Customer Reviews (17)

Soothing
It's amazing how soothing just reading William Blake's poetry is on the troubled soul.I always look for his work to ease my mind and lift my spirit.Everyone should treat themselves to his work.Peace be with you.

SAYONARA......IT'S BEEN FUN!
What to write for my last review? That was tough. Since I was a little boy I have always been one of those who had his face in a book. Books, books, books. When I began my jobs as a paperboy, and later at the grocery store, I began buying books. This hobby grew so large, that my father made our rumpus room a library for me. And it grew ever larger. By the time I enlisted in the Air Force, I had amassed quite a large number of volumes. While in Europe and the Middle East, I would scour book stores and began purchasing leather books. Some very old, and many in foreign languages. Since the Air Force only allowed for a 5,000 lb limit, I spent a fortune sending books home. When I left the service my house looked like a library. Running out of space, I began to make my garage a library. However, it grew ever larger. Therefore, I made use of my brothers garage, then my mothers, and eventually even had to make due with having to rent a few storage spaces.

Yes, it's that large. I was hoping to make a large home library some day. Books have been my life: Even though I write mostly about Asian films. And I was glad that VHS films came into vogue, as they afforded me the opportunity to begin amassing a large collection of Japanese films which I have a soft heart for. That got real big too! Anyway, back to the question as to what to write for my last review? Well, I just happened to stumble across this book last night, one of many. There is a poem by the gifted and enigmatic poet, engraver and painter William Blake. I do recommend the book by the way. Events in my life have gone in a very negative way, therefore, I have decided to impart a poem as my last review. Hope you like it. It's one I have remembered from my childhood. There are too many great things to write about, and I figured this would not be a bad goodbye. It is William Blake's "THE TYGER"

THE TIGER

Tiger, tiger, burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

In what distant deeps or skies
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand dare seize the fire?

And what shoulder and what art
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand and what dread feet?

What the hammer? What the chain?
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? What dread grasp
Dare its deadly terrors clasp?

When the stars threw down their spears,
And water'd heaven with their tears,
Did He smile His work to see?
Did He who made the lamb make thee?

Tiger, tiger, burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?


William Blake (1757-1827)

It has it all
It has all his writings: letters, anotations scribbled in the margins of other people's books, everything.Only downside: it doesn't show his illuminated printing.

Complete works of William Blake
A wonderful paperback edition, containing all the works of
William Blake, with a excellent introduction
of Harold Bloom. An priceless tool for students
and teachers

outstanding
This is an outstanding resource for anyone interested in the works of William Blake.It's well organized and easy to work with.I'm very pleased with it. ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (2)

Illustrations are a Must Have!
The full page colored illustrations included in this set are essential to your understanding of Blake's poetry. These illustrations were engraved by Blake himself to accompany each of his poems, and they really let you see the deeper meaning in much of his poetry. I would recommend these books to anyone who would like to take a deeper look into Blake's mind. Blake meant for his poetry and art to be viewed together, and many collections of Blake's poems these days do not include this thought provoking art.

Essential Blake
This is a GREAT set. I was amazed and well-pleased. Blake is essential for thinkers...and this is just a slight sample of his talent. I'd recommend it for those who love to think and to learn. Very heady--good food!

Tikya!
ari ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

William Blake stands in paradise next to Dostoevsky
Francis Bacon, David Hume, Bishop Berkeley, John Locke, Edmund Burke; just a few of British philososphers. Some, like Burke and to some extant Hume are very tiresome and repulsive if one were to view them in a Nietzschean light. Other philosophers like Bertrand Russell, I loathe. Adam Smith and Thomas Carlyle: the former a crafty swindler who discovered clever ways to exploit the massess and cheat an honest man, the latter an insipid moron who boasted to the world that he was an atheist liberal who supported slavery.

British philososphy is not very exciting with such hum drum guys like the Locke who have a tiresome system of rationalizing every aspect of existence and smug bitter atheist[..]like Russell. It seems that British philosophy is dryer than dust.

Until one discoveres Blake...

William Blake (1757 - 1827), at once the purest philosopher, the most facinating figure, the greatest painter and most perfect poets ever set forth from Britain. Blake almost in the immense impressivness of his art and poetry to not be British, yet he is. Really the only true poet in the English language, the only true philosopher from Britain, for all true philosophers are poets and all true poets, philosophers. Blake is truly a noble soul

I read The Marriage of Heaven and Hell about a month ago. I am certain that it is one of those rare pieces of art that appears in literature; a beautiful work of art that appears so before its time (we seem only to begin to catch up to Blake in English) so before its time like the novels of Dostoevsky, especially Notes from Underground, lyrically Dostoevsky at his best, but my great Russian Brother is not the subject of this.

William Blake is the perfect embodiment of the Dionysian in art and literature. His works, such as the illustrations of Milton and especially Dante are the most beautiful paintings by an British hand. Particularly in the case of his illustration of the gates of Hell. This perfect haunting beauty is my ideal. Haunting in its depth of artistry, haunting in its appearence with Vergil looking at Dante in an ominous and yet celebratory way. One simply does not know. The mystery is half of Blake's magnificence and perfection.

Blake understands that many questions are left unanswered and that is my stand. I agree with him and Nietzsche when he is against the neo-classical ideal of rational explanations of every aspect of existence. I loathe many philosophers. Silence all who dare to cheapen our beautiful illusions.

