William Blake – författare

One of the great English Romantic poets, William Blake (1757-1827) was an artist, poet, mystic and visionary. His work ranges from the deceptively simple and lyrical Songs of Innocence and their counterpoint Experience - which juxtapose poems such as 'The Lamb' and 'The Tyger', and 'The Blossom' and 'The Sick Rose' - to highly elaborate, apocalyptic works, such as The Four Zoas, Milton and Jerusalem. Throughout his life Blake drew on a rich heritage of philosophy, religion and myth, to create a poetic worlds illuminated by his spiritual and revolutionary beliefs that have fascinated, intrigued and enchanted readers for generations.

In his ‘illuminated’ books, William Blake combined his handwritten text with his exuberant imagery on pages the like of which had not been seen since the great decorated books of the Middle Ages. To have Blake’s great prophetic poems - Jerusalem and Songs of Innocence and of Experience, for example - in cold letterpress bears no comparison to seeing and reading them in Blake’s own medium, with his sublime and exhilarating colours.This edition, produced together with The William Blake Trust, contains all the pages of Blake’s twenty or so illuminated books reproduced in true size, an appendix with all Blake’s text set in type and an introduction by the noted Blake scholar, David Bindman.

'To see a World in a Grain of Sand'And a Heaven in a Wild FlowerHold Infinity in the palm of your handAnd Eternity in an hour'William Blake wrote some of the most moving and memorable verse in the English language. Deeply committed to visionary and imaginative experience, yet also fiercely engaged with the turbulent politics of his era, he is now recognised as a major contributor to the Romantic Movement. This edition presents Blake's poems in their literary categories and genres to which they belong: his much-loved lyrics, ballads, comic and satirical verse, descriptive and discursive poems, verse epistles, and, finally, his remarkable 'prophetic' poems, including the whole of his two diffuse epics, Milton and Jerusalem. Blake's poetry is intellectually challenging as well as formally inventive, and this edition has a substantial critical introduction which places his ideas in the contemporary context of the Enlightenment and the artistic reaction against its key assumptions.

En hänförande vacker William Blake-i-urval-bok som fått titeln Eldfängd glädje. Boken presenterar och ger smakprov på Blakes väldiga livsverk. Lyxig volym i klotband (=tygrygg), sydda ark, lödiga färgillustrationer. För urval, översättning och kommentarer står Jonas Ellerström. Englands grandiose bilddiktare William Blake (1757-1827) – numera vederbörligt hyllad och högaktad, rankad i första ledet i både den engelska litteraturhistorien vid sidan av t ex Shakespeare och i den engelska konsthistorien vid sidan av t ex Turner – fick inte höra många ord av beröm under sin levnad. Han dog utfattig. Hans efterlämnade arbeten dumpades för småpengar, de handgjorda tryckplåtarna såldes som kopparskrot. Dödsboets behållning räckte inte ens till gravsten. Trots att hans produktion var omfattande och genialiteten i hans verk måste ha strålat lång väg stod hans samtid i stort sett iskall till allt han presterade under nästan ett halvt sekel av idogt arbete. Hans enda separatutställning fick njugga recensioner. Elaka tungor påstod att han var "perfectly mad". Endast några få mecenater hade blick för hans originalitet och gjorde små stödköp för att hjälpa honom och hustrun Catherine att få mat på bordet. Till formen är Blakes verk unikt: ordkonst och bildkonst samverkar i en fulländad harmonisk helhet med hjälp av en grafisk metod som han själv uppfann, en kombination av relieftryck och färgläggning för hand. Också till innehållet är det unikt: Vad Blake återgav var sina egna syner, en värld befolkad av andeväsen, ett London som också var Jerusalem. Vidden av hans frihetsvision är enorm, det handlar om ett uppbrott från det maskinella tänkandet och en revolt mot all jordisk makt. Blake vill se en total jämlikhet mellan könen, och han vill spränga portarna till de fem sinnenas fängelse. Med tiden har böckerna som Blake författade och tryckte för hand, som var nästan värdelösa medan han levde, blivit dyrbara skatter. De få exemplar som finns bevarade förvaras på museer och i miljardärers privatsamlingar. Alla exemplar är olika eftersom Blake färglade dem för hand, exemplar för exemplar. Huvudtemat i Blakes diktning är uppmaningen till revolt mot det mekaniska och själsligt döda vardagstillståndet. Människan är i sin rutinmässighet instängd i de fem sinnenas fängelse. Varseblivningen och förnuftet utgör hinder för riktig kontakt med tillvaron. "If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, infinite. For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things thro' narrow chinks of his cavern." ? är ett Blakecitat man ofta stöter på. Därfrån tog Aldous Huxley titeln till sin bok The Doors of Perception som handlade om hans experiment med hallucinogena droger, och därifrån tog Jim Morrison namnet på sin rockgrupp The Doors. Det finns f ö många rockförbindelser till Blake. Bob Dylans låt Every Grain of Sand är förutom en bibelallusion en omarbetning och utvidgning av rader hos Blake. Blake upplevde i mystikens tillstånd en enhet i allt, i tillvaron och i allt levande. Kropp och själ är ett, allt liv är i slutändan ett och detsamma. "Every thing that lives is holy." En trätobroder och evig fiende är Newton, som Blake sätter som representant för de materialistiska synsätten, den dödande rationalismen och fantasilösheten, som så effektivt breder ut sig, och vars naturliga konsekvenser är orättvisor, våld, krig. Blake såg ett stort hot i det kvantitativa tänkandet, världen är ingen maskin, "det kalla förnuftet" kan inte förklara världen.

