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'''William Blake''' (1757-1827) was a British poet, painter, visionary mystic, and engraver, who illustrated and printed his own books. Blake proclaimed the supremacy of the imagination over the rationalism and materialism of the 18th-century. He joined for a time the Swedenborgian Church of the New Jerusalem in London and considered Newtonian science to be superstitious nonsense. Misunderstanding shadowed his career as a writer and artist and it was left to later generations to recognize his importance.
'''William Blake''' (1757-1827) was a British poet, painter, visionary mystic, and engraver, who illustrated and printed his own books. The best-known are the lyrical ''Songs of Innocence'' (1789) and ''Songs of Experienc''e (1794) and his comments on established religion, ''The Marriage of Heaven and Hell'' and ''The Everlasting Gospel''. His best-known work is probably the short lyric ''Jerusalem'', from the preface to his poem ''Milton''. This was set to music by Parry, and is one of the most popular English hymns.
He also wrote and illustrated several long epic poems of his own invented mythology. These are some of the most strikingly original works in English literature and art. His work was so different from that of most poets of his time that it was mainly ignored during his lifetime.
Blake belonged to no particular poetic movement, but is now often felt to be one of the earliest and greatest figures of the Romantic movement which flourished in the first half of the nineteenth century. He proclaimed the supremacy of the imagination over the rationalism and materialism of the 18th-century. He joined for a time the Swedenborgian Church of the New Jerusalem in London and considered Newtonian science to be a limitation on the human imagination. Misunderstanding shadowed his career as a writer and artist and it was left to later generations to recognize his importance.
Blake was sometimes called mad because of his unusual views on religion and morality, and because he claimed that his work was inspired by visions. He lived in near-poverty most of his life, and when he died he was buried in a common grave.
==Links==
==Links==
*[http://www.arthistoryarchive.com/arthistory/romanticism/Henry-Fuseli-William-Blake.html William Blake Biography & Art Archive]
*[http://www.arthistoryarchive.com/arthistory/romanticism/Henry-Fuseli-William-Blake.html William Blake Biography & Art Archive]
[[Category:Artists]]
[[Category:Artists]]