years as a salesman, he used to doodle on the backs of customer’s bills. I find this particularly funny and relatable because I am one of those artists as well that draws on the back of receipts at work.

Blake is well-known as a person for being a forerunner for “free love” movement during the 19th century. It encouraged sexual exploration outside of marriage and challenged the church’s thoughts on chastity.

In my opinion, Blake is best known for his illustrated etchings in the Book of Thel (Fig. 1), a book of poetry that he created himself.  It is a very beautiful piece and I respect the time and effort that went into it. One of his most important works, The Anceint of Days (Fig. 2) addressed his own mindset, which combined reason and law. These are two hard things to grasp together, but it is interesting to see it portrayed in one image.

Figure 1: Book of Thel, 1788-1790

Figure 2: The Ancient of Days, 1794

Eve Tempted by the Serpent, 1799, 1800

Satan Calling Up His Legions, 1805-1809

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Works Cited

Burdett, Osbert. William Blake, Parkstone International, 2012. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.ezproxy.capilanou.ca/lib/capilano-ebooks/detail.action?docID=915118.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Book_of_Thel

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Blake