Eternity's Sunrise
The Imaginative World of William Blake
In this richly illustrated portrait, a prize-winning biographer surveys the entire sweep of William Blake's creative work while telling the story of his life William Blake, overlooked in his time, remains an enigmatic figure to contemporary readers despite his near canonical status. Out of a wounding sense of alienation and dividedness he created a profoundly original symbolic language, in which words and images unite in a unique interpretation of self and society. He was a counterculture prophet whose art still challenges us to think afresh about almost every aspect of experience – social, political, philosophical, religious, erotic, and aesthetic. He believed that we live in the midst of Eternity here and now, and that if we could open our consciousness to the fullness of being, it would be like experiencing a sunrise that never ends. Following Blake's life from beginning to end, acclaimed biographer Leo Damrosch draws extensively on Blake's poems, his paintings, and his etchings and engravings to offer this generously illustrated account of Blake the man and his vision of our world. The author's goal is to inspire the reader with the passion he has for his subject, achieving the imaginative response that Blake himself sought to excite. The book is an invitation to understanding and enjoyment, an invitation to appreciate Blake's imaginative world and, in so doing, to open the doors of our perception.
About the Author
Leo Damrosch is Research Professor of Literature, Harvard University. His previous books include "Jonathan Swift: His Life and His World", winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award in biography and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in biography. He lives in Newton, MA.
Reviews
"Damrosch captures Blake's creativity in all its complexity, bringing to life his work as a poet, engraver and painter in a revolutionary age" – Nicholas Roe, Literary Review
"Leans heavily on the poetry, etchings and engravings, the works illustrating the man... this attractive volume would make a delightful present" – Robert Carver, The Tablet
"This book is written in a very accessible style, is peppered with analogies and punctuated with dry wit... a very good read and a healthy addition to the subject" – St John Simpson, British Museum Magazine
"The book's strength in its sumptuous colour reproductions of Blake's artwork and in Damrosch's attentive reading of them" – Hilary Davies, The Tablet
"Lucid and absorbing... [with] an attractive hint of a secret passion [and] an unusual sense of ease and intimacy with Blake's work" – Michael Wood, New York Times Book Review