The introduction alone is worth the price of admission
The best of William Blake (and then some!), taken off the shelf, dusted off and propped up for the rest of eternity to consider. From the aphorisms of "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell" (required reading) to thelater prophetic books, it's Blake in all of his...Blakeness. And let's givea hand to Kazin for his fantastic Introduction to one of the heavy-hittersof the Western tradition. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (5)

black and white? dont buy it!
If you want to read Blake's poems, pick up a cheap paperback copy of his complete works. If you want to see his original vision as he created it in his masterful, splendid prints, get "The Complete Illuminated Works"- but NOT this edition! Referring to Blake's exceptional artwork, a commentator wrote, "people who think they know Blake's poetry are only getting half- or rather none- of the picture". This remains true if the picture has no color.

The more recent Thames & Hudson edition (2001) includes everything in here, but in color. It's more expensive but that is well worth it- like I said, if you're willing to spend extra money to have the art (when you could get everything he wrote for just a few bucks), you might as well spring for it as it WAS- in color! A slight drawback is you don't get David V. Erdman's plate-by-plate commentaries, which are considered by some to be essential. You do, however, get other info, and the prints are much nicer. A REAL Blake nut will have both. By the way- sometimes it's hard to read the poetry contained on the plates (in EITHER book, but especially this one), so you should get a regular text of the poems as well if you want to study them; an annotated text is even better.

The importance of color cannot be emphasized- abandon this out-of-date cheap version for the real deal, the 2001 Thames & Hudson edition.

Tries to describe the pictures, not the words
David W. Erdman has managed to describe the details in Blake's drawings, for William Blake's Complete Illuminated Works with a Plate-by-Plate Commentary, but the text which is the main feature of most of Blake's plates is sometimes faint, and occasionally unclear.Due to the comment in BLAKE AND SWEDENBORG, on the source of its subtitle, Opposition Is True Friendship, about plate 20 of Blake's MARRIAGE OF HEAVEN AND HELL, that:

"beneath this `reptile of the mind,' partially obscured by Blake's thick patina of watercolor pigments in several copies of this hand-painted book, is Blake's final comment on his battle with Swedenborg's angelic alter ego:

Opposition is true Friendship."(Harvey F. Bellin, BLAKE AND SWEDENBORG, p. 38).

The detail which is shown on page 38 of BLAKE AND SWEDENBORG looks more like "Opposition is True !"

Page 117 of Erdman's THE ILLUMINATED BLAKE has a copy of Plate 20, copy I, which hardly even shows the T of True, and a small detail from Copy E with the words "you whose works" just before the last line "are only Analytics," so the little extra squiggle that it provides might be a subliminal comment by Blake on those who think we have the power to explain anything.The drawing of the serpent is ambiguous enough that Erdman's comment, "In I the artist has carelessly colored the angular wave seen through the first loop as though it were part of the serpent's body," (p. 117) might be an indication that Blake intended to show a bit of the tail of the serpent close to the serpent's head, symbolic of logic biting its own tail, or arguments which are circular in nature.As a wave, it looks more like the serpent than the other waves, though the black and white illustrations in both books are not entirely clear, Erdman's book has better shades of gray.

Comparing plates of "The Divine Image," SONGS 18g on page 59 in Erdman's book, with the copy on page 88 of BLAKE AND SWEDENBORG, Erdman's is clearer, but page 88 of BLAKE AND SWEDENBORG also prints the words ("To Mercy, Pity, Peace and Love") alongside the illustration, so it is easier to read.Erdman's attempts to explain the figures make this plate more interesting, mentioning Lazarus? Adam? Eve? and Jacob's ladder.

There is a "Holy Thursday" from Innocence, SONGS 19I on page 60, and a "Holy Thursday" from Experience, SONGS 33I on page 75.The big disappointment is that "The Tyger," SONGS 42I on page 84 is so difficult to read.I thought that I might remember that poem, but hardly well enough to read it in this book.

The Illuminated Blake
The only possible complaints that one could have with this book are 1)there is no color reproduction and 2)it is a softcover.However these same factors contribute to the wonderfully low price as a hardcover,full-color reproduction would bring it into the price range of thePrinceton Blake.I must make a reference to one of the other reviews andsay that in contradiction to the reader from Portugal's review this editionDOES contain all the Illuminated works with the exception of the one pagework The Laocoon which is not exactly one of the illuminated works. Erdman's commentary is excellent, as is to be expected from one of thethree major Blake scholars of the twentieth century. This commentary makesthe book a value even if one already owns the Princeton series.

Excellent book for handy research
I used this book for the illustrations in my thesis on Blake.Although they are not in color, the sharp, black lines of the drawings accentuate a side of Blake that is often overlooked.That being his obstinate adherenceto the "True Style of Art.The Art of Invention Not ofImitation."The Art of the "straight & wirey boundingline."All of the illuminated books are included in this volume, withcommentary on each plate.This is an excellent book for the burgeoningBlake scholar.In fact, I used this book to make a photocopy of plate 10from America a Prophecy for the tatoo I had carved on my right arm.I hadthe tatoo artist add the color from the Princeton editions of theilluminated books, which are the very best copies of Blake available if youcan afford them.

