With 2007 marking the 250th anniversary of William Blake’s birth, the Independent pays tribute to a poet, painter, and printmaker whose works continue to influence modern literature, from Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy to Tracy Chevalier’s forthcoming novel Burning Bright.

The fact is that Blake did not need physical space or the sprawl of landscape in which to flourish as an artist and writer. The ever-expanding worlds he created were germinated inside his own head. He could live there; he could travel quite as far as he needed across and through those imaginary worlds whenever he wished to do so. Those who have read his prolific, rambling, and often almost incoherent prophetic books will witness for themselves just how far he soared between heaven and earth and back again.