This 1913 edition compiles the total literary output of William Blake, presenting his lyric poems alongside his complex mythological narratives. The volume includes the contrasting states of Songs of Innocence and of Experience, where short verses examine the human soul through symbols like the lamb and the tiger. It also contains the dense Prophetic Books, including Milton and Jerusalem, which detail Blake’s personal cosmic system. In these works, he depicts the struggle between Urizen, the embodiment of cold reason and law, and Los, the creative force of the imagination.
The collection serves scholars and students of Romantic literature who require the primary texts for historical analysis. Readers use this volume to trace the development of Blake’s idiosyncratic theological views and his vocal opposition to the industrial revolution’s mechanical philosophy. By studying the complete prose fragments and letters, the reader gains a technical understanding of Blake’s printing methods and his rejection of standard artistic conventions. One leaves the text with a comprehensive map of a private mythology that equates human creative liberty with divine action.
- Published
- 1913
- Language
- EN
