What have you understood, from reading the poems of William Blake?

The first 200 words of this essay...

What have you understood, from reading the poems of William Blake?

William Blake is referred to as many things, including poet, engraver, painter and mystic, but perhaps he is most famous for his poetry. He was born in London in 1757 and between the ages of 10 and 14, he attended a drawing school in Strand after this, he began a six year apprenticeship in the art of engraving. Between 1778 and 1789, Blake was a student at the Royal Academy School and began to make a living as an engraver. He married Catherine Boucher in 1782 they had no children. In 1783 Blake's first poems, Poetical Sketches appeared. Blake began to make the acquaintance of several writers and artists including some political radicals such as Tom Paine and William Godwin inspired by the early democratic and egalitarian ideals of the French Revolution, he soon began to write profusely himself. By the time of his death in 1827, Blake had produced a large number of drawings, engravings, poems and articles of prose. Sadly, he receives more credit for his work today than he did during his lifetime when he was often looked upon as being slightly mad he was