A Fantastic World of Gods and Fallen Angels
I think this is an excellent edition of Blake's work. Although the title says "William Blake's Complete Illuminated Works" I have to state here that there are many other, mostly unpublished, paintings andilluminated printings of Blake, but this book has all the most known ofBlake's Works and some of the lesser known: All Religions are one, There isno Natural Religion, The Book of Thel, Songs of Innocence and Experience,The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, Visions of The Daughters of Albion,America a Prophecy, Europe a Prophecy, The Song of Los, The Book of Urizen,The Book of Ahania, The Book of Los, Milton a Poem, The gates of Paradise,Jerusalem the Emanation of the Giant Albion, On Homers Poetry and OnVirgil, The Ghost of Abel, including some variants of some plates. Almostall of the plates are reproduced in the original size with extreme quality.I only regret that they are all black-and-white printings, because thefiery, vivid colours used by Blake make them even more fantastic than theyseem in this book. Despite being quite unknown in Portugal I considerWilliam Blake to be one of the greatest artists of all time. His writing ispoetic, dream-like, speaking of mythical places with their pathetic gods,angels, gigantic eagles and serpents, and a beautiful Satan teachingknowdlege and poetry: a strange realm that is supposed to be an esotericversion of our own reality. Blake's age was a revolutionary turmoil inevery way, just like our end of century, and we can see that in hispowerful writing. There was a French revolution that forewarned of a newage and the fall from grace of the powerful ancient lords who ruled thepeople with an iron hand, the american colonies burst out of the chains oftheir European masters and new wonders of science marvelled the peoples.Blake sings violently of the strength of Freedom within every free spiritand despises those who believe in a God that made the world a sad, ghastlycage for men: that is Urizen, an old blind and selfish Tyrant-god, destinedto fall at the end of Time, consumed in its own weaknesses and emptiness.Blake is an ancient bard singing of Nature's pleasures against the newreligions stupid grimness. Only Joy and Happiness are Holy. Imagination isthe souls' ultimate voice. What can I say of the paintings? In fact thereis no separation between images and words, which intertwine themselves inan awesome mystical graphic story. His style is incredibly detailed: youwill find very small drawings of eagles, beasts, lizards and meneverywhere, chaising things, trying to reach each other or running inchaotic terror. I think this is the real stuff that dreams and nightmaresare made of. No reason, no explaining, just pure unhuman sorcery drowningyour mortal senses. In a certain way, Blake preceded surrealism, comics andeven caricatures. David Erdman exibits great scholarship in explaining thesymbolic meanings of the images and the strange gods and beings painted inthe plates. Believe me, he comments every minor detail. But I think thatfor those like me who still don't know much about Blake's works, he couldwell have done a small chapter explainig the events and entities portrayedin Blake's stories in a more general view, instead of doing small,dispersed references to it. I also leave here an advise for other Blakeentusiasts: the latest album of Bruce Dickinson (IronMaiden's formervocalist), "The Chemical Wedding" is one great album and isentirely inspired in Blake's work. Just listen to the magical music in yourears!Blake's ideology reaches deep into your mind, revealing men'sstrongest and deadliest desires. Man may be jailed within cells of iron orgold, but he is still free to dream. I pity those that forgot even how todream, because for them Liberty is forever lost in the shadows ofdisbelief: "Those who restrain desire do so because theirs is weakenough to be restrained.The road of excels leads to the palace ofwisdom.

Prudence is a rich ugly maid courted by Incapacity. No bird soarstoo high, if he soars with his own winges. Shame is Prides cloke. Prisonsare built with stones of Law, Brothels with bricks of Religion. And allthis Vegetable World appeared on my left Foot as a bright sandal formdimmortal of precious stones & gold: I stooped down & bounded it onto walk forward thro' Eternity."

16th of April, 1999 ... Read more

Book Description
An indispensable guide to Blake's ideas and symbols is once again available in paper, with a new foreword and annotated bibliography ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

An essential reference work for Blake scholarship.
Prophet? Madman? Or philosopher? The mythological characters in William Blake's prophetic poetry present a conundrum for the reader who confronts these characters with the traditional literary expectations of a symbolicreading.Indeed, the vanguard of contemporary criticism would argue thatthe very complexity of Blake's mythology precludes an all inclusiveschemata.

Yet S. Foster Damon's A BLAKE DICTIONARY offers compellingtestament that there was methodology in Blake's madness. In addition toproviding a detailed enunciation of virtually every character in Blake'spoetry, Damon further offers an exposition of the major themes and symbolswhich Blake repeatedly returned to in his longer prophetic works. Alongwith both Northrop Frye's FEARFUL SYMMETRY and David Erdman's PROPHETAGAINST EMPIRE, Damon's meticulously cross-referenced dictionary is anessential reference work for anyone who dares delve into Blake's complexmythology. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (15)

Poetry for Children
I became acquainted with Nancy Willard's poetry when I found a review for "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" in the listing of another Amazon reviewer.The present book, copyright 1981, won the John Newbery Medal for tne most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.I would hesitate to recommend an age group.I turn 70 next week, and I enjoyed the poems.The poems can be read to younger children, or read by older children.There are large, full color illustrations.There are 34 pages of text and illustrations (starting on page 12), including the introduction and the closing page with Blake's Advice to Travelers.

The best inn ever
This book is so funny because of the character's attitude. It even has strong words, like "makintosh".But I like it best because it has poems that rhyme.

