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William Blake (1757-1827) wrote both short lyric poems and longer epic poems based on an elaborate mythology that he devised, but he was not recognized as a poet during his lifetime. He earned his living as an engraver and painter. As a working artisan, he experienced many of the inequalities of socioeconomic conditions in late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century England.

Major works by Blake

Poetical Sketches (1783)
Songs of Innocence (1789)
The Book of Thel (1789)
The Marriage of Heaven and Hell
The French Revolution (1791)
America: A Prophecy (1793)
Visions of the Daughters of Albion (1793)
Songs of Experience (1794)
The Book of Urizen (1794)
Europe, a Prophecy (1794)
The Song of Los (1795)
The Book of Ahania (1795)
The Four Zoas (1797-1804)
Milton (1804-1808)
Jerusalem: the Emancipation of the Giant Albion (1804-1820)

Blake and the Web

This hypermedia archive sponsored by the Library of Congress is an excellent starting point for learning more about Blake's life, work, and social milieu.

This link from the National Gallery of Victoria in Australia enables you to view over 170 works of art by William Blake.

Would you like to read more by this author? Here's a collection of Blake's works in etext from the University of Toronto.