WILLIAM BLAKE: An Introduction

Blake's relevance is unquestionable; properly presented, this strange artist-poet with his mind-expanding visions and devotion to freedom of the spirit will appeal to today's aware youth. Anne Malcolmson, in an excellent introduction geared toward the young adult, presents a colorful, comprehensive and sympathetic portrait of the man as well as a fine discussion of his personal philosophy and complex symbolism. By comparison the Crowell Poets' handling of Blake (poems selected by Amelia H. Munson) is clumsy, sketchy and bland with its meagre introduction and an arrangement of poems which does little to enhance the reader's comprehension. Both books contain a standard but sound sampling of the poet's work: excerpts from ""Songs of Innocence and Experience,"" from ""Poetical Sketches"" and from various prophetic works--but the Malcolmson edition happily contains fewer and fuller excerpts, including a large section from ""America: A Prophecy"" and some well-chosen, personally revealing epigrams and comments. The juxtaposition of the Songs of ""Innocence"" and ""Experience"" and the useful prefatory notes for individual poems also enhance the new edition. Whereas in the Crowell series Blake's own illustrations are few, small and ill-placed, here they are very well reproduced and integrated with the text.