The Marriage of Heaven and Hell was created early in Blake's series of illuminated books, each of which was presented by him as an attractive work of art made entirely by his own hand. Written principally in prose, The Marriage represents Blake's first full-scale attempt to present his philosophic message. In it he expresses his extreme humanist views through a system in which Angels and Devils change places, Good becomes Evil, Heaven is Hell. The 27 colour plates are the work of Blake himself, with commentary and introduction by Sir Geoffrey Keynes.

Since its first publication in 1965, this collection has been widely hailed as the best available text of William Blake's poetry and prose. It is now expanded to include a new foreword by Harold Bloom, his definitive statement on Blake's greatness.

William Collins Books and Decca Records are proud to present ARGO Classics, a historic catalogue of classic fiction read by some of the world’s most renowned voices. Originally released as vinyl records, these expertly abridged and remastered stories are now available to download for the first time.A collection of the greatest poetry from the Romantic period, the battlefield, and the Victorian era, read by some of the 20th century’s most renowned actors.Themes of war, love, nature, sexuality, and much more are played out in these timeless readings of poetry from the 19th and 20th century.Performed by Sir John Gielgud; Richard Burton; William Squire; Richard Marquand; Peggy Ashcroft; Margaretta Scott; Tony Church; Derek Godfrey; Patrick Garland; Gary Watson; Margaretta Scott; and Janette Richer; Gwen Watford; and David King.This collection includes poems from:• William Wordsworth• Samuel Taylor Coleridge• William Blake• Thomas Hardy• WB Yeats• Robert Browning• Lord Alfred Tennyson• Christina Rossetti• Lord Byron• Wilfred Owen• Siegfried Sassoon• Percy Bysshe Shelley• John Keats• Gerard Manley Hopkins• Dante Gabriel Rossetti• Ted Hughes

William Collins Books and Decca Records are proud to present ARGO Classics, a historic catalogue of classic fiction read by some of the world’s most renowned voices. Originally released as vinyl records, these expertly abridged and remastered stories are now available to download for the first time.A collection of the greatest poetry from the Romantic period, read by some of the 20th century’s most renowned actors.Love, romance, and portrayals of nature are played out in these timeless readings of poetry written during the Romantic period.Performed by Richard Burton; Peter Orr; William Squire; Richard Marquand; Peggy Ashcroft; Margaretta Scott; Tony Church; Derek Godfrey; Patrick Garland; Gary Watson; Margaretta Scott; and Janette Richer.This collection includes poems from:• William Wordsworth• Samuel Taylor Coleridge• William Blake• Lord Byron• Percy Bysshe Shelley• John Keats

'Those who control their passions do so because their passions are weak enough to be controlled' William BlakePatti Smith introduces her favourite selection of Blake's poems, including the complete poems from Songs of Innocence and of Experience.William Blake is one of Britain's most fascinating writers, who, as well as being a groundbreaking poet, is also well known as a painter, engraver, radical and mystic. Although Blake was dismissed as an eccentric by his contemporaries, his powerful and richly symbolic poetry has been a fertile source of inspiration to the many writers and artists who have followed in his footsteps.

