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William Blake, an English poet and painter, born at 28 Broad Street, Golden Square, London,
on the 28th of November 1757. His life wasn't bad, but he didn't get to experience all the schooling most kids did of his
time. His father only had enough money to put him through the basics of reading and writing at Henry Pars' Drawing School.
He than worked in his father's shop for a few years, until his talent for drawing became so obvious. Following that, he
became apprenticed to engraver James Basire at age 14 and finished when he turned 21.
Once he turned 21, he set out to make his living as an engraver. Four
years later he married Catherine Boucher in 1783, who had to sign their marriage
form with an X, because she didn't know how to read or write at the time. Just after that Blake taught her to read and write
and they worked together to help William on most of his artistic creations and together they created a book of his poems and
drawings called "Songs of Innocence." So he started as an engraver and than became a poet/artist. Most
of his poems and paintings were written and drawn on stone, because as a previous engraver, it came easy.
Unfortunately, after many unsuccessful attempts, William and Catherine were unable to have kids.
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It was said that William Blake outlived his critics, meaning during his poem writing
career he wasn't expected to get far. After dieing, his poems seemed to become more noticeable and really showed new types
of patterns and uniqueness. He wasn't ever considered popular and seemed to like it that way. Poetry and art were his big
things and never made enough money to be considered wealthy, but was never financially in trouble. Critics today give a lot
of praise towards his poems and they don't really seemed to understand why critics didn't like his work. William Blake's greatest
achievement would be receiving the patronage (encouragement) of Lady Caroline Lamb and that really helped him financially.
When William Blake was growing up things weren’t really going on. The first time something big went on was the Revolutionary
War in the 1770’s. That’s the first big thing of his time growing up and than it was the signing of the Declaration
of Independence on July 4th, 1776 setting up Independence Day which of course we still celebrate as it has become
a National Holiday since. Another big even would have to be the Boston Tea Party. Although this happened in Boston, Massachusetts,
they received their orders of tea from London and they went on a halt because the people wouldn’t pay the tax for the
tea. Other than that, life back then was probably hard for poets. They’re career was writing poems and I can’t
imagine that being easy during the Revolutionary War or Boston Tea Party times. After the signing of the Declaration, he really
seemed to settle down and write poems effectively in the next few years, but without little recognition. Although he was in
London during the time of the signing it was still a worldwide issue. After that poems seem to come naturally although people
of his time didn’t think they were great and he wouldn’t get far. It really seemed to impact upcoming poets in
a positive way and he’s seemed to be more known now, than when he was alive.
In my opinion, William Blake most represents Brittany Spears if I had to pick someone of our modern
era. She is said to have a crazy family, as is Blake. She tries to keep everything hidden, but it somehow gets out and same
could go for Blake. Although Brittany is a girl and William's a guy, I think if you look aside from that, they have a lot
in common. A few minor differences like Blake's family consisted of 7 (9 if you count the 2 deaths upon infancy) and Brittany's
only 4. Also she sings music and he just enjoyed listening to it and writing poems/art.
The song "My Wish" by Rascal Flatts really seems to share the same aspect as "Eternity" by William
Blake. They both basically just say think/act/and wish positive and you can accomplish anything in life. They also say you
only live once so make the most of it. Although the poem is only 4 lines long, it has the meaning of a thick book and the
song is about 4 minutes, but if you really listened and interpreted everything, it could last a lifetime. The poem goes as
follows...
He who binds to himself a joy
Does the winged life destroy;
But he who kisses the joy as it flies
Lives
in eternity’s sun rise.
AND THE LYRICS TO THE SONG GO...
I hope that the days come easy and the moments pass slow,
And each road leads
you where you want to go,
And if you're faced with a choice, and you have to choose,
I hope you choose the one that
means the most to you.
And if one door opens to another door closed,
I hope you keep on walkin' till you find the window,
If
it's cold outside, show the world the warmth of your smile,
But more than anything, more than anything,
My wish,
for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to,
Your dreams stay big, and your worries stay small,
You never
need to carry more than you can hold,
And while you're out there getting where you're getting to,
I hope you know somebody
loves you, and wants the same things too,
Yeah, this, is my wish.
I hope you never look back, but ya never forget,
All
the ones who love you, in the place you left,
I hope you always forgive, and you never regret,
And you help somebody
every chance you get,
Oh, you find God's grace, in every mistake,
And you always give more than you take.
But
more than anything, yeah, and more than anything,
My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to,
Your
dreams stay big, and your worries stay small,
You never need to carry more than you can hold,
And while you're out there
getting where you're getting to,
I hope you know somebody loves you, and wants the same things too,
Yeah, this, is my
wish.
My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to,
Your dreams stay big, and your worries
stay small,
You never need to carry more than you can hold,
And while you're out there getting where you're getting
to,
I hope you know somebody loves you, and wants the same things too,
Yeah, this, is my wish.
This is my wish
I
hope you know somebody loves you
May all your dreams stay big.
COMPARE THEM AND LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK!
TO SEE SOME OF HIS WORK, CLICK THE "SOME OF HIS WORK" LINK NEAR THE TOP ALONG THE LEFT SIDE OF THE PAGE! Thanks.
CREDIT
Townsend, Joyce H. The Painter At Work. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University
Press, 2003. (Century Library)
Bloom, Harold. William Blake. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers, 2006. (Century Library)
Bentley, G.E. JR. The Stranger From Paradise: A Biography of William Blake. Yale: Yale University
Press, 2001.
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