# William Blake **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 15, 2002, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/william-blake/124085 "2002-08-15T20:32:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SwimmingRiddles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@SwimmingRiddles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SwimmingRiddles)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2002, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/william-blake/124085/1 "2002-08-15T20:32:56Z")
I have been meaning to start reading up on William Blake, but don’t know where to start. Any suggestions? ---
**Author:** ![pldennison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@pldennison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pldennison)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2002, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/william-blake/124085/2 "2002-08-15T21:03:35Z")
Well, to be honest, I don’t know a thing about Blake. But as soon as I saw the thread title (and I bet the same is going to be true of my wife), this exchange ran through my head: –“Who dresses you? Isn’t that a little extreme for the Carolina League?” –" ‘The Road of Excess leads to the Palace of Wisdom,’ William Blake." –“William Blake?” –“William Blake.” –“What do you mean, ‘William Blake?’” –“I mean ‘William Blake!’” Man, that _Bull Durham_ is a great movie. Sorry to hijack your thread so quickly. ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2002, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/william-blake/124085/3 "2002-08-15T21:10:08Z")
Try “Proverbs from Hell” to get an idea of his ideas. He believed in living life to the fullest. He is the polar opposite of the “Everything in moderation” philosophy. ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2002, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/william-blake/124085/4 "2002-08-15T21:12:36Z")
That’s “Proverbs OF Hell”. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2002, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/william-blake/124085/5 "2002-08-15T22:02:54Z")
A good place (or two) to start are his **Songs of Innocence** and **Songs of Experience**. From _Dead Man_: “That weapon will replace your tongue. You will learn to speak through it. And your poetry will now be written with blood.” (quoth Nobody to William Blake) ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2002, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/william-blake/124085/6 "2002-08-15T22:08:39Z")
A good place (or two) to start are his **Songs of Innocence** and **Songs of Experience**. From _Dead Man_: “That weapon will replace your tongue. You will learn to speak through it. And your poetry will now be written with blood.” (quoth Nobody to William Blake) ---
**Author:** ![Menocchio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@Menocchio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Menocchio)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2002, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/william-blake/124085/7 "2002-08-15T23:27:12Z")
I second ArchiveGuy, and add that you try to find an edition that shows the original artwork. Good stuff. I also reccomend that you find _The Marriage of Heaven and Hell_, of which the previously mentioned _Proverbs_ are a small part. His Prophetic works are very, very difficult. I doubt if even Blake fully understood what he was trying to do. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2002, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/william-blake/124085/8 "2002-08-15T23:50:38Z")
Just don’t go looking for that poem Alan Alda recited on _ER_. It’s not by William Blake and was apparently the scriptwriter’s attempt to underscore how rapidly the character’s Alzheimer’s was progressing. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/william-blake/124085/9 "2002-08-16T00:10:12Z")
Don’t buy anything, just go [here](http://www.betatesters.com/penn/blake.htm) . ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/william-blake/124085/10 "2002-08-16T02:29:53Z")
I’m also a big fan of his **Songs of Innocence and of Experience**. I bought the illustrated version, with copies of the original prints and it’s freakin’ awesome. ---
**Author:** ![stofsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dfb087/32.png) [@stofsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stofsky)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/william-blake/124085/11 "2002-08-16T12:43:57Z")
[Hijack]Alan Ginsberg once had a vision–which he insisted he believed was real–of Blake coming to him. Nah, couldn’t have been drug-induced, why do you ask?[/Hijack] ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/william-blake/124085/12 "2002-08-16T13:09:30Z")
[Tiger, Tiger, Burning Bright…Starring Ms. Tiffany Tiger & her Mother](http://www.suburbanjungle.com/w/19990919.html) Great poem, fun webcomic! Read Both! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![bifar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@bifar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bifar)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/william-blake/124085/13 "2002-08-16T13:21:08Z")
SwimmingRiddles: Wow! Cool! Etc. Blake is my absolute favourite poet and I am very glad you are going with him. I would third the suggestion of The Songs of Innocence and Experience and the Marriage of Heaven and Hell, with the proviso that the Marriage is very odd and can be read with more understanding when you know more about Blake’s personal mythology about stuff, which is complicated and bizarre and I don’t know much about it, to be honest. Songs from an Island on the Moon, some of which are a bit ribald, are great, too. In terms of the Songs of Innocence and Experience, it’s worth comparing the poems with the same names in the different sections, because they were meant to ironically comment on each other. Beware though, since Blake never says anything at face value. The poem ‘The Little Black Boy’ is a good example of this. ---
**Author:** ![Engywook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bc8723/32.png) [@Engywook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Engywook)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/william-blake/124085/14 "2002-08-16T17:47:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by stofsky \* > \*\*[Hijack]Alan Ginsberg once had a vision–which he insisted he believed was real–of Blake coming to him. Nah, couldn’t have been drug-induced, why do you ask?[/Hijack] \*\* [hijack2]In _Marriage of Heaven and Hell_, Blake describes some kind of spiderweb pit… which is one of the more common DMT experiences. DMT was certainly not available in Blake’s time, which to me makes it all the more interesting that he describes a vision that will become (relatively) common hundreds of years later. I don’t believe that Blake had access to any hallucinogens… all that was known in Europe at his time were some nasty deleriants, I think… but if you’ve got a cite saying I’m wrong, I’d be interested to see it. [/hijack2] I third the nomination for _MHandH_. Despite some references to contemporaries, this is a work that thinks strikingly outside the box of its own times. His carvings are also interesting… ---
**Author:** ![London\_Calling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@London\_Calling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/London_Calling)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2002, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/william-blake/124085/15 "2002-08-17T03:57:18Z")
Well, I haven’t read everything but the general consensus over here is that **Peter Ackroyd’s** biography **‘Blake’** is just about definitive. I’ve read it (as a pathetically ill-equipped student of both men’s work) and found it to be very readable and hugely insightful – Ackroyd, in the opinion of many, is quite possibly the finest biographer alive (excluding Eve, obviously). As is his style, Ackroyd doesn’t just address the subject but paints an unusually full context (in this case London provides inspiration, the backdrop and pretty much the context – aside from religion). It’s really very evocative: Time, place, events all spring to life. You also come away feeling you understand who Blake was, what inspired him and what he was trying to do - I think you need that knowledge to begin to make headway. He’s complex and, because of the time distance, his themes aren’t easily acccessible to modern sensibilities, IMHO. One time I was reading ‘Blake’ and realised I was about three streets away from where he had lived, so I took myself off… it was a modern concrete monstrosity. Of course it was. Yep, that’s my suggestion. ---
**Author:** ![Estilicon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/848f3c/32.png) [@Estilicon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Estilicon)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2002, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/william-blake/124085/16 "2002-08-17T13:04:19Z")
I haven’t read much from Blake although I’m planing too. Despite this I recommend you starting here [http://www.blakearchive.org/](http://www.blakearchive.org/) ---
**Author:** ![SwimmingRiddles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@SwimmingRiddles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SwimmingRiddles)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2002, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/william-blake/124085/17 "2002-08-17T18:11:51Z")
Thanks for the suggestions, I’ll definately check of MH+H and the bio London suggested. Blake and I share a birthday; it’s us, Paul Shaffer, Anna Nicole Smith, and Judd Nelson. Needless to say, I’d rather identify with Blake.