William Blake was a profoundly inspiring poet who was, in large part, responsible for bringing about the Romantic Movement in poetry. .
William Blake was born on November 28, 1757 in London, where he spent most of his life. His father was a successful London's hosier. Blake was first educated at home, chiefly by his mother. His parents encouraged him to collect prints of Italian masters, and in 1767, Blake was sent to Henry Pars' Drawing school. When he was 14 years old, Blake was apprenticed for seven years to a well-known engraver, James Basire. .
During those years Blake spent most of his free time in reading and trying his hand in poetry. He was familiar with Greek and Latin literature, the Bible, and Milton. After studies at the Royal Academy of Arts, Blake started to produce watercolors and engrave illustrations for magazines. His only formal education was in art. Gothic art and architecture influenced him deeply.
At age of 24, Blake married Catherine Boucher, the daughter of market gardener. She was then illiterate, but Blake taught her to read and to help him in his engraving and printing. Later on, together with his wife and younger brother, he opened a print shop.
Blake wrote his early poems at the age of twelve. His first book of poems Poetical Sketches appeared in 1773, when he was 26 years old. The works that followed were: An Island in the Moon in 1784, All Religions are One and There is No Natural Religion in 1788, The Book of Thel in 1789, Songs of Innocence in 1789, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell 1790, The French Revolution in 1791, America: A Prophecy in 1793, The Visions of the Daughter of Albion in 1793, The Book of Urisen in 1794, Songs of Experience in 1794, Europe: A Prophecy 1794, The Book of Loss in 1795, and The Four Zoas in 1794-1804. .
Between 1804 and 1818 he produced an addition of his own poem "Jerusalem-, with one hundred engravings. Blake's last years were past in obscurity and among Blake's later works are drawings and engravings for Dante's Divine Comedy and 21 illustrations to the Book of Job.