'SONGS OF INNOCENCE' AND 'SONGS OF EXPERIENCE', COMPLETE SELECTION FROM THE 'PROPHETIC BOOKS' AND FROM OTHER WORKS OF POETRY AND PROSE. THE COMPLETE DRAWINGS OF "THE BOOK OF JOB" 'AN INSPIRED SELECTION' - THE NEW YORK TIMES. "BLAKE IS NOWHERE BETTER PRESENTED FOR THE GENERAL READER. THE INTRODUCTION IS .. PROBABLY THE BEST ESSAY YET COMPOSED ON THE SUBJECT " - SATURDAY REVIEW.

Writer and religious rebel, William Blake ((1757-1827) sowed the seeds for Romanticism in his innovative poems concerning faith and the visions that inspired him throughout his life. Whether describing his own spirituality, the innocence of youth or the corruption caused by mankind, his writings depict a world in which spirits dominate and the mind is the gateway to Heaven. This collection of his greatest works spans his entire poetic life from the early, exquisite lyrics of Poetic Sketches to his Songs of Innocence and Experience - a compelling exploration of good and evil. Together, they illuminate a self-made realm that has fascinated artists and poets as diverse as Wordsworth, Coleridge, Yeats and Ginsberg.

One of the great English Romantic poets, William Blake (1757-1827) was an artist, poet, mystic and visionary. His work ranges from the deceptively simple and lyrical Songs of Innocence and their counterpoint Experience - which juxtapose poems such as 'The Lamb' and 'The Tyger', and 'The Blossom' and 'The Sick Rose' - to highly elaborate, apocalyptic works, such as The Four Zoas, Milton and Jerusalem. Throughout his life Blake drew on a rich heritage of philosophy, religion and myth, to create a poetic worlds illuminated by his spiritual and revolutionary beliefs that have fascinated, intrigued and enchanted readers for generations.

Writer and religious rebel, William Blake ((1757-1827) sowed the seeds for Romanticism in his innovative poems concerning faith and the visions that inspired him throughout his life. Whether describing his own spirituality, the innocence of youth or the corruption caused by mankind, his writings depict a world in which spirits dominate and the mind is the gateway to Heaven. This collection of his greatest works spans his entire poetic life from the early, exquisite lyrics of Poetic Sketches to his Songs of Innocence and Experience - a compelling exploration of good and evil. Together, they illuminate a self-made realm that has fascinated artists and poets as diverse as Wordsworth, Coleridge, Yeats and Ginsberg.

''To see a World in a Grain of Sand''And a Heaven in a Wild FlowerHold Infinity in the palm of your handAnd Eternity in an hour''William Blake wrote some of the most moving and memorable verse in the English language. Deeply committed to visionary and imaginative experience, yet also fiercely engaged with the turbulent politics of his era, he is now recognised as a major contributor to the Romantic Movement.This edition presents Blake''s poems in their literary categories and genres to which they belong: his much-loved lyrics, ballads, comic and satirical verse, descriptive and discursive poems, verse epistles, and, finally, his remarkable ''prophetic'' poems, including the whole of his two diffuse epics, Milton and Jerusalem.Blake''s poetry is intellectually challenging as well as formally inventive, and this edition has a substantial critical introduction which places his ideas in the contemporary context of the Enlightenment and the artistic reaction against its key assumptions.

''To see a World in a Grain of Sand''And a Heaven in a Wild FlowerHold Infinity in the palm of your handAnd Eternity in an hour''William Blake wrote some of the most moving and memorable verse in the English language. Deeply committed to visionary and imaginative experience, yet also fiercely engaged with the turbulent politics of his era, he is now recognised as a major contributor to the Romantic Movement.This edition presents Blake''s poems in their literary categories and genres to which they belong: his much-loved lyrics, ballads, comic and satirical verse, descriptive and discursive poems, verse epistles, and, finally, his remarkable ''prophetic'' poems, including the whole of his two diffuse epics, Milton and Jerusalem.Blake''s poetry is intellectually challenging as well as formally inventive, and this edition has a substantial critical introduction which places his ideas in the contemporary context of the Enlightenment and the artistic reaction against its key assumptions.

Blake was one of the finest craftsmen of his time, an artist for whom art and poetry were inextricably linked. He was an indepedent and rebellious thinker, who abhorred pretention and falsity in others. His Songs of Innocence are products of this innocent imagination untainted by worldliness, while the Songs of Experience resulted from his feelings of indignation and pity for the sufferings of mankind. The Songs of Innocence and Experience , containing some of Blake's finest and best-loved poems, are presented here in the form which best satisfied the high expectations of his poetic and artistic aspirations. The fifty-four plates which Blake originallly etched and coloured by hand are faithfully reproduced with the same delicacy and dimensions as the artist created them.

