William Blake (1757-1827) led a relatively happy life. From a young age, he claimed to be able to see God, angels and other important Italian figures. Blake's parents encouraged him to keep a record of all the masters with whom he claimed to remain in contact. Blake's father, James Blake, gave him casts and engravings to keep this record. At the age of ten, Blake started at a drawing school named Henry Pars' Drawing School. Three years later, he was apprenticed to a master engraver, James Basire. Blake worked with Basire for seven years, then attended the Royal Academy School to continue his studies in drawing, painting and printmaking. After his studies, he started engraving and created illustrations for magazines. In 1783, he married Catherine Boucher and taught her to paint and draw. She was devoted to Blake and helped him print in what would be an unsuccessful attempt to open his own printing shop. They had no children. He began experimenting with prints and drawings and became famous for them. People of his time considered him rather crazy, as his works were so strange to the public. Although he did not achieve much recognition for his first set of poems published in 1783, a book of poetry aptly titled Poetic Sketches, he is known for the gentle but frank poetry of his 1789 work, Songs of Innocence, and for his rather profound style of disillusionment in his 1794 collection, Songs of Experience. In these works, he proposes the ideal that society is the primary destroyer of childhood innocence, but keeping a strong imagination could ultimately help redeem the fallen world. During Blake's life, he was known for his painting, printmaking, artistic talent, his love of music, and his strong opinion... middle of paper ... younger boys, and assures them that all hope is not lost. Even though he has matured by seeing the crying faces of the younger boys, the speaker is still able to remain optimistic in the face of cruelty. This is the story Blake tells. Works Cited Liukkonen, Petri. “William Blake (1757-1827).” William Blake. Creative Commons Nimeä-Epäkaupallinen-Ei muutettuja teoksia 1.0 Suomi (Finland) lisenssillä., 2008. Web. February 24, 2012. Mayhew, Justin. “The chimney sweep.” The chimney sweep. Np, 12 02 2009. Web. February 24, 2012. .Vignes, Timothée. “AN ANALYSIS OF WILLIAM BLAKE’S SONGS OF INNOCENCE AND EXPERIENCE AS A RESPONSE TO THE COLLAPSE OF VALUES.” ch12.pdf (application/pdf object). Np, and Web. February 24 2012. .