William Blake 28 November — 12 August was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake has become a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual art of the Romantic Age. What he called his " prophetic works " were said by 20th-century critic Northrop Frye to form "what is in proportion to its merits the least read body of poetry in the English language". Although Blake was considered mad by contemporaries for his idiosyncratic views, he came to be highly regarded by later critics and readers for his expressiveness and creativity, and for the philosophical and mystical undercurrents within his work.
His paintings and poetry have been characterised as part of the Romantic movement and as "Pre-Romantic". The 19th-century scholar William Michael Rossetti characterised him as a "glorious luminary", [ 12 ] and "a man not forestalled by predecessors, nor to be classed with contemporaries, nor to be replaced by known or readily surmisable successors".
Collaboration with his wife, Catherine Boucher , was instrumental in the creation of many of his books. Boucher worked as a printmaker and colorist for his works. Catherine was an artist and printer in her own right", writes literary scholar Angus Whitehead.
He was the third of seven children, [ 16 ] [ 17 ] two of whom died in infancy. Blake's father, James, was a hosier , [ 17 ] who had lived in London. Blake's childhood, according to him, included mystical religious experiences such as "beholding God's face pressed against his window, seeing angels among the haystacks, and being visited by the Old Testament prophet Ezekiel. Blake started engraving copies of drawings of Greek antiquities purchased for him by his father, a practice that was preferred to actual drawing.
The number of prints and bound books that James and Catherine were able to purchase for young William suggests that the Blakes enjoyed, at least for a time, a comfortable wealth. During this period, Blake made explorations into poetry; his early work displays knowledge of Ben Jonson , Edmund Spenser , and the Psalms.