Willard captures the essence of Blake's poetry
This book contains a collection of poems written to honor poet William Blake. The setting is an inn run by Blake and Willard captures the style of Blake in her poems. Two dragons that cook and bake, two angels that do the housekeeping and a rabbit that escorts the guests to their rooms manage the inn.Illustrations accompany each poem and they are excellent, the inn is a splendid place to spend the night. The guests include the Man in the Marmalade Hat, the King of Cats and sunflowers who request a room with a view.
This book is subtitled, "Poems for Innocent and Experienced Travelers" and in it we are taken on an imaginative journey that will delight all readers. An image of Blake appears in nearly every illustration and he is clearly enjoying himself.

FANTASTICALSALUTEINVERSE
Readers, here is your chance to be transported to a world of poetic delights, inspired by "the fearful symmetry" of William Blake's writings. Author Nancy Willard interprets his poems in the marvelous 'stage setting' of "William Blake's Inn"...an imaginary, very British hostelry. It is inhabited by a "man in the marmalade hat" and the King of Cats who breakfasts among the chimney pots of London.

Willard's own verse does cartwheels, lifting the reader out of stodginess into the stratosphere of Imagination - or at least as high as those London roof tops pictured by Alice & Martin Provensen. Their award-winning artistry beckons readers to cut the ties of convention and truly accept fantasy in color and phrasing...Explore the stars while "Blake leads a walk on the Milky Way" and enjoy the sunflowers that "took root in the carpet where topaz turtles run."

This book says "ENJOY" and I say Thank You, Nancy Willard, for the world you have revealed to us in your FIVE ***** BOOK! To rephrase your words: "If WE should dream before WE wake, may WE dream of William Blake."

You must be this old to understand this book
In this book, the author has written a collection of poems about William Blake and a magical inn he runs.This book was read to me when I was a child and I hadn't felt any need to look at it since.This is probably due to the fact that as a kid I just couldn't get into the story.Hoping to see what my nine year-old self couldn't, I decided to give Ms. Willard another go.Rereading it now, I can see where my frustration came from.The plot is very loose, the poems nice but unconnected, and the pictures beautiful but flat and without motion.Frustrations I experienced as a child included things like seeing the Man With a Marmelade Hat illustrated with a hat that clearly wasn't the color of marmelade.Also, I was quite certain that the poems in the book MUST have been written by Blake.Confusingly, they are actually written by the multi-talented Nancy Willard with nary a Blake quote in sight.Though a winner of both the Newberry Medal and a Caldecott Honor, I get the feeling that this is a book that adults would enjoy much more than children.Undoubtedly there will be some children out there that prove me wrong.But I feel this book is meant to be read by adults for adults.It is beautiful and nice to look at.Just make sure you're over 15. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (3)

Marriage of Heaven and Hell
The transaction was great.Everything was as it was supposed to be.

"The path of excess leads to the palace of wisdom."
One of Blake's fantastic works, with all of the artwork right there with it.This is the first copy of a William Blake book I ever owned and I still love it to death, as small as it is, and read it again and again.

worth it
It's great to read Blake is his own typeset. And the book is essential Blake. ... Read more

Book Description
In his Illuminated Books, William Blake combined text and imagery on a single page in a way that had not been done since the Middle Ages. For Blake, religion and politics, intellect and emotion, mind and body were both unified and in conflict with each other: his work is expressive of his personal mythology, and his methods of conveying it were integral to its meaning. There is no comparison with reading books such as Jerusalem, America, and Songs of Innocence and of Experience in Blake's own medium, infused with his sublime and exhilarating colors. Tiny figures and forms dance among the lines of the text, flames appear to burn up the page, and dense passages of Biblical-sounding text are brought to a jarring halt by startling images of death, destruction, and liberation. Blake's hope that his books would obtain wide circulation was unfulfilled: some exist only in unique copies and none was printed in more than very small numbers. Now, for the first time, the plates from the William Blake Trust's Collected Edition have been brought together in a single volume, with transcripts of the texts and an introduction by the noted scholar David Bindman. A major retrospective exhibition of Blake's work can be seen at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (March-June 2001). 400 color illustrations.

Includes:
Jerusalem
Songs of Innocence and of Experience
All Religions are One
There is No Natural Religion
The Book of Thel
The Marriage of Heaven and Hell
Visions of the Daughters of Albion
America a Prophecy
Europe a Prophecy
The Song of Los
Milton a Poem
The Ghost of Abel
On Homers Poetry [and] On Virgil
Laocoon
The First Book of Urizen
The Book of Ahania
The Book of Los ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

the original illuminated books
This beautiful paperback volume consists of high quality reproductions of Blake's original illustrated books.It is an incredible bargain.The pictures are powerful and Blake intended the pictures and the texts to illumine each other.I've never disciplined myself to sit down and read the text from the engraved script; its not easy or natural since the print on many plates is small and faint; but it would be worth the effort.However, there is a type face version of all the poems in the back, to refer to when needed to make out a word.This is an essential book for anyone seeking to understand Blake's profound prophetic vision more deeply.

Clothing, please.
The writing is fine, but naked people?No, it's not penthouse by any stretch of the imagination, but I still won't have this book about my house with children!

