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Poetry for Young People
William Blake
With its combination of poetic brilliance and exquisite art, the Poetry for Young People series has won the admiration of critics, educators, children, and parents. Every breathtaking volume in this acclaimed, bestselling collection features magnificent full-color illustrations that enhance each verse, and a renowned scholar’s guidance to help children understand and love poetry. There’s an introduction to each poem, full annotations that define unfamiliar vocabulary, and fascinating biographical information.The star of this superb new entry in the series is 18th century artist and poet William Blake, who wrote his mystical, spirit-filled verses for children and adults alike. Best known for his masterpieces “Songs of Innocence” and “Songs of Experience”—both excerpted here—he speaks of love, hate, anguish, relief and above all, mercy and the divine image that comforts us. Blake often uses simple, lovely language that young readers can appreciate, as well as animal metaphors; his poems sometimes even come in pairs, with the same subjects seen from different points of view. Professor John Maynard (Poetry for Young People: Alfred Lord Tennyson) provides the excellent biography and notes. Artist Alessandra Cimatoribus contributes richly colored and magically rendered paintings that fully capture the gentleness of “The Lamb,” the sparkling deep blue sky and angels of “Night,” and “The Tyger,” eyes glistening and sharp teeth bared—burning bright.
48 pages, Hardcover
First published April 1, 2007
About the author
William Blake
1,335 books3,321 followersWilliam 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."
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."
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
February 29, 2020
I was drawn to this book for the simplistic presentation and the transcendentalism of William Blake.
The introduction is quite informative and well-written. Definitions of old-style words throughout the books was distracting, taking away from individual interpretation.
Apparently this is part of series of children's picture books featuring different poets. I think many children would find these poems hard to understand, but I guess it's a nice attempt to introduce children to classic poetry. Not sure if I'll look for other books in the series or not.
Favorite Passages from the Introduction:
In developing his myths Blake had help that was truly exceptional. All his life he believed he could make direct contact with creatures of another world. This was not science fiction but his special experience of religion.
_______
An acquaintance said he was "a man without a mask; his aim single, his path straight-forwards, and his wants few; so he was free, noble, and happy." . . . He was said to be patient as a lamb, able to roar like a lion, but with non of the serpent's sneakiness.
_______
When he read a book, he often talked back to the author, agreeing or sometimes strongly disagreeing with him or her by vigorous comments in the margins.
_______
These long poems have a dreamlike quality even as they suggest great battles of giants and upheavals of the earth. Thy are Blake's visions, and like human feelings, they are very fluid, characters changing and melting into other states of their selves or other characters. All together, they are only parts of the total, man. Blake has been called a great poet of metamorphosis, of change in form, as people where changed into animals or bushes or rivers in Greek and Roman myths.
Favorite Passages from Blake's Poetry:
The sun descending in the west
The evening star does shine.
The birds are silent in their nest,
And I must seek for mine.
_______
wash'd in life's river
_______
When the voices of children are heard on the green
And laughing is heard on the hill,
My heart is at rest within my breast
And every thing else is still.
_______
And their sun does never shine.
And their fields are bleak & bare.
And their ways are fill'd with thorns.
It is eternal winter there.
_______
Tyger, Tyger, burning bright,
In the forests of the night:
What immortal had or eye,
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
In what distant deeps or skies
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand dare sieze the fire?
And what shoulder, & what art,
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand? & what dread feet?
What the hammer? what the chain?
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? what dread grasp,
Dare its deadly terrors clasp?
When the stars threw down their spears
And water'd heaven with their tears:
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the Lamb make thee?
Tyger, Tyge, burning bright,
In the forests of the night:
What immortal hand to eye,
Dare frame they fearful symmetry?
_______
I love to rise in a summer morn,
When the birds sing on every tree;
The distant huntsman winds his horn,
And the sky-lark sings with me.
O! what sweet company.
_______
How can the bird that is born for joy,
Sit in a cage and sing?
How can a child when fears annoy,
But droop his tender wing,
And forget his youthful spring?
_______
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.
_______
I will not cease from Mental Fight
The introduction is quite informative and well-written. Definitions of old-style words throughout the books was distracting, taking away from individual interpretation.
Apparently this is part of series of children's picture books featuring different poets. I think many children would find these poems hard to understand, but I guess it's a nice attempt to introduce children to classic poetry. Not sure if I'll look for other books in the series or not.
Favorite Passages from the Introduction:
In developing his myths Blake had help that was truly exceptional. All his life he believed he could make direct contact with creatures of another world. This was not science fiction but his special experience of religion.
_______
An acquaintance said he was "a man without a mask; his aim single, his path straight-forwards, and his wants few; so he was free, noble, and happy." . . . He was said to be patient as a lamb, able to roar like a lion, but with non of the serpent's sneakiness.
