“ToseeaWorldinaGrainofSandAndaHeaveninaWildFlowerHoldInfinityinthepalmofyourhandAndEternityinanhour“WilliamBlakewrotesomeofthemostmovingandmemorableverseintheEnglishlanguage.Deeplycommittedtovisionaryandimaginativeexperience,yetalsofiercelyengagedwiththeturbulentpoliticsofhisera,heisnowrecognisedasamajorcontributortotheRomanticMovement.ThiseditionpresentsBlake’spoemsintheirliterarycategoriesandgenrestowhichtheybelong:hismuch-lovedlyrics,ballads,comicandsatiricalverse,descriptiveanddiscursivepoems,verseepistles,and,finally,hisremarkable’prophetic’poems,includingthewholeofhistwodiffuseepics,MiltonandJerusalem.Blake’spoetryisintellectuallychallengingaswellasformallyinventive,andthiseditionhasasubstantialcriticalintroductionwhichplaceshisideasinthecontemporarycontextoftheEnlightenmentandtheartisticreactionagainstitskeyassumptions.