Both the words & vision of a prophetic soul on fire
While many people are familiar with William Blake's poetry, if only through the handful of commonly anthologized short poems from grade school & high school English classes, this is how his work was meant to be experienced: the poetry in union with the art, creating a vision far greater & more deeply moving than the sum of its already impressive parts. The words literally flow, twine, blossom in vivid & startling color, woven into the intricate, symbolic artwork. There aren't enough superlatives for this edition, which enables everyone to finally see & feel the Universe as Blake did: ablaze with power, wonder, beauty, horrors, and the godlike beings of the human psyche, titantic aspects transcending any neat, pre-packaged psychological or symbolic labels. For anyone wanting insight into the soul of Western civilization over the past few centuries, the soul in which we all struggle to find meaning & purpose now, this volume is absolutely essential. Most highly recommended!

The ultimate book!
William Blake has changed the way poetry and art interact. He believed that art and poetry will never be complete as long as they are presented one without the other. That's why he was an artist as much as he was a poet. By the way, his contemporaries did not acknowledge him as a poet!

This book brings a rich and wonderful collection of his original works. And for those who do not like handwriting, there is a complete typed version of all the poems at the end of the book.

Besides all that, what I really like about this book, and William in general, is his love for children. I firmly believe that he is the first children books' writer!!! What is a children book? A long poem divided in several illustrated pages.

Buy yourself a copy, this book is worth a lot.

Magnificent book
Beautiful color reproductions plus scholarly dicussion of Blake's technique.I recommend this book for lovers of the work of William Blake ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (1)

Classic poetry for a modern age
A beautifully illustrated collection of poems by English poet and mystic William Blake... The subject matter (and the didactic tone) may seem remote to many modern readers, and secular-minded parents may wish to steer clear of the constant talk of angels, creators and shepherds, but for those wishing to immerse their children into the English canon, it would be hard to imagine a better introduction to Blake's work than this.The soft-textured artwork recalls Blake's own fantastical visual style, with its wild celebration of nature, and perfectly compliments the text.Although some of the loftier verses may be hard to crack, many poems are easily understood, including the well-known "The Tyger" ("Tyger, tyger, burning bright...") and "The Nurse."Part of an excellent series of introductory poetry sets. (ReadThatAgain) ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (4)

Pretty Good
This is an excellent compilation of Blake's monumentous work in the English language. I am dissapointed, however, that this does not include some of my favorite poems by him, but it is still, in its entirety, very good. His language and masterful skill is beautiful and I suggest this volume because it is both content rich and economical. As for those who say Blake is a "dork," they might be too if they spend their free time insulting writers who died three hundred years ago. Anyway, happy reading!

Artful simplicity as poetic greatness
Blake is the master of the simple childlike deep and meaningful line. "Little Lamb , who made thee dost thou know who made thee" The lines of the first book are of innocence, before knowledge and experience have complicated the soul. The lines of the 'Songs of Experience" are of a more problematic reality. "Tiger Tiger burning bright in the forest of the night/ What immortal hand or eye/ Dare frame thy fearful symmetry/?
Blake is a thinker with an ideology, a revolutionary but I think his greatest value is not in the political or even metaphysical ideas but rather in the psychological apprehension in lines of beauty. Blake understands that wrath held within it will grow, but spoken wrath may go- he understands that the road to hell may be paved with good intentions. His proverbial quality is in this simple , or seemingly simple poetry too , and he is telling us about life and soul while uplifting us with lines which ring and remain in the mind.
These poems are Blake at his most accessible and memorable, whatever literary critics may say about the longer epic poems. These are the poems which have meant and will mean much to mankind. And they can be read with pleasure and puzzlement, over and over again.

The Human Abstract in Mystical Form
William Blake is one of the giants of poetry.He is often overlooked because of the obliqueness of many of his poems.But this affordable (read: cheap) collection of poems is well worth the price of admission. Most of Blakes most famous and well loved poems are included in thisvolume.Most of us had to read at least a couple of these poems in school. The Tyger still stands as one of the great poems of the English language.The Fly, The Lamb, Children of a Future Age, London and Ah, Sunflower areall included here.These are some of the most beautiful poems everwritten.Even if you struggle to understand the meaning, the sheer beautyand music of the verses can still carry you away.Anyone interested inpoetry needs to read these poems.It is among the best ever written.

Beautiful, significant poetry for those who know poetry.
In order to understand Blake's vision, it's helpful to know as much as possible about the social and historical context in which he was writing, and about the kinds of attitudes and social conditions he was addressing. Without that context, readers are unlikely to appreciate Blake as fully ashe deserves to be appreciated. Such readers may write uninformed andignorant reviews in this column.Those who understand the context in whichBlake was writing are likely to have a much deeper appreciation of Blake'spoetic beauty and sharp social conscience. ... Read more

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(Book Jacket Status: Not Jacketed)

Introduction by Kathleen Raine ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The Poet Prophet of England
When it finally came time to add a volume of Blake to my permanent library I choose this excellent selection from the Everyman's Library. Like the entire collection it is printed in a classic typeface on acid-free, cream wove paper with a sewn full cloth binding. It also comes with a crystal cover over the half-jacket. This is a book that will last several lifetimes.

I am not scholar enough to know if this is a complete compilation of the poet's work. However, I have not found it wanting. All the major works such as the Songs of Innocence and Experience, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, America, Europe, The book of Urizen, Milton, Jerusalem, etc., are here; along with a large collection of manuscript fragments and poetical sketches. Moreover there is an informed biographical introduction and a detailed chronology of the author's life compared to the literary context of the time and to historical events. There are also about twenty plates of the artist's own illustrations of his works.