_______
When he read a book, he often talked back to the author, agreeing or sometimes strongly disagreeing with him or her by vigorous comments in the margins.
_______
These long poems have a dreamlike quality even as they suggest great battles of giants and upheavals of the earth. Thy are Blake's visions, and like human feelings, they are very fluid, characters changing and melting into other states of their selves or other characters. All together, they are only parts of the total, man. Blake has been called a great poet of metamorphosis, of change in form, as people where changed into animals or bushes or rivers in Greek and Roman myths.
Favorite Passages from Blake's Poetry:
The sun descending in the west
The evening star does shine.
The birds are silent in their nest,
And I must seek for mine.
_______
wash'd in life's river
_______
When the voices of children are heard on the green
And laughing is heard on the hill,
My heart is at rest within my breast
And every thing else is still.
_______
And their sun does never shine.
And their fields are bleak & bare.
And their ways are fill'd with thorns.
It is eternal winter there.
_______
Tyger, Tyger, burning bright,
In the forests of the night:
What immortal had or eye,
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
In what distant deeps or skies
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand dare sieze the fire?
And what shoulder, & what art,
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand? & what dread feet?
What the hammer? what the chain?
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? what dread grasp,
Dare its deadly terrors clasp?
When the stars threw down their spears
And water'd heaven with their tears:
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the Lamb make thee?
Tyger, Tyge, burning bright,
In the forests of the night:
What immortal hand to eye,
Dare frame they fearful symmetry?
_______
I love to rise in a summer morn,
When the birds sing on every tree;
The distant huntsman winds his horn,
And the sky-lark sings with me.
O! what sweet company.
_______
How can the bird that is born for joy,
Sit in a cage and sing?
How can a child when fears annoy,
But droop his tender wing,
And forget his youthful spring?
_______
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.
_______
I will not cease from Mental Fight
August 7, 2020
I've read a fair bit of Blake already, but never in such a carefully designed collection. I did not realize that the wicked Urizen probably means 'your reason.' Nor did I realize that he was working about 1 1/2 centuries *after* Shakespeare, and in fact during the time that America was breaking free of England, and in fact that our revolution and the French one informed his thoughts and his writings. Hmm....
Anyway, this collection is def. worth reading. It's commonly said that 'it's either from Shakespeare or the Bible' but a lot of great lines we have encountered are from Blake (and Whitman, and Frost). Homeschooling families would do well to read this whole series.
I'd give it an easy four stars, but it took me quite awhile to get used to the illustrative style and I still don't love it. So, yeah, rounding up from 3.5
Anyway, this collection is def. worth reading. It's commonly said that 'it's either from Shakespeare or the Bible' but a lot of great lines we have encountered are from Blake (and Whitman, and Frost). Homeschooling families would do well to read this whole series.
I'd give it an easy four stars, but it took me quite awhile to get used to the illustrative style and I still don't love it. So, yeah, rounding up from 3.5
January 4, 2018
I found the introduction very interesting, since I hadn't known much about Blake himself. I thought the earlier poems in the book generally were a better fit for the purpose than the later ones. I don't care for the illustrations, though I can see how some people would like them. But especially after hearing in the intro about what an artist Blake was himself, and seeing some examples, the illustrations just didn't seem very in tune with him.
December 9, 2009
William Blake Poetry for Young People
Grades 1-4
The editor of this book is John Maynard who is a Professor and Chair of New York University’s English department. The illustrator, Alessandra Cimatoribus, uses bright yet soft colors and rounded contours to depict images of lions, birds, nature and people. The illustrations are abstract and charming. The tiger illustrated next to the poem “The Tyger” has very short limbs, a huge head and a small mouth showing his small canine teeth. The editor notes that “In Blake’s illustration the tiger looks, surprisingly, not very fierce, like a big pussycat.” A lot of the poems feature rhyme, alliteration, assonance and consonance. The images of several of the poems appeal to the senses of sight, touch, hearing as well as feelings ranging from love to hate through the use of metaphors. I think children would really enjoy this book because of the rhythm and rhyme of the poems as well as the images both by the illustrator and the images evoked by the poems. The poems have meaningful stories about relationships and feelings that children will be able to relate to.
Language Arts/Art/Social Studies
Grades 1-4
The students can write their own poem on any of the themes from William Blake’s Poetry for Young People, and draw an image from the metaphors used in the poem of their choice. William Blake was an artist and a British romantic poet during the 1700s; children can learn more about the 1700s and what inspired Blake’s work during that time in history.
