William Blake (1757-1827) The Chimney Sweeper, The Garden of Love, A Poison Tree, London, Poison Tree, The Tyger LINKS The William Blake Archives http://jefferson.village.virginia.edu/blake/ This expansive "hypermedia archive," which is still under construction, presents many of Blake's illuminated plates and includes a useful bibliography of works on Blake. The William Blake Page http://members.aa.net/~urizen/blake2.html This site contains several of Blake's most famous poems and plates as well as links to other sites about Blake. BIOGRAPHY William Blake (1757–1827) Born in London to an obscure family, Blake was educated at home until he was ten, then enrolled in a drawing school, advancing ultimately to a formal apprenticeship as an engraver. At an early age, Blake exhibited talent as both an artist and a poet, and throughout his life read widely among modern philosophers and poets. Throughout his life, he experienced mystical visions that provided him with the inspiration for many of his poems. Blake devised a process he called illuminated printing, which involved the preparation of drawings and decorative frames to complement his poems. He published Songs of Innocence (1789) and Songs of Experience (1794) in this fashion. These books, as well as the many subsequent works he wrote and illustrated, earned him a reputation as one of the most important artists of his day. Many of Blake's works assert his conviction that the established church and state hinder rather than nurture human freedom and the sense of divine love.