One brief note on interpreting the work of this visionary mystic: the four Zoas correspond to Jung's four functions. Urison equals reason and law, Orc equals feeling, Tharmas equals sensing, while Los equals intuition and the visionary.

I've heard Blake dismissed as a semi-literate eccentric by some. They have obviously never actually read the man. There are elements of Plato, Plotinus, the Hermetica, the Bhagavad Ghita, the Cabbala, as well as many other mythologies and theologies, imbedded in these works- and in the true spirit of their respective times and cultures.

It is no wonder that Bucke lists him as one of the indisputable cases of Cosmic Consciousness. ... Read more

Product Description
William Blake was an engraver, painter and visionary mystic as well as one of the most revolutionary of the Romantic poets. His writing attracted the astonished admiration of authors as diverse as Wordsworth, Ruskin, W.B.Yeats, and more recently beat poet Allen Ginsberg and the 'flower power' generation. He is one of England's most original artists whose works aim to liberate imaginative energies and subvert 'the mind-forged manacles' of restriction. This volume contains many of his writings, including: Songs of Innocence, Songs of Experience, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, and a generous selection from the Prophetic Books including Milton and Jerusalem. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The Selected Poems of William Blake
This is not "new" reading for me, but my previous copy is worn to shreds.My only issue with this particular volume is that there are no pictures of Blake's amazing artwork.Perhaps when I am a little more flush I'll get the book that does have it. ... Read more

Book Description
This beautiful, hardcover gift edition allows Blake to communicate with his readers as he intended, reproducing his illuminations and lettering from the finest existing example of the original. In this way readers can experience the mystery and beauty of Blake’s poems as he created them. This unique edition is essential for those who love Blake’s work, and also offers an ideal entrance into his visionary world for those encountering him for the first time. ... Read more

Book Description
An indispensable guide to Blake's ideas and symbols is once again available in paper, with a new foreword and annotated bibliography ... Read more

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An essential reference work for Blake scholarship.
Prophet? Madman? Or philosopher? The mythological characters in William Blake's prophetic poetry present a conundrum for the reader who confronts these characters with the traditional literary expectations of a symbolicreading.Indeed, the vanguard of contemporary criticism would argue thatthe very complexity of Blake's mythology precludes an all inclusiveschemata.

Yet S. Foster Damon's A BLAKE DICTIONARY offers compellingtestament that there was methodology in Blake's madness. In addition toproviding a detailed enunciation of virtually every character in Blake'spoetry, Damon further offers an exposition of the major themes and symbolswhich Blake repeatedly returned to in his longer prophetic works. Alongwith both Northrop Frye's FEARFUL SYMMETRY and David Erdman's PROPHETAGAINST EMPIRE, Damon's meticulously cross-referenced dictionary is anessential reference work for anyone who dares delve into Blake's complexmythology. ... Read more

Product Description
"I am not ashamed, afraid, or averse to tell you what Ought to be Told: That I am under the direction of Messengers from Heaven, Daily & Nightly." Eighteenth century English poet, artist, mystic and prophetic visionary William Blake was virtually unknown during his own lifetime; a quintessential outsider artist. Today he is widely recognized as one the greatest poets in the English language, as well as a powerfully original visionary artist. Amber Lotus is proud to offer the William Blake 2008 wall calendar, a selection of art and poetry illustrating Blake's passionate lifelong belief that art and the imagination are doorways to the Divine. "Prayer is the Study of Art; Praise is the Practice of Art."Sample Caption:"For Man is Love;As God is Love: every kindness to another is a little Death;In the Divine Image nor can man exist but by Brotherhood. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Wierd

The works of William Blake seem so modern I was surprised to learn he lived during the 1700's.He art must have seemed scandulous at that time especially with all the nudity and fixation on angels and other spiritual themes.I find it fascinating.

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Product Description
Naxos AudioBooks begins its new series of Great Poets represented by their most popular poems on one CDwith William Blake, whose 250th anniversary of birth falls this year. This CD contains all of his most popular works Tyger, the Auguries of Innocence, Jerusalem, as well as some lesser-known poetry that demonstrates the range and power of his verse. They are strikingly read by Robert Glenister, Michael Maloney and Stephen Critchlow. ... Read more

Book Description

More than a century and a half after his death, William Blake (1757-1827) remains a remarkable and controversial figure. Equally gifted as poet and painter, he produced work as arresting for its beauty as for its strangeness. For some he is an inspiring genius, a source of creativity and insight. For others he is an unsettling eccentric. William Vaughan explores the contradictions of character that stand in the way of an easy understanding of the artist's work. Through an enlightening examination of Blake's unfolding career, he presents an artist with radical and utterly individual vision, deeply concerned with the social, political, and religious issues of his age.