Grades 1-4
The editor of this book is John Maynard who is a Professor and Chair of New York University’s English department. The illustrator, Alessandra Cimatoribus, uses bright yet soft colors and rounded contours to depict images of lions, birds, nature and people. The illustrations are abstract and charming. The tiger illustrated next to the poem “The Tyger” has very short limbs, a huge head and a small mouth showing his small canine teeth. The editor notes that “In Blake’s illustration the tiger looks, surprisingly, not very fierce, like a big pussycat.” A lot of the poems feature rhyme, alliteration, assonance and consonance. The images of several of the poems appeal to the senses of sight, touch, hearing as well as feelings ranging from love to hate through the use of metaphors. I think children would really enjoy this book because of the rhythm and rhyme of the poems as well as the images both by the illustrator and the images evoked by the poems. The poems have meaningful stories about relationships and feelings that children will be able to relate to.
Language Arts/Art/Social Studies
Grades 1-4
The students can write their own poem on any of the themes from William Blake’s Poetry for Young People, and draw an image from the metaphors used in the poem of their choice. William Blake was an artist and a British romantic poet during the 1700s; children can learn more about the 1700s and what inspired Blake’s work during that time in history.
Read
January 22, 2022I was familiar with William Blake's poetry because I memorized the first Chimney Sweeper poem at one point. The annotation and drawing helped me understand the poem even before. That's something cool about this anthology: each poem has a little introductory message that helps readers understand what they are reading. Blake also had a unique way of writing so there are also endnotes that explain the meaning of words, which is also helpful. This would be great to have in my English class library because if students are writing (or memorizing) poetry they could be inspired by Blake and choose poems from there. It is also important for poetry-writers to read quite a bit of other poetry. I will say that, if reading this to kids, the drawings are small and don't take up the whole page so picture-lovers may be a bit disappointed.
February 11, 2022
I usually enjoy the Poetry for Young People books, but I didn’t care for the illustrations in this specific title. I do appreciate these books because they include a short bio and little introduction to each poem, and definitions to some more difficult to understand words or phrases.
Read
March 22, 2023I love the poetry for young people's series and the poetry selection in this one is well thought out. But I did not like the illustrations in this book. My children thought the pictures were "creepy" and preferred to listen to the text and never looked at it on their own.
February 19, 2026
This is a great book for children to read and learn about Poetry. This is more for children in grades 4-6. It helps students learn new vocabulary as well. There are many themes involved in this book usch as innocence and nature.
February 25, 2015
Personal Reaction:
I honestly thought a lot of the poetry in the book had a darker side to it. I liked how it gave a little summary of the author’s purpose at the top of the page, and it also defined certain words in the poems on the bottom or side of the page. I did enjoy the imagery that Blake uses in his poems.
Purpose:
I could see these poems being read aloud to 3rd and 4th graders. The poems use wonderful vocabulary, which would help stretch the student’s language. It would also provides excellent examples of imagery and insight into human nature. The poems in the book have a variety of elements, some of the poems have rhymes and are lyrical, where as others are narrative. This book could be used for many things in the classroom, because of the diversity of topics. If students are misbehaving, there are some poems, which deal with anger. These types of poem could open up a discussion for the students on how to control their anger or emotions.
I honestly thought a lot of the poetry in the book had a darker side to it. I liked how it gave a little summary of the author’s purpose at the top of the page, and it also defined certain words in the poems on the bottom or side of the page. I did enjoy the imagery that Blake uses in his poems.
Purpose:
I could see these poems being read aloud to 3rd and 4th graders. The poems use wonderful vocabulary, which would help stretch the student’s language. It would also provides excellent examples of imagery and insight into human nature. The poems in the book have a variety of elements, some of the poems have rhymes and are lyrical, where as others are narrative. This book could be used for many things in the classroom, because of the diversity of topics. If students are misbehaving, there are some poems, which deal with anger. These types of poem could open up a discussion for the students on how to control their anger or emotions.
November 13, 2012
A 31 peom collection, this book captures simple language and animal metaphors for the younger reader population. Rich-colored paintings go along with each poem to help get the author's point of view and feeling to the reader. Many of his poems have strong Christian images or deal with harsh social themes. Poems can be tricky and comprehended in many different ways and some even had me wondering. Poetry not my normal genre of choice.
October 20, 2010
All of my children LOVE this book! My three and four-year-olds request this the most. Blake wrote beautiful poetry, much of which has Christian symbolism that my children point out easily. Other poems are about childhood, dreams, dealing with hardships, and helping others. A beautiful, wonderful book that I highly recommend to all parents!
January 2, 2010
I have wanted the William Blake volume of this series for years, and got it for Christmas! It was wonderful. I learn so much from the introductions and annotations in these books.
July 24, 2011
a good selection of poems
and information about the poems explaining them to children
and information about the poems explaining them to children
November 12, 2011
A wonderful collection by this fine English poet. Another fabulous addition to this fine series.
December 13, 2011
Wonderful book to read to any age of children, full book of poetry.
June 6, 2012
Notes:
not our favorite poet
books in this series are very nice though
not our favorite poet
books in this series are very nice though
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews