"Bloomsbury Poetry Classics" are selections from the work of some of our greatest poets. The series is aimed at the general reader rather than the specialist and carries no critical or explanatory apparatus. This can be found elsewhere. In the series the poems introduce themselves, on an uncluttered page and in a format that is both attractive and convenient. The selections have been made by the distinguished poet, critic and biographer Ian Hamilton. William Blake was born in 1757 in London. The son of a hosier, Blake first earned his living as an engraver. His first book of poetry "Poetical Sketches" (1783), was followed by "Songs of Innocence" (1789) and "Songs of Experience" 1794. He died in 1827.