Book Description
n this exceptional work, produced as part of a series of literary biographies throughout the 1920s, author G.K. Chesterton directly addresses the question of whether William Blake's genius was tainted by mental illness or whether part of the key to his success was his idiosyncratic perspective.An impressive chronicler of Blake's life, Chesterton weaves well-reasoned descriptions of Blake's unusual philosophy into a dialogue on his work, producing a remarkably sensitive biography of one of the towering figures of world literature. AUTHOR BIO: Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874-1936) was born in London. Though he considered himself a mere "rollicking journalist," he was a prolific and gifted writer in virtually every area of literature.A man of strong opinions, and enormously talented at defending them, he possessed an exuberant personality that nevertheless allowed him to maintain warm friendships with such literary eminences as George Bernard Shaw and H.G. Wellswith whom he often vehemently disagreed. During his life he published nearly 70 books, and at least another ten have been published since his death in 1936. ... Read more

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The Alternative View Worth Reading
Chesterton was a Catholic. Blake was anything but a Catholic. Chesterton makes his case clear. Blake's obscurity rivals the alchemists. Both were British. Both, I think, were geniuses. And Chesterton would be the first to admit that Blake's genius was at a level worth writing books about.

Chesterton's views about Blake have been neglected for their audacity and controversy, ironic since Blake was neglected for the same reasons. But after having trudged through Blake scholarship for several years, I just ordered this book and read it twice through and marked it up constantly. Chesterton is a show-off with his cleverness, but he's a very good show-off, and he overflows with insight even if he can outrage with his assertions. So you may find this book maddening, or refreshing. But if you can follow his train of thought and precise-but-highly-developed vocabulary, you'll never find it boring. And I found it the most eye-opening of everything I've read on Blake so far, and by far.

Chesterton had what one of my students called a "healthy dose of common sense" and that when you read him "you're constantly replying, 'Oh, of course!'" Considering that Blake is on the opposite extreme and can confuse his most devoted readers, Chesterton bridges a gap. He also entertains and challenges. So if you care to hear an alternative view, this book is the alternative view worth hearing. ... Read more

Book Description
This edition includes almost all Blake's substantive variants with the exception of some in the exceptionally complex manuscript of Vala, or the Four Zoas. ... Read more

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Not the Blake I chose to buy
While Sir Geoffrey Keynes (brother of "that other Keynes") did a much-lauded service with this edition, wary readers should note that the punctuation is deliberately "corrected" by the editor.The Erdman and Ostriker editions at least attempt to give you what Blake wrote.Insofar as, in the illuminated works, the punctuation was Blake's own and not that of a drunken compositor, that seems an important consideration.

(I went with the Erdman; the Penguin's notes are better in many ways, glosses rather than commentary, but Penguin books are so damn shoddy these days, & the Erdman is published as a book that'll bear some reading without falling apart.Look at the old 2dhand Penguins in used-book shops; few of today's Penguins will survive so long, I fear.)

Most Complete collection of Blake's Work
I could go on forever about the beauty and complexities of Blake's poetry, but nothing I could say could communicate the experience of reading Blake, so my advice would be to read through this collection yourself and then read Northrop Frye's analysis of Blake's work.I have yet to do so myself, but I hope to do so eventually.Blake's poetry is not something to be understood by the rational faculties and just needs to be absorbed in all it's beauty by reading and rereading it.

I like this anthology better than any others I have come across (belive me I've seen many) because it arranges all of the poems in chronological order rather than trying to organize them for you.This way you can read them in the order they were developed or choose any other way to read them and still be able to find them by the date.This edition is also more complete and does not contain sections of poems like 'Jerusalem' or 'The Four Zoas', but the works in their entirety.The letters at the end are also an unexpected delight to read.

The Best Edition!
Mr. Keynes' edition of Blake's complete poetry and prose is the one I've used not only at Shimer College, but also in Russia and China when I taught Blake there. Mr. Keynes arranges Blake's writings chronologically. The reader can thus more clearly see how Blake's mythic system evolves.Clarity matters when a reader falls into a universe as visionary and fluid as William Blake's.

Each poem is a like a magical brick in the mystical structure Blake ultimately builds. His work begins in Innocence, a world where science, imagination, love, and wild beasts blithely dance in balance.When the cruelty, greed, and fears of Experience blight the peaceable kingdoms then society and the human soul split into warring factions.

Blake has been called apocalyptic.In his late great prophetic books families, lovers, societies, and the ecosystem fall to bits.But Los, Blake's heroic artist, "keeps the divine vision in times of trouble."Techno-science and institutionalized greed overshadow the earth, but Los keeps on building Golgonooza, the gorgeous city of art which ultimately connects heaven and earth.This can bring Jerusalem (the feminine divine)back into the heart of Albion (the universal humanity).When the feminine divine suffuses masculine power all things coalesce in a cosmic orgasm of art, science, pleasure, and prayer."There is no body distinct from the soul!" Mr. Blake proclaimed in his Marriage of Heaven & Hell."Everything that lives is Holy!" cries Oothoon, whose indestructible purity embraces the love that's "free as the mountain wind."She's become a role model for some exuberant Shimer students.

To truly partake of Blake please treat yourself to at least a few of the full-color illustrated editions that are now wonderfully affordable.The Dover editions are a bargain--but I order the Blake Trust (Princeton University Press) editions for my classes as well as Sir Geoffrey Keynes' lovingly edited Complete Writings.Buy this book!It can bring you bliss!

