William Blake
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Tag archives for William Blake
The Blue Man Mystery
Posted by Deborah Blum on April 21, 2010 In an earlier post, I wrote about the possible copper poisoning of the great British poet and artist William Blake. The very simple lesson inherent in that story is that a strong dose of metals on a regular basis is generally bad for a person’s health. But one could argue that this is too simple…
The Poisoning of William Blake (part 2)
Posted by Deborah Blum on March 30, 2010 A couple days ago, I wrote a post (Tyger, Tyger, Copper, Copper) about the theory that the late, great British poet William Blake (1757-1827) and been killed by copper poisoning due to years of acid-etching copper plates as a print maker. One chemist promptly wrote to raise the possibility that it might instead have been…
Tyger, Tyger, Copper, Copper
Posted by Deborah Blum on March 25, 2010 Tyger! Tyger! burning bright In the forests of the night, What immortal hand or eye Could frame thy fearful symmetry? William Blake, the brilliant British poet, published “The Tyger” in 1794 and it’s always been one of my favorite poems. I studied him during a brief period when I thought I might want to be…