History Creator / WilliamBlake

* FourElementEnsemble: The Zoas: Luvah = Fire; Urizen = Air; Tharmas = Water; Urthona = Earth.

Blake is also generally regarded as one of the earliest [[{{UsefulNotes/Anarchism}} anarchists]] (e.g. by Peter Marshall in ''William Blake: Visionary Anarchist''), and is also noted for [[ValuesResonance opposing slavery and championing free love]] decades or even centuries before either became particularly common. The lines from the Preface to his long poem ''Milton'' beginning ''And did those feet in Ancient Time'', set to music by Hubert Parry, is a strong contender for England's national anthem and is indeed sung in this capacity at international sporting events. [[note]] Israeli and evangelical Christian believers in the other UsefulNotes/{{Jerusalem}} wouldn't like the words, though.[[/note]]

* {{Arcadia}}: "The Shepherd" is set in one.
* AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: Ideally.
* AssimilationPlot: In the attempt to resurrect Albion.
* AudioAdaptation[=/=]SpokenWordInMusic: His poetry has been revisioned by artistes including Music/VanMorrison and Music/{{Ulver}} (the latter of whom adapted ''The Marriage of Heaven and Hell'' in its entirety).
** Part of the Preface to ''Milton'' has been set to music and is a serious contender for National Anthem, if England ever becomes a republic.

* GainaxEnding - Surprisingly, somewhat averted. The rest of his narrative is so mind-screwy that the apocalyptic endings are rather comprehensible. Still bizarre though.

* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: Urizen does this to Fuzon.
* LongList: All over the place.
* MindScrew: This too.
* {{Mythopoeia}}: A rare non fantasy/sci-fi example.

* PunnyName: With his 'eternals', usually with some indication to their [[{{MeaningfulName}} symbolic role]] within the story. Urizen = Horizon/Your Reason; Luvah = Lover; etc.

* RealityWarper: Many characters, but particularly Urizen.

* TimeyWimeyBall: A literal example in Milton.
* UltimateEvil: The Covering Cherub.
* TheVerse: Good luck on trying to find out what it all means.

* TheVerse Good luck on trying to find out what it all means.

[[index]]

[[/index]]

* AlienGeometries: Tons of these. Morphing spheres, interdimensional vortexes, and intersecting planes of of existence abound.

!! William Blake in popular culture:
* One of the protagonists of ''Film/DeadMan'' is a Blake fan, and quotes him extensively. The other is ''named'' William Blake, but otherwise has no connection to the poet.
* The premier trailer for ''VideoGame/DeathStranding'' opened with a quote from Auguries of Innocence.
--> To see a world in a grain of sand
--> And a Heaven in a wild flower
--> Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
--> And Eternity in an hour
* ''Series/{{Revenge}}'' quotes his famous Infinite/Perception statement in the episode 'Perception'
* ''Comicbook/FromHell'' reveals that his famous portrait of a monster "The Ghost of a Flea" was actually a portrait of the ghost of Sir William Gull, aka UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper. Earlier in the novel, Gull visits his grave and explains the mystical significance of his works to his sidekick, Netley.
* The ''[[ComicBook/ThePunisherMAX Punisher MAX]]'' one-shot "The Tyger" depicts the child Frank Castle studying Blake's poem at school, with strong comparisons between Blake's terrifying tiger and the person Frank will grow up to be.
* Bill "Taleswapper" Blake is a major supporting character in the alternate history series ''Literature/TheTalesOfAlvinMaker''.
* Music/BruceDickinson's album ''The Chemical Wedding'' derives inspiration from Blake's paintings and poetry, using Blake's painting ''The Ghost of a Flea'' as the album's artwork.
* In the Comicbook/SpiderMan story ''ComicBook/KravensLastHunt'', quotations from "The Tyger" are spread all throughout the storyline with "tyger" replaced by "spider".
* Music/{{Ulver}} set all of ''The Marriage of Heaven and Hell'' to music for their fourth album, resulting in EpicRocking to the extreme.
* In the ''1831 AD'' one-shot of ''ComicBook/TheWickedAndTheDivine'', one of the early-nineteenth-century Pantheon members who is already dead when the issue starts, the Angel of Soho, is clearly analogous to Blake.

* TimeyWimeyBall: A literal example in Milton. See the AlienGeometries above.

** The Preface to ''Jerusalem'' has been set to music and is a serious contender for National Anthem, if Britain ever becomes a republic.

* {{Gnosticism}}: His cosmology is practically made of this.

* ComicBooks: Blake's combination of narrative and visual storytelling going above simple illustration has led some (including Creator/AlanMoore) so cite Blake's work as a proto-example of the Graphic Novel.

* AudioAdaptation[=/=]SpokenWordInMusic: His poetry has been revisioned by artistes including VanMorrison and Music/{{Ulver}} (the latter of whom adapted ''The Marriage of Heaven and Hell'' in its entirety).

* MindScrewdriver: Infuriatingly averted by Blake himself. There's a whole critical industry dedicated to providing one though.

* NightmareFuel: Both the poems and his artwork.

* TheVerse Good luck on trying to find out what it all means

* One of the protagonists of ''Film/DeadMan'' is a Blake fan, and quotes him extensively.

* ''Comicbook/FromHell'' reveals that his famous portrait of a monster "The Ghost of a Flea" was actually a portrait of the ghost of Sir William Gull, aka UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper.

'''William Blake''' (28 November 1757 - 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker.

* Music/BruceDickinson's album ''Chemical Wedding'' derives inspiration from Blake's paintings and poetry, using ''The Ghost of a Flea'' as the album's artwork.

* Creator/BruceDickinson's album ''Chemical Wedding'' derives inspiration from Blake's paintings and poetry, using ''The Ghost of a Flea'' as the album's artwork.

!! William Blake in fiction:

* ComicBooks: Blake's comibnation of narrative and visual storytelling going above simple illustration has led some (including Creator/AlanMoore) so cite Blake's work as a proto-example of the Graphic Novel.

--> To see the World in a grain of sand
--> And Heaven in a wildflower

* {{Romanticism}}: One of the Big Six of the English school, along with WilliamWordsworth, SamuelTaylorColeridge, LordByron, JohnKeats and PercyByssheShelley

* SpokenWordInMusic: His poetry has been revisioned by artistes including VanMorrison.
** The Preface to ''Jerusalem'' has been set to music and is a serious contender for National Anthem, if Britain ever becomes a republic.

** The preface to ''Milton'' includes the short poem "And did those feet in ancient time", adapted into the hymn "Jerusalem" ([[NamesTheSame not to be confused with Blake's epic poem]] ''Jerusalem'', as seen below) by Sir Hubert Parry in 1916. This hymn is now considered one of England's greatest candidates to a national anthem, and is a staple at the Last Night of the Proms. EmersonLakeAndPalmer opens their album ''Brain Salad Surgery'' with a CoverVersion.