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/lit/ - Literature

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13187020 No.13187020 [Reply] [Original]

What is the essential William Blake? What edition of his poetry is most aesthetically pleasing as a book?

>> No.13187153
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13187153

>>13187020
This is a good place to start. Songs of Innocence and Experience is generally considered essential and the Marriage of Heaven and Hell, but his epic and prophetic works like Milton, Jerusalem, and the Four Zoas are worth a look too.

>> No.13187282

>>13187020
The Longman Annotated Edition and The Complete Illuminated are great comprehensive but expensive editions (there are pdfs of the Longman floating about); a good place to start is Songs of Innocence and Experience - they’re very easy to memorise and once they’re in your head they begin to take on a lot of life - as the other anon recommended the Norton is a good selection.
Also Northrop Frye’s Fearful Symmetry is heavy going but enormously helpful and perhaps *the* book on Blake if you’re planning on spending a lot of time with him - should be on lib.gen
Happy reading!

>> No.13187400
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13187400

>>13187282
forgot pic

Also check out the Blake Archive online - they have high res images of all his books and illustrations