As part of my goal to consume more meaningful things than social media, I’m choosing a “Poet of the Month”. I’ll spend the month immersing myself in the poetry of some old favorites…and maybe a few newer poets. I especially enjoy the Romantic Period so I’m kicking off the year with William Blake.
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William Blake
You may or may not know that my first degree was in English Literature. That would explain why I named our two golden retriever puppies (that we bought when our kids were little) Blake and Shelley. They were wonderful dogs and lived up to the expectations of their rather pretentious names.
It’s been years since I’ve read much of Blake’s poetry. The poet, that is. Not the dog. He was a great dog but a lousy poet. 😉
Anyway, I’m looking forward to daily poetry readings. Unfortunately Blake’s work was largely ignored during his lifetime and he lived in relative poverty. His wife had to borrow money for his funeral in 1827.
He was also a painter and printmaker.
Blake is unique amongst the artists of his day, and rare amongst artists of any era, in his integration of writing and painting into a single creative process, and in his use of innovative production techniques to combine image and text in single compositions.
The Art Story: William Blake
If you’d like to know more about William Blake, his life, his art and his poetry, here are some links:
Poetry Foundation: William Blake
The Met: William Blake (1757-1827)
10 of the Best William Blake Poems
Poets.org: About William Blake
While it is easy enough to find Blake’s poems online, I purchased this book:
I’d like to have this one, too:
I also discovered that there is a feature film about Blake in the works. You can read more about it here:
A Feature Film about William Blake
Let me know if you enjoy poetry and what you think of William Blake. I’d also like to hear your suggestions for poets I should cover in the months ahead.
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