William Blake 
The Marriage of Heaven and Hell 

William Blake’s ‘The Marriage of Heaven and Hell’ is a revolutionary work of poetry and prose that challenges the traditional binary between good and evil. Written in the late 18th century, this book reflects Blake’s belief in the marriage of opposites as a path to spiritual enlightenment. Through a series of aphorisms, poems, and philosophical reflections, Blake criticizes the limitations of conventional religion and morality, offering a vision of a world where opposites coexist in harmony. The book’s unique blend of visionary imagery and sharp social critique makes it a standout work in the Romantic literary movement. Blake’s use of symbolism and allegory brings depth and complexity to his exploration of the human experience and the nature of divinity. Readers will be drawn into a world where imagination reigns supreme and boundaries are blurred between the sacred and the profane. ‘The Marriage of Heaven and Hell’ is a must-read for anyone interested in the intersection of art, religion, and philosophy.

About the author

William Blake (1757–1827) stands as one of the most enigmatic figures in literary history. An English poet, painter, and printmaker, his work is now considered seminal within the Romantic Age, though during his lifetime, Blake’s genius was largely unrecognized. Blake’s oeuvre is marked by its dual focus on both visionary and mystical thoughts, as well as societal critique and an opposition to the dogmatic institutionalized religion of his era. ‘The Marriage of Heaven and Hell’, a series of texts written between 1790 and 1793, is one of Blake’s most audacious works. It serves as a prose work that includes a series of aphorisms, a parody of Biblical prophecy, and his own illustrations. Groundbreaking for its unconventional narrative technique and radical theology, ‘The Marriage of Heaven and Hell’ is a key example of his highly original symbolic language and revolutionary poetry, which conveys Blake’s philosophy that true vision embraces the unity of opposites as a means to transcendent understanding. Blake’s literary style is distinctive for its melodic use of meter and prophetic tone, permeating his extensive range of poetic compositions. His body of work, which includes other seminal pieces such as ‘Songs of Innocence and of Experience’ and ‘The Prophetic Books’, remains influential, continually studied for its imaginative power and depth of spiritual insight.