William Blake was born on 28 November 1757 at 28 Broad Street, Soho, London, into a city that was becoming the commercial, imperial, and intellectual center of Britain. He died seventy years later, on 12 August 1827, in a modest room south of the Thames, leaving behind work that had attracted only a small and sometimes bewildered audience during his lifetime. Yet Blake would eventually be recognized as one of the mos…
“Fun I love, but too much Fun is of all things the most loathsome. Mirth is better than Fun, & Happiness is better than Mirth.”
Neighbourhood:
Devotional Poets, Hymn Writers, Mystical & Spiritual Poets, Political Poets, Romantic Poets
Emotional landscape: Tenderness, Wonder, Spirituality
In the spring of 1863, the Victorian literary world witnessed a phenomenon that would become increasingly rare in the annals of English poetry: the overnight success of a provincial poet whose work captured both popular imagination and critical acclaim. Jean Ingelow, a banker's daughter from the Lincolnshire fens, achieved what many seasoned writers could only dream of—instant fame through a single collection of poem…
“I have lived to know that the secret of happiness is never to allow your energies to stagnate.”
Neighbourhood:
Love Poets, Nature Poets, Victorian Poets, Women Poets
Emotional landscape: Longing, Tenderness, Wonder