Product Details

• Actors: William Blake
• Format: Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Kultur Video
• DVD Release Date: April 25, 2006
• Run Time: 30 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• ASIN: B000ETRAB4
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #134,523 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

"Drawing on old maps, contemporary drawings and paintings, portraits and other archive material, the excellent Famous Authors series not only presents a factual outline of the writers’ lives, but also conveys a clear visual picture of the social and historical background to their writing. Recommended for all ages." –THE GOOD BOOK GUIDE. A poet, engraver, painter and mystic, William Blake was known for his symbolic expressions of religious visions. Blake bypassed the traditional Church and believed he experienced God directly. Apprenticed in 1771 to an engraver, Blake later illustrated his own copperplate engravings and watercolors. Some of his works containing both text and illustrations were the Marriage Of Heaven And Hell, Songs Of Experiences and Songs Of Innocence. Blake’s religious convictions are evidenced in his wife’s commentary, "I have very little of Mr. Blake’s company, he is always in Paradise." Major works include America (1793) • Jerusalem; the Emanation Of The Giant Albion (1804) • Songs Of Experience (1794) • Songs Of Innocence (1789) • Visions Of The Daughters Of Albion (1793) • Urizen (1794)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Catching Up with Blake, June 19, 2007

By	Jeffery Mingo (Homewood, IL USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

I only vaguely remember reading some Blake junior year of high school. However, I definitely remember that Allen Ginsberg's biography said he was using a broom, doing Seinfeldian mastering, and reading Blake when he came up with the idea for his famous poem "Howl." This disc is a good survey on Blake.

I didn't know Blake drew art in the borders of his poetry. This disc spoke about the art almost more than the writing. This may be presentist, but the art seemed kinda simple. I'm sure anyone could do the water colors and sketching he did. He was living when Delacroix and Louis David were making masterpieces, one must remember.

This work said he and his wife never had children; off the top of my head, I can't think of any other famous childless couples, though the experience is common among humans. I don't remember politics coming up at all when our English class discussed Blake, but this work said he was very supportive of the American and French Revolutions. In fact, the work implies that he was an anti-racist author, in the same ilk as a Harriet Beecher Stowe. The work shows cheesy plaques in Britain that reveal where he lived and died. The Brits might want to make better monuments for him.

This may be a perfect thing for English teachers to show to high school classes. Unlike other discs in this series where the narrator say much on the authors' lives, but little on their work, the narrator recites Blake poetry frequently here.