Blake-You need it
William Blake is one of the most underrated writers of all time. He is also a wonderful visual artist. Unlike his contemporaries, such as Milton, he created his own Mythology. A complex heirarchy of preternatural beings.Many people have spent years trying to piece together the puzzle of hiscomplex philosophy. Any fan of enlish literature, and desire to bechalleged by a writer gifted not only in meter, but also incontent willbe sad that they had not read Blake sooner. He comes very highlyrecommended. He affects the way you think. I close with his words:"Forth from the dead dust, rattling bones to bones/ Join; shakingconvuls'd, the shiv'ring clay breathes,/ And all naked flesh stands:Fathers and Friends,/ Mothers & Infants, Kings & Warriors." ... Read more

Book Description
William Blake's wife once said of him: "I have very little of Mr. Blake's company; he isalways in Paradise." This fascinating and generously illustrated biography of the greatEnglish artist, poet, and mystic brings us very much into Blake's company, presenting,often in the words of his contemporaries, almost everything that is known of his life andtimes.

G.E. Bentley, Jr., tells us that although Blake struggled with the ways of the world in hisyouth and early manhood, he was always frustrated that these ways were not his own.Instead he spoke the language of radical religious dissent, standing outside the popularpolitical and social conventions of his time and lamenting the power of Church and State.Blake learned to participate in traditions of vision and piety, to exult in the power of thespirit and in visionary art and literature. He created a new gospel of art, other-worldly andfundamentally spiritual, and in his old age, he exhibited a serenity in poverty and adevotion to the realm of the spirit that was revered by his disciples. Blake's life bears theshape of great art itself, says Bentley. From his youthful vaulting ambitions in painting,engraving, poetry, and music, through his mature flirtation with fortune, to his joyfulreturn to the vision and confidence of his youth, Blake's life provides a pattern of nobleself-sacrifice and wise self-understanding that is an inspiration to his generation and toours. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Body Electric
This is a very good, straight-forward biography of a mysterious man. Anyone curious about Blake should read it. People who love Blake will still love him, their love enhanced by the very clear context given to the events of his life. Of the visions that are of course the oddest thing about Blake, at least to the vast majority of us who don't have them, the author is neutral. You can't really know. I'm personally for rather than against visionaries even if they are delusional, just because this is indeed the age of fiberglass. Someone said of Blake that he was cracked, but the Light came through the crack. I like to believe he was visited by Milton, Michaelangelo and William Wallace, etc., and that he saw trees full of angels. At the same time, there is a question about the nature of inspiration. Once established, Blake's style in poetry and painting never changed much, only the subjects changed: so the various spirits did nothing in the way of altering his method, nor did they alter his views much, though he seems to have mellowed somewhat. He seems to have been a channel for one Spirit who changed form.There are other artists who seem to me to have represented the world beyond in a more profound way: Bach, Milton, Michaelangelo, Wordsworth for example. And of course, Shakespeare seems to have had a 100 people's combined understanding of how life is. And there are artists, more like us, who seemed to have developed as life progressed.

Still, he was one of the men who lived for and frequently in the electric blessing that changes everything, that power, gift, the angels, like Cupid, seem to bestow as they choose. Blake was a vehicle.

He was the great Outsider artist. He was a Hero of poor England. Thank God for Blake who said, "I live in a hole here, but God has a beautiful mansion for me elsewhere." He was authentic, poor and a real man. Everyone should know how he died singing Hallelujahs and hymns of praise.

Why Blake Matters
This biography concentrates too much on Blake's occupation as an engraver and glosses over his reputation as a poet and visionary. Such a bluntly factual, objective account of Blake seems out of keeping with his spiritual enthusiasm and disdain for the factual (i.e. the physical world). But this book did help me develop an appreciation for Blake. The "Songs of Innocence and of Experience" did not impress me because they seemed to be the epitome of maudlin Christian sentimentality. However, Bentley's biography makes it clear that Blake was not a conventional Christian. I was impressed by the importance Blake placed on the imagination, creativity, and the arts as the true expressions of spirituality and the sublime. I also admire Blake's spirited defense of imagination and the Poetic Genius.

If Blake were alive today I think he would rant against the scholars rather than Empire. The scholars have laid claim to the poet's place in society and the only empire that exists today is the academic empire. Just look at the way a college campus expands and swallows up all the property around itself! It is the scholars who attack men of inspiration and genius because they need to promote poetry as something that can be taught and explicated.

Blake does seem mad when he talks about speaking with angels and spirits but he probably did possess the faculty of a visionary imagination which caused him to express such reverence for the world of imagination, even to the extent of preferring it to the natural world. It reminds me of a quote from Rimbaud, "I came to find my mind's disorder sacred".

Bentley's Generous Act
The scholarship that works through this book is obviously one of love and devotion of many many years. Bentley's sorting out of events in Blake's life is amazingly well researched - it is the first Blake biography that does not have that usual blur of focus that leaves one more mystified than enlightened.Blake's contemporaries, friends, enemies, patrons, etc. are all given voice through their own extant letters, articles . .- this contextualizes him beautifully and clears the field of critical debris that has grown out over the centuries. In fact, it is Bentley's sober critical eye (of fairness) which is so refreshing - his sense of balance is impeccable. Only a lifetime lover of Blake could hit so consistently true tones.But if you're arriving to this book looking for critical scholarship of the work and myth than you're walking through the wrong door. This book is not about the minutae of the work (see Northrop Frye for that) - it assumes already that one is also a lover and "understander" of the work. This book is about the man - written and informed, of course, by the man's work, but is a book about Blake's life - not a treatise on Urthona. Yes, I recommend this book. Walk on in and stroll around. ... Read more