William Blake
William Blake was an English poet, painter, and printmaker (1757–1827) whose visionary work went largely unrecognized in his lifetime.
He created illuminated books combining poetry with hand-colored images, producing mystical works like *Songs of Innocence and of Experience* and prophetic epics featuring his own mythology.
Blake saw imagination as divine and railed against rationalism and industrial society.
Now considered a seminal figure in Romantic poetry and visionary art, he remains quotable: To see a world in a grain of sand.
Metered poetic passage
- illuminatedMade visible by light
- prophecyForetelling of future events
- JerusalemTriply sacred ancient capital
- MiltonBaroque English verse master
chimney sweeper · London · stanza · lyric · meter · rhyme · epic · ode
Awe-inspiring greatness
- natureInherent quality or disposition
- emotionComplex psychological state
- imaginationFaculty for forming ideas
- inspirationSource of creative impulse
individualism · revolution · passion · idealism · beauty · expression · creativity · genius
Foretelling of future events
- mysticalOf hidden spiritual significance
- transcendenceSurpassing usual limits
- divineOf or from gods
- revelationSurprising disclosed truth
illumination · angels · spirits · visions · imagination · supernatural · ethereal · apocalyptic
Carving into hard surfaces
- etchingAcid-incised metal print
- copperplateFormal looped penmanship
- reliefEasing of distress
- burinPointed engraving implement
aquatint · illuminated manuscripts · hand-coloring · plate · impression · incision · proof · illustration
verse
Metered poetic passage
- illuminatedMade visible by light
- prophecyForetelling of future events
- JerusalemTriply sacred ancient capital
Milton · chimney sweeper · London · stanza · lyric · meter · rhyme · epic · ode · couplet
sublime
Awe-inspiring greatness
- natureInherent quality or disposition
- emotionComplex psychological state
- imaginationFaculty for forming ideas
inspiration · individualism · revolution · passion · idealism · beauty · expression · creativity · genius · freedom
prophecy
Foretelling of future events
- mysticalOf hidden spiritual significance
- transcendenceSurpassing usual limits
- divineOf or from gods
revelation · illumination · angels · spirits · visions · imagination · supernatural · ethereal · apocalyptic · symbolic
engraving
Carving into hard surfaces
- etchingAcid-incised metal print
- copperplateFormal looped penmanship
- reliefEasing of distress
burin · aquatint · illuminated manuscripts · hand-coloring · plate · impression · incision · proof · illustration · ink
- poetspoet, Homer, Dante, Milton, Emily Dickinson
- 1700s WritersAlexander Pope, Jonathan Swift, Voltaire, Samuel Richardson, Daniel Defoe
- British Authors BJane Austen, Emily Bronte, Anne Bronte, Enid Blyton, Elizabeth Barrett Browning
- printmakersprintmakers, printmaker, etcher, etchers, engravers
- poetrypoem, poems, poetry, verse, verses
- British AuthorsCharles Dickens, Jane Austen, Agatha Christie, Roald Dahl, Shakespeare
William BlakeIsaac Newton
Laws of motion formulator
John Locke · Alexander Pope · Voltaire · Francis Bacon · René Descartes