Volume 1 and 2 of a two-volume scholarly edition of the writings of William Blake. The edition presents an authoritative text, together with an introduction, commentary notes, and scholarly apparatus.

One of a series designed to provide a new, accessible approach to the works of great poets and playwrights. Each text includes general notes on the text; discussion of themes, issues and context; and suggestions for further reading.

'How can the bird that is born for joy / Sit in a cage and sing?'A selection of Blake's most haunting verse, including 'The Songs of Innocence and Experience'.One of 46 new books in the bestselling Little Black Classics series, to celebrate the first ever Penguin Classic in 1946. Each book gives readers a taste of the Classics' huge range and diversity, with works from around the world and across the centuries - including fables, decadence, heartbreak, tall tales, satire, ghosts, battles and elephants.

'How can the bird that is born for joy / Sit in a cage and sing?'A selection of Blake's most haunting verse, including 'The Songs of Innocence and Experience'.One of 46 new books in the bestselling Little Black Classics series, to celebrate the first ever Penguin Classic in 1946. Each book gives readers a taste of the Classics' huge range and diversity, with works from around the world and across the centuries - including fables, decadence, heartbreak, tall tales, satire, ghosts, battles and elephants.

A collectible new Penguin Classics series: beautiful clothbound editions of the most famous verse collections by ten favourite poets. Designed by the acclaimed Coralie Bickford-Smith and attractively set, these slim, A format volumes are the ultimate gift editions for poetry lovers. Songs of Innocence and Experience is one of the best-loved poetry collections of all time, an innovative and groundbreaking experiment in which Blake intertwined text and image to dazzling effect. The volume, published sometimes as two separate collections, juxtaposes the innocent world of childhood with the corrupt and repressed one of adults, and includes such favourites as 'The Lamb', 'The Chimney Sweeper' and 'The Tyger'.

A collectible new Penguin Classics series: stunning, clothbound editions of ten favourite poets, which present each poet's most famous book of verse as it was originally published. Designed by the acclaimed Coralie Bickford-Smith and beautifully set, these slim, A format volumes are the ultimate gift editions for poetry lovers. Songs of Innocence and Experience is an illustrated collection of poems by William Blake, a seminal figure of the Romantic Movement. The volume was published in two parts with Songs of Innocence being published in 1789 and Songs of Experience in 1794. In the volume Blake juxtaposes the innocent world of childhood with the corrupt and repressed one of adults. Many of the poems are in pairs enabling the reader to see the same situation first from the perspective of innocence and then from that of experience. This collection includes some of his greatest poems including 'The Lamb', 'The Chimney Sweeper' and 'The Tyger'.

Part of a series of literature guides designed for GCSE coursework requirements, this book contains - author details, background to the work, summaries of the text, critical commentaries, analysis of characterization, and sample questions with guideline answers.

These Everyman''s Library Pocket Poets hardcover editions are popular for their compact size and reasonable price which do not compromise content. Poems: Blake contains a full selection of Blake''s work, including Songs of Innocence, Songs of Experience, poems from Blake''s Ms. book, poems from The Prophetic Books, and an index of first lines.

In addition to a broad selection of the poems, the volume includes over 100 images (16 in color), emphasizing the centrality of pictorial representations to Blake’s verse. Biographical context is provided through dozens of excerpts from Blake’s notebook, letters, marginalia, and other writings.“Criticism” offers twenty wide-ranging commentaries by writers from Blake’s contemporaries to present-day critics, among them Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Northrop Frye, Allen Ginsberg, Morris Eaves, Harold Bloom, Alicia Ostriker, John Mee, Saree Makdisi, and Julia Wright.A section on Textual Technicalities, a Chronology of Blake’s life and work, a Selected Bibliography, and an Index of Titles and First Lines are also included.

William Blake is a poet without parallel, who remains a source of wisdom and inspiration to countless individuals throughout the world. This selection was commissioned in 1905 by the firm of George Routledge from W.B. Yeats, who had previously been one of the pioneer editors of Blake's prophetic books. Yeats, one of the few poets whose work could be compared with that of Blake, prepared a unique selection of his poetic and prose writings. There is no better way to encounter the work of one poetic genius than as it is presented by another, and Yeats understood Blake in a way few others did.