FREE ESSAY ON WILLIAM BLAKE

WILLIAM BLAKE

William Blake (1757-1827)
Nationality: English
Place of Birth: London, England
Place of Death: London, England
Personal Information: 
Family: Born November 28, 1757, in London, England; died August 12, 1827, in London,
England; Son of James (a hosier) and Catherine (Harmitage) Blake; married Catherine
Boucher, August 18, 1782. 
Education: No formal education except in art; studied at Henry Pars's drawing school,
1767-72, and Royal Academy, 1779. 
Politics: Radical. 
Religion: Mystical Christian.
Poetry: Clean but blunt; not what people wanted; original, he did not write what society
wanted him to write.
Painting: Active, religious, Matched his poetry.
William Blake was an English writer, poet, and illustrator of the Romantic period.
Romantic authors and artist tended to emphasize the content of their works over the form,
stressing imagination and emotion and celebrating nature and freedom. Blake did not write
or draw specifically for children, but he believed that children could read and
understand his works. He was oppose to the kind of moralistic writing for children. Since
Blake also illustrated many of his writings many authorities consider his works to be
forerunners of the picture-book form.