SOURCE: "Blake; the Historical Approach," in English Institute Essays, 1951, pp. 197-223.

Erdman is an American educator and the prize-winning author of several volumes of criticism on Blake, including Blake: Prophet against Empire: A Poet's Interpretation of the History of His own Times (1977), which is valued by scholars as an insightful examination of contemporary historical references in Blake's poetry and art. Erdman is also editor of the acclaimed Complete Poetry and Prose of William Blake (1980). In the following essay, he stresses the value of considering the historical context when deciphering Blake's more difficult poems, and illustrates that Blake was often inspired by the political and social events of his time.

"I have imposed on myself … grossly," wrote a schemer who had tried to impose on Blake but had mistaken his man, "I have imposed on myself … grossly in believing you to be one altogether abstracted from this world, holding...