William Blake (28 November 1757–12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and print maker. Largely unrecognized during his lifetime, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of both the poetry and visual arts of the Romantic age. His prophetic poetry has been said to form "what is in proportion to its merits the least read body of poetry in the English language". His visual artistry has led one modern critic to proclaim him "far and away the greatest artist Britain has ever produced". Although he only once journeyed farther than a day's walk outside London during his lifetime, he produced a diverse and symbolically rich corpus, which embraced the imagination as "the body of God", or "Human existence itself"

Considered mad by contemporaries for his idiosyncratic views, Blake is held in high regard by later critics for his expressiveness and creativity, and for the philosophical and mystical undercurrents within his work. His paintings and poetry have been characterized as part of both the Romantic Movement and "Pre-Romantic", for its large appearance in the 18th century. Reverent of the Bible but hostile to the church of England, Blake was influenced by the ideals and ambitions of the French and American revolution, as well as by such thinkers as Jakob bohme and Emanuel Swedenborg.

Despite these known influences, the singularity of Blake's work makes him difficult to classify. The 19th century scholar William Rossetti characterized Blake as a "glorious luminary," and as "a man not forestalled by predecessors, or to be classed with contemporaries, or to be replaced by known or readily surmisable successors."

Historian peter Marshall has classified Blake as one of the forerunners of modern anarchism, along with Blake's contemporary William Godwin.

LOVE'S SECRET

by: William Blake (1757-1827)

NEVER seek to tell thy love,

Love that never told can be;

For the gentle wind doth move

Silently, invisibly.

I told my love, I told my love,

I told her all my heart,

Trembling, cold, in ghastly fears.

Ah! she did depart!

Soon after she was gone from me,

A traveller came by,

Silently, invisibly:

He took her with a sigh.