This collection was designed for optimal navigation on Kindle and other electronic devices. It is indexed alphabetically making it easier to access individual poems. This collection offers lower price, the convenience of a one-time download, and it reduces the clutter in your digital library. All books included in this collection feature a hyperlinked table of contents. The collection is complimented by an author biography.
Table of Contents
Poetical Sketches (1769–1777) An Island in the Moon (unfinished c.1787) Songs of Innocence and Experience (1789–1794) Tiriel (1789) The Book of Thel (1789) The French Revolution unpublished (1791) The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (1790–1793) Visions of the Daughters of Albion (1793) The Gates of Paradise (1793) A Prophecy (1793) A Prophecy (1794) The Book of Ahania (1795) Selections from Vala, or The Four Zoas (1797–1803) Selection From Milton (1804–1809) Selections From Jerusalem (1804–1820) Poems from the Rossetti Manuscript (circa 1787–1818) The Ballads (or Pickering) Manuscript (circa 1801–1803)
List of Works in Alphabetical Order William Blake Biography
William Blake was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his lifetime, Blake's work is today considered seminal and significant in the history of both poetry and the visual arts.
Blake's prophetic poetry has been said to form "what is in proportion to its merits the least read body of poetry in the language". His visual artistry has led one modern critic to proclaim him "far and away the greatest artist Britain has ever produced." Although he only once travelled any further than a day's walk outside London over the course of his life, his creative vision engendered a diverse and symbolically rich corpus, which embraced 'imagination' as "the body of God", or "Human existence itself".
Once considered mad for his idiosyncratic views, Blake is highly regarded today for his expressiveness and creativity, and the philosophical and mystical currents that underlie his work. His work has been characterized as part of the Romantic movement, or even "Pre-Romantic", for its largely having appeared in the 18th century. Reverent of the Bible but hostile to the established Church, Blake was influenced by the ideals and ambitions of the French and American revolutions, as well as by such thinkers as Emanuel Swedenborg.
Despite these known influences, the originality and singularity of Blake's work make it difficult to classify. One 19th century scholar characterised Blake as a "glorious luminary", "a man not forestalled by predecessors, nor to be classed with contemporaries, nor to be replaced by known or readily surmisable successors."
Before the Blake lovers see my 3 star rating and blow a gasket, let me clarify that my rating is not for Blake's work but for the book itself.
This claims to be the 'Complete Works' of William Blake and that's where it falls at the first hurdle because even someone like myself, who studied Blake at school but certainly does not claim to be an expert on the man, can tell there's stuff that's just not in here.
I also have to dock points for the layout, which is slapdash, and the lack of any kind of perceptive editing. There are so many typos I stopped counting them before I got to the 10% mark, the photographs and illustrations are often mislabeled and in the wrong place and some of the illustrative plates are just missing.
I can't bring myself to give this fewer than 3 stars because of the quality of Blake's work but it definitely doesn't deserve more due to the above issues. A shame; Blake deserves better.
(I’m using this listing to review Anne Malcolmson’s William Blake: An Introduction, since no listing for the book exists on Goodreads. You can find it on Amazon here: http://www.amazon.com/William-Blake-I....)
A perfect little introduction to Blake, Malcolmson’s biographical note and comments on the poems are well done and unobtrusive. Not at all academic, she gets at Blake’s real strangeness as well as his appealing, compassionate humanity. A dozen or so color plates are included. The book is out of print, but I found a lovely teal hardcover at a used bookshop. I plan to leave it in a strategic spot where my kids are sure to pick it up and flip through it on a rainy day.
His poems were bit different than the other romantic poets. However, he was not a romantic poet also. The angelic touch and bit of holiness make his poems even better. One stanza that I remembered the most form his collection is: "He who binds to himself a joy Does the winged life destroy; But he who kisses the joy as it flies Lives in Eternity's sunrise." The poem of Blake presents questions that derail conventional thinking, rather than providing the reader with easily assimilated answers.
Essay is a basic chronology of Blake's life and his artwork. plates are of course wonderful. Some are very familiar, but some I've never seen. realized I haven't seen the illustrated Songs of Innocence and Death, just read poems in anthologies. I think I will like them more if I can see them with the d paintings. Essay illuminated philosophies between such included works as the Marriage of Heaven and Hell. what an interesting character Blake was.
Any book which displays Blake’s plates in full colour is a 4* minimum every time. This is a lovely, quick dip into Blake’s art. It covers a range of Blake’s plates, including some lesser known ones. The short explanations dip into technique, history, related plates and collections. Be aware, it only really covers Blake’s art work, barely touching on his poetry.
Fab as an introduction to Blake’s work or as a pleasant distraction for an hour or so for fans.
I'm not really interested in poetry, but I wanted to learn a little bit about William Blake since he is the subject of a Newbery Medal winning book that I'm planning to reread soon. I found an abridged version of this book on Hoopla audio which only includes a little over an hour of William Blake's poetry.
I have spent months reading this book, and I am not confident it was worth my time. I am reading additional books regarding the man and his works, so maybe my appreciation of Blake will improve.
Blake's work is fascinating and visionary. It must be said I found this edition highly under-edited, as there were very few useful notes on the more opaque references in his poems.
Blake seems to combine the talents of a very fine poet with a rare intellect, able to see and describe things of which the rest of us are oblivious. Mind you, I didn't read the entire book, but those parts selected by Fadiman and Major in their New Lifetime Reading Plan. Treat yourself to something worthwhile! Recommended!
"But most, through midnight streets I hear How the youthful harlot's curse Blasts the new-born infant's tear, And blights with plagues the marriage hearse."
William Blake is probs my favourite poet, or is at least in the top ten.
взялась читати,бо через твір спіткаєшся об аллюзію на блейка.може,забагато очікувала,може,надто його зпопсували і,читай я раніше,може,мене б теж вивернуло_перевернуло, - зараз - просто темна,лячна,хороша така поезія.дуже дощова,до слова
"Não revele aos amigos os seus segredos, porque você não sabe se algum se tornará seu inimigo. Não cause ao seu inimigo todo o mal que lhe possa fazer, porque você não sabe se ele se tornará um dia seu amigo".
To be honest this was likely to stay on my currently reading status for an age as I never tire of Blake's prose and consistently return yo it,dipping in and out of various bits as the mood takes
This book contains a bare minimum of Blake's works, despite appropriating the cover of Erdman's excellent edition. This is misleading and should be removed.