The Poems of William Blake Paperback – 30 Sep 2011

I was going through the poetry section on the Amazon Kindle eBook Store and happened to find this being sold for free. I had heard of Blake before, but I have actually never read any of his works before I picked this out of the store. I decided to give it a go and give it a read and honestly, I have been lost for words.Blake has me enamoured and captivated by almost every word he wrote; every poem creates such an image in my head that I can see for ages afterwards, mind vivid and fresh as if I had seen the inspiration Blake had before my very own eyes.Within the Songs of Innocence section, I thought all the poems but one or two were very happy, bright and cheerful. I started reading this book when I was in quite a low mood, and the section definitely helped me to cheer up. The poems have made me smile and chuckle, whereas the one poem, On Another’s Sorrow had me on the brink of tears. It was so relatable to life, to my own personal life of trying to help my friends that it took me completely by shock. This was a beautiful introduction to a book of poems. A lot of the poems within this section are heavily related to God. Poems like this usually annoy me, due to some whose religion does not have a deity of any form, but these poems were still highly enjoyable to me.Within Songs of Experience, the imagery is absolutely amazing. After reading such cheery and happy poems in Songs of Innocence, to come to Experience and have such depressing retelling of life, is such a contrast. It’s a welcome contrast, something that makes you think and realise that this is what experience does to all of this. We can become easily bitter over the things that we do not leave alone, something I’ve experienced myself.The whole contrast of the book itself, from Innocence - bright, happy poems – to Experience - dark, sad poems – is absolutely amazing. Few authors can do this well and Blake does it brilliantly. I enjoyed this book so much and I can’t wait to get a hard copy of it so I can sit elsewhere and read it again.A true poet of the ages, a marvellous author and a truly talented poet. I recommend this to any poetry lover – know the classics, see the authors that influenced poetry today, appreciate them. You don’t have to like them at all, but read this, appreciate the work that Blake put in that helped poetry become what it is today.If you love poetry, you should definitely read this. It was a wonderful short read and I feel like I have learned so much about myself, things to change from reading this. It’s just stunning.

I love his poems but don't love carting loads of books about so this Kindle edition is fab. I don't have a fancy one with colour and pictures but would advise trying to get the illustrated version if you do. I have the book of it and it has both his illustrated manuscript versions of the poems and a typed version alongside. He was a gifted artist and the artwork really does make a difference to how you read the poems.This version's fine but get the illustrated if you can.

The only poem I know is Tiger Tiger burning bright in the forest of the night. I can still recite it today. Have never read any of his other poems. They are a little on the heavy side for me but it's a useful edition to keep in your back pocket and read whenever the mood takes you.

I'm not a huge Blake fan, but needed this for my university course. I think a lot is explained when you find out that Blake was a synaesthete (his senses were mixed up - you can feel days, or taste names that sort of thing).I was particularly struck by finding out that he wanted each of his books to be a handmade work of art, so did the engraving and colouring himself (not that there is any in this version) - very child-like

Do you have a Kindle or device compatible to get this free e-book? Do you like poetry? If you can say yes to both then I would highly suggest buying this. It is authoritative in so far as we only have to mention Blake and many would refer to William Blake and his works such as 'Tiger Tiger'. So give it a crack, there are some lovely poems in there and some rather dated sounding ones, but you can skip those ones so sit back and enjoy.

Good free stuff for my kindle!

Though in the language of an earlier century and with rhymes that are sometimes clunky, still this independent thinker has something for the quick browser, as in the poem Divine Image:'And all must love the human form,In heathen,Turk, or Jew.Where Mercy, Love and Pity dwell,There God is dwelling too.'Besides this collection is free!

Blake is one of my favourite poets so I will be biased. However, his symbolism and simplicity reach out to us all. These poems are among his best (as well as Milton's Preface, otherwise known as Jerusalem) because they convey a well-known problem for us all...that is poverty and governmental ignorance. They also speak about the wonders and problems of human experience.