Complete Poems

William Blake (1757 - 1827) was the son of a London hosier. Having attended Henry Parr's drawing school, he was apprenticed as an engraver to the Society of Antiquaries in 1772 and later was admitted to teh Royal Academy. He married in 1782 and published his first work, Poetical Sketches, in 1783. The first of his 'illuminated books' was Songs of Innocence in 1789. Blake's work over the next twenty years chart the refining of his ideas and beliefs, from a recognition of repression in Songs of Experience to his epic works Milton and Jerusalem whihc present a renewed vision of reconciliation between humanity.Alicia Ostriker is Professor of English at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, USA.

• The Complete PoemsPrefaceTable of DatesFurther ReadingThe PoemsPoetical SketchesMiscellaneous PoemsKing Edward the ThirdDramatic FragmentsPoems Written in a Copy of Poetical SketchesSongs from "An Island in the Moon"There is No Natural Religion [a, b]All Religions Are OneThe Book of ThelTirielSongs of Innocence and of ExperienceSongs of InnocenceSongs of ExperienceNotebook Poems and Fragments, c. 1789-93The French RevolutionThe Marriage of Heaven and HellA Song of LibertyVisions of the Daughters of AlbionAmericaEuropeThe Song of LosAfricaAsiaThe Book of UrizenThe Book of AhaniaThe Book of LosVala, or The Four ZoasNotes Written on the Pages of The Four ZoasAdditional FragmentsThree Poems, ?c. 1800Poems from LettersNotebook Poems, c. 1800-1806Poems from the Pickering ManuscriptMiltonDedication to Blake's Illustrations to Blair's GraveNotebook Epigrams and Satiric Verses, c. 1808-12Miscellaneous Verses and EpigramsVerse from the Marginalia to Reynolds's DiscoursesVerse from the Advertisement to Blake's Exhibition of Paintings, 1809Epigrams from A Descriptive CatalogueEpigrams from "Public Address"JerusalemThe Everlasting GospelFor the Sexes: The Gates of ParadiseThe Ghost of AbelNotesDictionary of Proper NamesNote to the IndexesIndex of TitlesIndex of First Lines